Reply to Which APS elementary most suits your gifted child?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP--please head to Fairfax Co.

Your kind is not welcome in APS where our child's gifted status is worn as a badge on our chest.  We like our understated(and successful) approach.
[/quote]

I prefer APS' approach over FCPS'.  It would be nice if people would read my actual question as opposed to jumping to all these erroneous conclusions.  I am not even asking about the gifted program.  I am asking about the school programs.  Contrary to what the PP said when he/she said there are no choices, the Montessori program is county wide, there are two language immersion schools, there is an expeditionary learning program that is county wide, etc.  If I hadn't used that hot-button word "gifted" I'm sure I would have gotten a flood of responses about the choices parents made and why.  But, somehow, when I say "gifted" everyone gets their dukes up.[/quote]

OP, you are asking the question of a group of parents who are at best resigned (if not eagerly supportive of) a home-school-based approach to teaching advanced students (gifted or otherwise). You are right that some of us are having trouble deciphering your meaning.

Why don't you try it this way: "I have a child with the following strengths and weaknesses. He/she seems to thrive in x kind of environments and gets frustrated with y and z. Then there is my preference--I am a strong believer in the z type of educational philosophy. Is there a special program in Arlington that might work best for him/her/us? How might our home school (ABC Elementary) approach a child like this?"

I have two very bright children. One of them I consider to be truly gifted (not just very smart but with a distinct learning style that is not always well-served in a regular classroom). One of them is very bright and would meet the qualifications for AAP in FCPS, but frankly I don't think of this DC as, strictly speaking, "gifted." They have very different learning styles, thrive in different environments (actually one of them thrives in some environments and wilts in others, while the other is a "bloom where you're planted" type and can succeed almost anywhere.) If I were looking for programs that suited each of them perfectly, I'd likely send them to two different places. So telling us you have a gifted child really tells us nothing. We don't know anything about your kid other than you think/know he is smart. Yet you are asking us what the best program for him might be. How the heck can we know?

And the fact remains that the vast majority of APS parents send their kids, gifted and otherwise, to their home schools. So if you are asking a broader question about how people made their school choices in APS, 90% of respondents are going to say, "I walked over to our neighborhood school and registered."[/quote]

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