OP -

Please say you will apply! Let's close this thread now.

I think it IS a county-wide curriculum change, but that HCGs are always a little more free to buck these changes and adapt the curriculum.

My DD's school (not HCG) went on and on about the writing-to-inform push. That said, she's already written poetry, etc. this year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not having a filter (even at 9) is different from being really smart or "gifted" or whatever. My kid is at a center and is really smart and has never acted like this. He is smart. He is confident in being smart. In addition, he has the intuition and "street smarts" to know that this type of bragging is just annoying.
To use PP's analogy. The kid who is a really great athlete lets the skills speak for themselves. Just do it. Don't talk about it. True with intelligence just as it is for sports.

I agree that bragging is annoying (there are annoying people and braggarts in regular schools too) but I think that often people think that smart kids are bragging when they might just be vocal and eager to share or discuss their interests/knowledge. People who are gifted in other areas (athletics for example) don't usually get slammed for displaying their talents. For some reason it is ok to call someone "weird" smart or "scary" smart but we don't usually refer to talented athletes in the same way.

For the PP who asked, so far it doesn't seem as creative as I'd hoped. Really, I see nothing creative about it so far. They told us at orientation that they are taking "creative" largely out of the writing portion of class. They will be learning "informative writing" mostly. Not writing stories. I think this is part of the new curriculum. Anyway, I find it a little sad. I think this is an age at which we should still be encouraging creativity. I also thought there might be more student-driven learning, but from the orientation it seems that is not how it works. (but maybe they do do that informally in the classroom? I hope!) Otherwise, it's a little hard to describe what I find a little disappointing.

There was a PP who said that she loved the program because it was so creative. I wonder what she meant?

My child is in 5th at an HGC. The writing assignment right now is for an adventure story. They do the exposition, get feedback, do a rough draft, get feedback etc. It seems very creative to me, and the 5th grade has gone to 2.0 this year.

That's awesome! That makes me hopeful. (and people should take more from this than from my after-one-month first impressions) Anyway, I'm glad that maybe focusing mostly on "informative" writing isn't a county-wide curriculum change.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not having a filter (even at 9) is different from being really smart or "gifted" or whatever. My kid is at a center and is really smart and has never acted like this. He is smart. He is confident in being smart. In addition, he has the intuition and "street smarts" to know that this type of bragging is just annoying.
To use PP's analogy. The kid who is a really great athlete lets the skills speak for themselves. Just do it. Don't talk about it. True with intelligence just as it is for sports.

I agree that bragging is annoying (there are annoying people and braggarts in regular schools too) but I think that often people think that smart kids are bragging when they might just be vocal and eager to share or discuss their interests/knowledge. People who are gifted in other areas (athletics for example) don't usually get slammed for displaying their talents. For some reason it is ok to call someone "weird" smart or "scary" smart but we don't usually refer to talented athletes in the same way.

For the PP who asked, so far it doesn't seem as creative as I'd hoped. Really, I see nothing creative about it so far. They told us at orientation that they are taking "creative" largely out of the writing portion of class. They will be learning "informative writing" mostly. Not writing stories. I think this is part of the new curriculum. Anyway, I find it a little sad. I think this is an age at which we should still be encouraging creativity. I also thought there might be more student-driven learning, but from the orientation it seems that is not how it works. (but maybe they do do that informally in the classroom? I hope!) Otherwise, it's a little hard to describe what I find a little disappointing.

There was a PP who said that she loved the program because it was so creative. I wonder what she meant?

My child is in 5th at an HGC. The writing assignment right now is for an adventure story. They do the exposition, get feedback, do a rough draft, get feedback etc. It seems very creative to me, and the 5th grade has gone to 2.0 this year.

That's sad to hear -- DS is now an 8th grader but he did lots of creative stuff at the Center: stories, poems, art, etc. I remember it clearly because he's not particularly fond of "creative" and it was sometimes a struggle!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not having a filter (even at 9) is different from being really smart or "gifted" or whatever. My kid is at a center and is really smart and has never acted like this. He is smart. He is confident in being smart. In addition, he has the intuition and "street smarts" to know that this type of bragging is just annoying.
To use PP's analogy. The kid who is a really great athlete lets the skills speak for themselves. Just do it. Don't talk about it. True with intelligence just as it is for sports.

I agree that bragging is annoying (there are annoying people and braggarts in regular schools too) but I think that often people think that smart kids are bragging when they might just be vocal and eager to share or discuss their interests/knowledge. People who are gifted in other areas (athletics for example) don't usually get slammed for displaying their talents. For some reason it is ok to call someone "weird" smart or "scary" smart but we don't usually refer to talented athletes in the same way.

okay, I'm the OP who used the term obnoxiously smart. I meant it affectionately. I do think kids pass through a know-it-all stage. I see it in my own kid. What I found interesting at the HGC is that some kids seem to be constantly correcting other kids. I think if I were a kid I'd find that annoying. But maybe they don't. My child hasn't complained. I guess it really is about sharing what they know, which is part of what I hoped for at an HGC. So I'll retract the obnoxiously smart comment. (fwiw, I see "scary smart" as a compliment. It just means someone shows an intelligence that is so bright and blazing that it startles people. There is something unsettling about that kind of intelligence. I've never found it offensive when I heard it. Of course, it was never used in reference to me. (and was usually used when the "scary smart" person was not present.) I see how people could object, and I'll probably never use the term, but when I've heard it it was always fondly and respectfully used. And I do think similar things can be used for athletes. "Crazy talented", etc)

And, by the way, I don't understand the people offended by people referring to someone as weirdly smart. I've used that for my own child. What I mean by it is that he was not one of those really obviously smart kids (the ones who talk a lot about what they know, and, yes, correct people). Instead, he would seem like he's always in his own world and not listening half the time. But every once in a while (starting from very young) he'd come out with something just crazy. Something that sort of made us drop our jaws and go "what the hell?" Then he'd go back to being his spacey oblivious self. I used weirdly smart to mean that it was not consistent or obvious, but just, well, weird sometimes. Weird too, in that he would know something unexpected (like a math thing) at, say, 2 years old, but then not know it at 4. So as parents we're left wondering well, is he "gifted" or was that just a random flash in the pan?

Also, I realize that it's too soon in the year to judge the program. That's why I pointed out that our son just started 4th grade. So you would know that I was just giving a first impression.

For the PP who asked, so far it doesn't seem as creative as I'd hoped. Really, I see nothing creative about it so far. They told us at orientation that they are taking "creative" largely out of the writing portion of class. They will be learning "informative writing" mostly. Not writing stories. I think this is part of the new curriculum. Anyway, I find it a little sad. I think this is an age at which we should still be encouraging creativity. I also thought there might be more student-driven learning, but from the orientation it seems that is not how it works. (but maybe they do do that informally in the classroom? I hope!) Otherwise, it's a little hard to describe what I find a little disappointing.

There was a PP who said that she loved the program because it was so creative. I wonder what she meant?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not having a filter (even at 9) is different from being really smart or "gifted" or whatever. My kid is at a center and is really smart and has never acted like this. He is smart. He is confident in being smart. In addition, he has the intuition and "street smarts" to know that this type of bragging is just annoying.
To use PP's analogy. The kid who is a really great athlete lets the skills speak for themselves. Just do it. Don't talk about it. True with intelligence just as it is for sports.

I agree that bragging is annoying (there are annoying people and braggarts in regular schools too) but I think that often people think that smart kids are bragging when they might just be vocal and eager to share or discuss their interests/knowledge. People who are gifted in other areas (athletics for example) don't usually get slammed for displaying their talents. For some reason it is ok to call someone "weird" smart or "scary" smart but we don't usually refer to talented athletes in the same way.

Exactly. When I was a kid I used all sorts of big words and people thought I was showing off, which bewildered me.

Anonymous wrote:Not having a filter (even at 9) is different from being really smart or "gifted" or whatever. My kid is at a center and is really smart and has never acted like this. He is smart. He is confident in being smart. In addition, he has the intuition and "street smarts" to know that this type of bragging is just annoying.
To use PP's analogy. The kid who is a really great athlete lets the skills speak for themselves. Just do it. Don't talk about it. True with intelligence just as it is for sports.

I agree that bragging is annoying (there are annoying people and braggarts in regular schools too) but I think that often people think that smart kids are bragging when they might just be vocal and eager to share or discuss their interests/knowledge. People who are gifted in other areas (athletics for example) don't usually get slammed for displaying their talents. For some reason it is ok to call someone "weird" smart or "scary" smart but we don't usually refer to talented athletes in the same way.