Anonymous wrote:I personally have seen a kid in my extended family who was the reverse of your question. I know you didn’t ask about early bloomer but I still wanted to mention it. This kid was brilliant throughout elementary, MS and HS. Identified as gifted by school. Top performer in various extra-curricular activities. NMF. Won a international medal. Reached state level in a sport. Fast forward to now-dropped out of engineering program after struggling for 5 years and now has 2 more years left to complete a non-engineering degree. This has been a big lesson for me as a parent.

What does this mean?

I personally have seen a kid in my extended family who was the reverse of your question. I know you didn’t ask about early bloomer but I still wanted to mention it. This kid was brilliant throughout elementary, MS and HS. Identified as gifted by school. Top performer in various extra-curricular activities. NMF. Won a international medal. Reached state level in a sport. Fast forward to now-dropped out of engineering program after struggling for 5 years and now has 2 more years left to complete a non-engineering degree. This has been a big lesson for me as a parent.

lots!!

I don’t know how late this is, but I have three children.

My oldest isn’t in high school yet but is an academic rock sock star. Not an early reader, scored very average on standardized tests 1st-3rd grade. Then 4th grade on has been 99% percentile and is in precalc this year in 8th grade. Same for story for my other child a couple years younger but just as smart.

I know quite a few adults who were average or below average students and are killing it in their careers and lives now. They all have excellent social skills and common sense.

What it takes to be a successful student is not always what it takes to be a successful person.

I know A LOT of the reverse - kids who were "early stars" and then peaked relatively early or even flamed out. I am one, so is DH and so are most of my high school and college friends. I was in the honors dorm in college; of my dozen or so good friends from the dorm, 3 didn't graduate and 4 others are living in various low-income or off-the-grid situations. They tease me for being "fancy" with my modest government job. But my late-bloomer college boyfriend majored in communications and got rich as a realtor, good for him.

It certainly is possible. There is research suggesting that children from lower SES backgrounds show a muted impact of genes on IQ because their environment is relatively unsupportive. In a better environment, intellectual potential can be expressed and grow.

My niece graduated from Hunter HS in NYC this past Spring (public magnet school for gifted children). She tested to enter at Kinder and didn't get in, tested again for high school and did.
Almost without exception, the children who entered Hunter in high school did far, far better than those who were chosen for Kinder (niece just started at an Ivy). Judging children for giftedness at such a young age is notoriously inconsistent.
I can't comment on the TJ component, but most certainly an "average" elementary school child can end up really blossoming in high school and beyond.

Anonymous wrote:This question is out of curiosity.

Are there any experiences where kids were average in elementary school when it came to iready, nnat, cogat and other tests, but bloomed late and went to TJ, eventually to ivy leagues etc.

I wonder if some kids are late bloomers and their intellectual capacities aren't always visible at a very young age.

I don't know about all of the above, but my kid was average on nnat and bombed the cogat, but they always did really well on the iready and had perfect sols. It took years to get them into liv thanks to the cogats.

My DS was a late bloomer. He is currently 23 years old and has been in the workforce for one year after graduating from college last year. He was in FCPS from K-12.

My DS started kindergarten young - his birthday is in the middle of August and I sent him to Kindergarten on time, about two weeks after he turned 5. Looking back, he really wasn't crazy about school, didn't like to read and really just wanted to be playing. He did not get into AAP in 3rd grade and was in Gen Ed.

Fast forward to 5th grade, and his teacher sparked something in him - all of a sudden, he became a very motivated, energetic learner. He took all honors in middle school. He did apply to TJ but didn't get in, but at that point, he wasn't sure how much he really liked his STEM classes. His FCPS high school is an IB high school and he graduated with the IB diploma in the top 5% of his class. He went to William & Mary - graduated with honors in Data Analytics and had three job honors in the fall of his senior year. He recently found out he was tagged a "must hire" by his company.

Is my DS gifted? No. But he's very motivated, hard working and self driven. Looking at his cohort in high school, the top graduates were a mix of former AAP and Gen Ed kids. So he was not an anomaly - motivation is a huge asset in academic success.

I just read this novel, it's fantastic!

Anonymous wrote:I struggled in ES due to learning disabilities and ADHD. We figured out how I processed and tested in Freshman year of high school. I went to a small liberal arts college for undergrad and then to a top 20 school to earn my PhD.

You don’t need TJ or the Ivies to do well in life.

But.. but.. that TJ honey pot is just so darn attractive and beckons to all the parents.. the irresistible thoughts of imagining their kid there from day 1 drowns out any other possibilities in life for them.

I struggled in ES due to learning disabilities and ADHD. We figured out how I processed and tested in Freshman year of high school. I went to a small liberal arts college for undergrad and then to a top 20 school to earn my PhD.

You don’t need TJ or the Ivies to do well in life.

I cannot recall the movie name but sure.

This question is out of curiosity.

Are there any experiences where kids were average in elementary school when it came to iready, nnat, cogat and other tests, but bloomed late and went to TJ, eventually to ivy leagues etc.

I wonder if some kids are late bloomers and their intellectual capacities aren't always visible at a very young age.