Tell me how your gifted pre-schooler did in Kindergarten and beyond - Page 4

[ChristaN]

Originally Posted by JudiAU 

Why? I was part of an excellent gifted program in a public school so I know it can work. I'd prefer to offer enrichment at home in LO's primary area(s) of giftedness.

And I have a lot of negative experience with homeschooling (15+ cousins and family members), some of whom where gifted in various ways, that resulted in very limited educations and poor social skills.

I've seen homeschooling well done and poorly done and I have seen some instances where it results in limited social skills so I do understand that end but it doesn't have to be that way.

I am assuming that your "why" is addressed as why I needed to make significant accommodations and why I feel that the GT programs are a better fit for bright high achievers than gifted kids.  I'm running so I'll be brief, but basically we've seen a dumbing down of general education to the point that many families want more for their children and many children who are not technically gifted can do more.

Our local school districts wind up placing about 15-20% of the kids in GT or accelerated classes.  That leaves kids in the top 1-2% standing out like a sore thumb in those placements and not having the classes geared toward their needs b/c they are still outliers in that setting.  My kids are also HG and one is 2e.  Both of them started early and one has skipped a grade and has many areas where the work has still been more about large quantity than appropriate level.

[USAmma]

Getting on late in this thread-- I homeschooled my dd1 through both K and 1st grade and some 2nd grade before she was K age. Then I went back to school, and I decided to put dd in school full time when she started K. She was considered gifted in K-1st grade and her education was supplemented to meet her needs by the school. Unfortunately the school went downhill and I had to move her to another school. I have seen her gradually normalize so that I don't believe she's "gifted" anymore but still very bright and a high achiever. She has focused a lot more on friends and social stuff and is less driven to learn academic type subjects. She still scores as way above grade level with her writing abilities, and loves to write books and stories, and is part of a gifted program just for young writers. But she is no longer all around gifted. I think she still finds school pretty easy except she does not like putting in the time for some of the bigger projects like biographical reports and science fair. 

[whatsnextmom]

Originally Posted by ChristaN 

I feel that the GT programs are a better fit for bright high achievers than gifted kids.  I'm running so I'll be brief, but basically we've seen a dumbing down of general education to the point that many families want more for their children and many children who are not technically gifted can do more.

Our local school districts wind up placing about 15-20% of the kids in GT or accelerated classes.  That leaves kids in the top 1-2% standing out like a sore thumb in those placements and not having the classes geared toward their needs b/c they are still outliers in that setting.  My kids are also HG and one is 2e.  Both of them started early and one has skipped a grade and has many areas where the work has still been more about large quantity than appropriate level.

What's an appropriate programs for gifted kids can really vary. Both my kids tested in the top percentile and are considered highly gifted. 

My eldest actually does BETTER in high achiever classes than gifted ones. She is extremely driven, independant and prefers to be with very focused individuals gifted or not. High achiever classes can offer this and it's been far easier for her to move at her own pace within this environment. Gifted programming has been a huge disapointment to her even with a grade skip and additional subject accelerations. Often, they actually move slower through the material because they get bogged down in pointless debate (some can be good but debate just for the sake of argument can really drag a class down.) Currently she's in the HG program at her high school (must be 99.9th percentile to qualify) but most of her classmates are unfocused and argumentative. The wasted time and caotic enviroment drive her to distraction. She much prefers AP and honors courses that allow her to work at her own pace amoungst other independant and dedicated students (many of which are also gifted.)

DS on the other hand, loves to be in GATE. He loves to go off on tangents and cares little about whether they cover the needed material that day or not. It'll be interesting to see what happens in middle school this fall when he'll still have a GATE social studies class but the rest are pretty much high-achiever/honors classes. I suspect some trouble as he really doesn't have the work ethic, organizational skills, nor drive the high achievers in that school do.

My point, personality has as much and even more to do with what works for a gifted child than IQ.

My point, especially in the upper grades, personality and learning style can be far more important in finding a fit than level of giftedness of your peers. 

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by whatsnextmom 

My point, personality has as much and even more to do with what works for a gifted child than IQ.

My point, especially in the upper grades, personality and learning style can be far more important in finding a fit than level of giftedness of your peers. 

I agree with both these points.

[whatsnextmom]

Originally Posted by Linda on the move 

I agree with both these points.

LOL, I shouldn't post these from my phone. I tend to repeat myself!

[ChristaN]

We've never had an option of a HG program so I can't say with any certainty how that would work for my kids.  I do believe, though, that the highly inclusive pull out programs they've been in have not been the right fit but are better than nothing.

I still am not clear on the reason behind the comment on homeschooling gifted children being a worse idea than homeschooling any other child.  I do understand that some people have objections to homeschooling or have seen bad outcomes, but I don't understand what would make it any worse for a gifted kid than any other kid.