Reply to What is the Test for Highly Gifted Program Like?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Do people prepare their kids for the gt test around here?[/quote]

[b]Many do. [/b]
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This is not clear at all.

What is clear, however, is that many of the posts that talk about test prep for the HGC come from sock puppets who presumably make money off test prep.[/quote]

I don't think they're sock puppets.  Parents use the test prep services and are informing others.  I'm not the PP that posted about the workbooks, but I have recommended them on other threads.  Like the other PP said, it's a good idea to familiarize your kid with the types of questions.  The first time I showed my kid the 'analogy' type questions, she had NO IDEA what they were all about.  After seeing more, she got the concept much better.

And, as to the PPs who say you don't need to 'prep' because your kid is either 'gifted' or not.  I strongly disagree.  But, I'm part Asian, and we have a strong belief that ALL of our kids belong in the 'gifted program', LOL.  That's a discussion for another page though.  I agree that only a small percentage of kids are 'gifted', but I do believe that more kids deserve to be in a more advanced learning program than get accepted to the HGCs.  But, we have the system we have, so we do what we can to help out our kids.

Also, the parents who say they don't prep - I find that hard to believe.  Do you read to your kids at night?  Play math games with them online?  Help them with their homework?  That's all a form of 'prepping' your kid for success in academics.  Buying an extra workbook isn't really a huge deal.  [/quote]

I posted before about familiarizing a child with the questions. I'm partly Asian too, and agree with this poster! ALL children should be doing the in-depth, interesting projects that are being done in the HGC, instead of the often ill-conceived and poorly prepared worksheets that are the staple of other schools. It's a completely different level of intellectual and critical thinking, which all children should at least be exposed to.

The best you can do as a parent is show your child what to expect. Research has shown that intensive preparation does not increase the score significantly, but you can try that if you're not convinced, by all means! The reason parents do intensive and specific prep courses is that they think these tests are the same as the SATs, which CAN be prepared. Actually the IQ-types tests such as Cogats are designed to test cognitive ability, not knowledge, therefore you cannot score higher than your best cognitive potential, even if you practice endlessly. The question is how to reach that threshold, and a good night's sleep, hearty breakfast and focused mindset on test day does infinitely more than any amount of prepping.
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