How can posters ask questions about their academically advanced kids without being criticized?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gifted does not equal self-motivated. And while they can "stimulate themselves" at home, that doesn't make up for sitting for hours in a classroom where the work is something they already know. Put yourself in that position -- how bored and miserable would you be? And would you, even as an adult, have the self-discipline to remain polite, attentive and appropriately behaved?

Gifted kids have the right to access curricula that are appropriate to their needs and through which they can learn.

No, it's not the same as being learning disabled, although many kids who are GT are also LD.

I have one child who's a GT kid and was close to suicidal in his regular elementary school -- mercilessly teased and pathalogically bored. He moved to a MoCo GT center and I honestly believe that saved his life. (And yes, we did seek professional help when he began to talk about killing himself, as a third grader.)

I have another kid who's smart but struggles with dyslexia and attention issues. He certainly has a learning disability, one proven by outside testing (as is his IQ which is in the 99th percentile). I think he could be appropriately challenged outside of a magnet with the proper supports, but MoCo isn't set up to help him overcome his disability. He makes good grades and works at or above grade level, so they refuse to help him. As a result he's constantly frustrated, bored and distracted, and is becoming someone who hates school. His LD is not severe enough to qualify for one of the GTLD magnets.

I think that both of my children have "special needs." Neither one does well in a traditional classroom.

Amen. My wife teaches in the MCPS Center for the Highly Gifted, and year after year receives notes from parents about how the program saved their kids' lives - and they are not exaggerating.

A profoundly gifted child in a regular classroom is at high risk for major problems - just as a learning-disabled child is.

[Anonymous]

Maybe in a regular MoCo classroom a profoundly gifted kid is at high risk for major problems. Certainly not true in a "Big 3."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe in a regular MoCo classroom a profoundly gifted kid is at high risk for major problems. Certainly not true in a "Big 3."

Actually, it's not quite that simple. As a PP pointed out (and as I know from personal experience), Sidwell's lower school is not particularly academically rigorous. We know people who have pulled their kids out of there for that reason (and in two cases, those kids went to MCPS magnets).

[Anonymous]

Is that about kids being miserable/suicidal or was it parents convinced that they weren't getting their money's worth?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is that about kids being miserable/suicidal or was it parents convinced that they weren't getting their money's worth?

Lack of challenge, especially given the tuition.

[Anonymous]

So, a parent issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, a parent issue.

Not PP, but how is lack of challenge a parent issue? Certainly strikes me as a child-specific issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Amen. My wife teaches in the MCPS Center for the Highly Gifted, and year after year receives notes from parents about how the program saved their kids' lives - and they are not exaggerating.

A profoundly gifted child in a regular classroom is at high risk for major problems - just as a learning-disabled child is.

We also were "saved" by the MoCo HGC. DD's self-esteem was plunging, and she was beginning to hide herself at school and complaining of stomach aches all the time. I was seriously worried. After one year at the HGC, she is a happy camper with many friends and confidence in herself again, not to mention that she is excited about school again.

[Anonymous]

Where was DC prior to the MoCo HGC?

[Anonymous]

Not PP, but how is lack of challenge a parent issue? Certainly strikes me as a child-specific issue.

Not if the kid would have been more challenged had the school been cheaper/free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not PP, but how is lack of challenge a parent issue? Certainly strikes me as a child-specific issue.

Not if the kid would have been more challenged had the school been cheaper/free.

Huh? PP said the kid wasn't challenged. How would free or cheaper have changed that?

[Anonymous]

The exact quote was "Lack of challenge, especially given the tuition."

[Anonymous]

I had the same reaction as 10:52. Parents felt they weren't getting their money's worth

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe in a regular MoCo classroom a profoundly gifted kid is at high risk for major problems. Certainly not true in a "Big 3."

Actually, it's not quite that simple. As a PP pointed out (and as I know from personal experience), Sidwell's lower school is not particularly academically rigorous. We know people who have pulled their kids out of there for that reason (and in two cases, those kids went to MCPS magnets).

File this under, You really have no clue what you are talking about - in the most profound way.

[Anonymous]

Here is a link to a website debunking that poem as an internet scam:

http://www.qis.net/~jschmitz/afu/yellow.htm

Interestingly, the Hoagies website (and couldn't the highly gifted design a better website) admits at the bottom that the origin of the poem is in doubt, however they find it telling in some way. Its a bad poem, and a fraud.