Schools for Gifted Children (Burnsville, Echo: lawyers, home, buying)

[kim825]

forgot to mention:

Kuan: what you are referring to is a "prodigy" most likely. Research gifted children, it is different.

and, for anyone reading this thread considering moving to MN.... posts by golfgal, Kuan, and ozzie are prime examples of why the "Minnesota Nice" thing is one HUGE joke!!

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by kim825

Yet another rude post, Yes, four gifted kids....... Obviously you have no idea what the definition of "gifted" is or you are using some very limited definition.

And, I have NO idea what to do with my kids, every year we have to re-evaluate their educational setting and needs. We worry about peer relationships, etc. It's not a "dream come true" for a parent like you must think I'm pretending.

Do some research before you rudely post, you have no idea what a "gifted child" is.

Funny, but I do know very well what gifted means and the majority of people who think their children are gifted are just smart kids. IQ has very little to do with giftedness but yes, the schools do use that as a benchmark. My kids are well above the gifted IQ of 160, thank you, however being gifted is more of the way they process how they learn vs being overly smart. I don't really need to do any research as I do fully understand what I am talking about and as for rudeness, I was not rude, just pointing out that most kids who are classified as 'gifted' in schools are NOT gifted but they are very bright and therefore end up in GATE programs for their accelerated learning-which my kids are a part of, BTW, but I don't consider them gifted.

Originally Posted by kim825

forgot to mention:

Kuan: what you are referring to is a "prodigy" most likely. Research gifted children, it is different.

and, for anyone reading this thread considering moving to MN.... posts by golfgal, Kuan, and ozzie are prime examples of why the "Minnesota Nice" thing is one HUGE joke!!

Again, we were not being rude, just honest. I am glad you have bright children but gifted is another thing.

[Minervah]

for anyone reading this thread considering moving to MN.... posts by golfgal, Kuan, and ozzie are prime examples of why the "Minnesota Nice" thing is one HUGE joke!!

Well, I am considering moving to Minnesota and I think I would fit right in with them because I happen to agree with them. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I'm sorry you can't accept the fact people define something differently than you do.

[kuan]

Originally Posted by kim825

Yet another rude post, Yes, four gifted kids....... Obviously you have no idea what the definition of "gifted" is or you are using some very limited definition.

And, I have NO idea what to do with my kids, every year we have to re-evaluate their educational setting and needs. We worry about peer relationships, etc. It's not a "dream come true" for a parent like you must think I'm pretending.

Do some research before you rudely post, you have no idea what a "gifted child" is.

I was complimenting you on your kids. You get to hang out with four every day. I've only seen one in my life. Why are you so defensive? They're extremely rare and you have a cluster of them.

[Camden Northsider]

I think what "gifted" kids need more than anything is 'normal' socialization with their everyday peers. I definitely did not meet the "gifted" definition used by many on this thread, but my own parents didn't take the recommendation of the elementary school I attended to have me advance ahead in grade level but chose to keep me with my peers instead. Personally I hated being separated from my n'hood friends in "talented and gifted" programs comprised of kids who had somehow developed some severe intellectual snobbery at a very early age, and in high school the competition amongst my overachieving "AP" peers to get the best test scores (2 scored perfects on both their SAT and ACT) and best scholarships to the best schools was pretty insane.

If I had a gifted kid, I would definitely discourage them from thinking that they are way different (or way above) all the other kids their age as this can lead to complexes/ problems down the road. My efforts would focus on encouraging normal child socialization (making friends, playing sports, and just being kids) wherever I could. On one hand, if a kid is gifted they're not going to lose their "gift" by going to a normal school and not being challenged every hour of the day - however, the risk you run is that they may become disruptive, learn to be bored by/ dislike school from the start, and/or feel alienated from their peers who are just beginning to learn things that have been known to them for years - so it can be a tough position for a parent to be in.

If it were me, I think a good compromise might be a magnet school (maybe an arts magnet?) or a second language immersion school of which there are many around the cities - that way they potentially are still being challenged and learning something new alongside of a more diverse group of peers without focusing too much attention on how advanced/ gifted they are.

*Also, if they do go to a "normal" school, one possible side-benefit of having peers not as advanced as they are would be the ability/ opportunity to develop some good teaching and/or leadership skills in group/ partner activities.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Camden Northsider

I think what "gifted" kids need more than anything is 'normal' socialization with their everyday peers. I definitely did not meet the "gifted" definition used by many on this thread, but my own parents didn't take the recommendation of the elementary school I attended to have me advance ahead in grade level but chose to keep me with my peers instead. Personally I hated being separated from my n'hood friends in "talented and gifted" programs comprised of kids who had somehow developed some severe intellectual snobbery at a very early age, and in high school the competition amongst my overachieving "AP" peers to get the best test scores (2 scored perfects on both their SAT and ACT) and best scholarships to the best schools was pretty insane.

If I had a gifted kid, I would definitely discourage them from thinking that they are way different (or way above) all the other kids their age as this can lead to complexes/ problems down the road. My efforts would focus on encouraging normal child socialization (making friends, playing sports, and just being kids) wherever I could. On one hand, if a kid is gifted they're not going to lose their "gift" by going to a normal school and not being challenged every hour of the day - however, the risk you run is that they may become disruptive, learn to be bored by/ dislike school from the start, and/or feel alienated from their peers who are just beginning to learn things that have been known to them for years - so it can be a tough position for a parent to be in.

If it were me, I think a good compromise might be a magnet school (maybe an arts magnet?) or a second language immersion school of which there are many around the cities - that way they potentially are still being challenged and learning something new alongside of a more diverse group of peers without focusing too much attention on how advanced/ gifted they are.

*Also, if they do go to a "normal" school, one possible side-benefit of having peers not as advanced as they are would be the ability/ opportunity to develop some good teaching and/or leadership skills in group/ partner activities.

That is one thing I really like about our program, our GATE director works with the individual classroom teachers to design work for the kids that fits in with what they are doing in the classroom, yet to their level. The kids are not pulled out of class but are given the GATE work vs the other work. They are with their friends but still have the accelerated work. I was in the same situation where the school wanted to advance me a grade and my parents said no. I did go to math and reading class in the higher grade level rooms but otherwise I was with my peers. I appreciated that the most when I got to high school and was getting my driver's license and whatnot at the same time as my friends.

[MNNative]

What exactly is the definition of "gifted"? Is it a certain IQ? A certain ability? Where's the line between a smart kid and a gifted one? Seems to me that the general public uses advanced & gifted interchangeably. I doubt that many people are educated on where the line is exactly.

I recently heard that school districts sort of have their own benchmarks. Example: District A has a group of kids where the norm is level 10. Anyone who performs above level 10 is classified as gifted/talented. However, District B's kids generally perform at level 15 and those performing above that are seen as gifted/talented. Already off the bat, the kids in District B would all be considered gifted/talented if they went to District A. Am I making any sense?

I think there's a sort of "snobbery" attached to the term "gifted". If you are a gifted child or a parent of one, you are viewed as a snob. Someone seeking to be viewed as better than the rest, whether true of those people's intentions or not. For some reason I don't see this being the case with kids who are just "smarter". If you're taking AP classes you aren't THAT much better than everyone else. Branded with the name "gifted" and well... Just look at the reaction of those on this site. I'm sure the same people who scoffed at the OP and the mother of 4 for talking about their gifted kids, would have provided helpful information for those same people had they been talking about their children who needed to find a good AP program or school district that better tailors to 2nd graders who need to be doing 4th grade math, for example.

I really feel the problem is that the term "gifted" is thrown around loosely while the general public feels it should be reserved to a very rare few.

Now having said all that I'm not defending or accusing any of the posters here. I don't know any of you personally so I don't know what the OP's situation is, etc. I'll be honest and say that I didn't even think anything of it when I saw this thread. I saw a person who wanted helpful information and I tried to help. (naive me I guess) I'll also admit that when I saw the post from the parent of "4 gifted children" I thought, whoa! Really? Four? But as I think I've made clear, I don't know what "gifted" truly means.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by kim825

and, for anyone reading this thread considering moving to MN.... posts by golfgal, Kuan, and ozzie are prime examples of why the "Minnesota Nice" thing is one HUGE joke!!

It's interesting that we Minnesotans (or former Minnesotans) are criticized for supposedly pretending to be nice, but when we come out and openly question and/or criticize, we're also chastised for not living up to this "Minnesota Nice" image.

Which do you want? You can't criticize the natives for their non-confrontational behaviors and then slam them when they don't live up to that billing all at the same time, at least with any degree of integrity.

[MNNative]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

It's interesting that we Minnesotans (or former Minnesotans) are criticized for supposedly pretending to be nice, but when we come out and openly question and/or criticize, we're also chastised for not living up to this "Minnesota Nice" image.

Which do you want? You can't criticize the natives for their non-confrontational behaviors and then slam them when they don't live up to that billing all at the same time, at least with any degree of integrity.

Good observation.

[ozzie679]

Originally Posted by kim825

So does IQ evidence of all four of my children count as them being gifted????? I should have mentioned in my last post that ALL four of my children have been tested with the appropriate IQ tests used by the schools and all four test in the exceptionally to profoundly gifted range (IQ 160+.) I don't like to post this info because I don't want to come off as "bragging" or something but your uninformed response gave me no choice. I'm sorry that your kids do not have the IQ tests to show they are "gifted" but mine all do. They were all tested by a nationally known expert and we've done numerous evaluations because they were so far beyond the norm. I know the difference between a highly achieving bright student and a "gifted" one. I've done hundreds of hours of research, education, etc. trying to understand them better and figure out why they dont' fit well with age peers.

I know that many kids, "high achievers", can read well above grade level, I know that happens quite frequently. My kids are beyond that and they are all gifted. When my youngest could identify all of his upper and lower case letters at 13mths without formal teaching, I knew something was up. He's just turned 3 and has pretty much an unlimited vocabulary. Whether you want to believe "mom" or not, I know my kids and I know the differences they deal with by being "gifted."

By the way, NO the school I'm referring to in IGH has never had a problem with the dept. of ed. It's part of their regular district and not a charter. I think you are referring to a charter school. There are several gifted magnet schools in the metro because there is a great need. Especially with stupid mandates like "no child left behind" forcing schools to focus on the bottom tier of students.

If you are any sort of responsible moderator, I think an apology is in order. I also believe that your tone toward the orginal poster was very rude and assuming on your part. Why can't someone come here looking for help without being attacked?