Reply to Why obsess over getting into gifted program?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote]I didn't see any Bible references here.

[b]The highly accomplished athletes you mention were all born with extremely high athletic ability. [/b]That combined with hard work is what got them to where they are. A person could swim all day but without the underlying ability and correct body type, that person is not going to transform into a Michael Phelps. One can be a pretty good swimmer, but not a Michael Phelps. And from reading bios of Olympic athletes, it appears many of them were identified by coaches as extremely talented at an early age and put into select training programs. Kids still join swim teams even though they know they can't be Michael Phelps because swimming is a healthy activity that helps a child to be fit and also learn a lot about discipline and persistence.

It is good to read extensively and explore academic interests because we can be learning new things our entire lives even without being a "global intellectual star." Some people learn more quickly and more easily than others, just as some people swim or run faster than others.

Athletes practice a whole range of skills needed for their sport, not just one. An athlete who is really, really good at only one aspect of a sport will not be successful in the long run. A young student needs to engage in many different types of learning to be successful in the long run. [b]A student who spends all his or her time on standardized test prep will become very good at taking standardized tests, but won't necessarily be successful at other types of academic endeavors. [/b]Why not spend some of that time reading extensively, going to a concert or a play, walking through a park, or gazing up at the night sky with a good pair of binoculars? Pick up a flyer at your local library and see all the programs and events they have available.

There are lots of choices on the continuum in between practicing standardized test questions and "clutching a remote." No need for expensive test prep books or courses that are limited to a particular set of test taking skills. There are so many free things that can be done with children to engage and encourage their love of learning. [/quote]

Absolute nonsense.  Where did you get this information from?  Or are you playing armchair quarterback through the retrospectoscope?  Michael Jordan even failed to make his High School basketball team.   How it is so easy to talk about brilliance, intellect and extremely high intellectual ability -- well after the Nobel and Olympic prizes?

My dear, standardized tests and their preparation are but a small facet of mental exercising and training leading to increased intellectual ability.  But, you had better believe it's a form of mental training and exercise.  Try it some day, before it's too late.  Given their "innate supreme ability you clearly diagnosed and knew about" when these athletes were mere children it would have been performance suicide if these athletics had not intensely prepared, trained, repetitively for many hours/day, days/week and years to get to where we all acknowledge they are.  The scores do matter as did all those ribbons as a child by these athletes.

Yes, intellectual, mental and academic scores do matter just as the ribbons, club and team trophies mattered before the Nobels and Olympic Golds!  They certainly mattered to the athletes and matter to some of our brightest!!

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