New Ipad App for Cogat or Fairfax abilities test - Gifted and Talented program (to buy, backyard)

[tester74]

I have been following the gifted and talented forums passively and have learnt quite a lot reading the posts. Thought of contributing my 2 cents so that someone else can also benefit from it.

My 1st kid is in Fairfax GT program while the 2nd kid will take the GT test this year. I know a lot of forums members hate preparing for the GT tests, so please excuse my post. My reasoning is that since most of the kids prepare for the test, I would not want to disadvantage my kid by not preparing for the test.

For my 1st kids preparation, he did not have enough books or material to prepare, but lot of resources are available today for my 2nd kid. A new app on the Ipad just caught my eye today. It is called CogatPrep and is free on the Apple app store. I have not gotten a chance to buy a test ($2.99 each), but the free version has around 45 questions and it seems pretty challenging and might be good material for the kids to use. My 1st kid mentioned that the questions in the app are very close to what is on the real test and so might be good material. The app claims that $2.99 will download a full length Cogat Test with 195 questions, so wanted to check if any of the members have used the app and can share their feedback

[newtocogat]

Hi,

My child is now going to 2nd grade in Fairfax county. Could you please guide how you prepared your kids for the cogat exam and what other apps and books are useful and helpful.

thanks

[mdcrim]

Would a truly gifted and talented kid need to take a prep test? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of seeing if a kid is truly gifted and/or talented?

[choff5]

Originally Posted by tester74

My 1st kid is in Fairfax GT program while the 2nd kid will take the GT test this year. I know a lot of forums members hate preparing for the GT tests, so please excuse my post. My reasoning is that since most of the kids prepare for the test, I would not want to disadvantage my kid by not preparing for the test.

I've always wondered about this type of logic as FCPS is such a diverse system, both culturally and economically, I truly doubt that most kids have prepped for this. You are correct about opinions on this. You may find as much info as you want back on the other forums locally that cater to the parents who have this interest.

[Mnseca]

Originally Posted by mdcrim

Would a truly gifted and talented kid need to take a prep test? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of seeing if a kid is truly gifted and/or talented?

I love it when people say this - that if a kid is truly gifted, they don't need to prepare for the test. If you say that to a Korean mother, they will laugh out loud (I know, because I've told them about this belief and they literally do find it laugh out loud funny). And so far their kids seem to be doing just fine in the gifted programs.

It doesn't take a gifted mind to see that the majority of kids in the gifted programs are just really hard-working students. Smart, yes, but most of them don't have any unusual intellectual capacities. And given the fairly large number of kids in the gifted programs, you have to question the idea that there is anything about these kids that defies ordinary education. At what point are there so many that we can admit they can't possibly be that unusual?

OK, parents of gifted children, you may now commence using this post as yet another excuse to brag about how gifted your kid is. And don't forget to start with "I'm not bragging, but...."

[Forehead]

I'm not bragging, but in the past week, my 2.5 year old son has fallen off a chair he wasn't supposed to climb, giving himself a wicked cut/scab on his back, and run into the backyard with no shoes on and stepped into a pile of crap from our 85 pound dog. Dead center too, he didn't just clip it. He left a foot fossil in the poop mound.

Kid has nuclear physicist written all over him.

[kutra11]

Originally Posted by Forehead

I'm not bragging, but in the past week, my 2.5 year old son has fallen off a chair he wasn't supposed to climb, giving himself a wicked cut/scab on his back, and run into the backyard with no shoes on and stepped into a pile of crap from our 85 pound dog. Dead center too, he didn't just clip it. He left a foot fossil in the poop mound.

Kid has nuclear physicist written all over him.

If only you had read out questions and answers from the CogatPrep app while he was still inside his mommy's tummy, he'd have turned out to be a normal kid! Your rocket scientist is clearly starting off with a disadvantage in this non-competitive FCPS ruled by Tiger Moms.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by Forehead

I'm not bragging, but in the past week, my 2.5 year old son has fallen off a chair he wasn't supposed to climb, giving himself a wicked cut/scab on his back, and run into the backyard with no shoes on and stepped into a pile of crap from our 85 pound dog. Dead center too, he didn't just clip it. He left a foot fossil in the poop mound.

Kid has nuclear physicist written all over him.

I've done that so many times, it doesn't even bother me now. In fact, fresh dog poop underfoot is not unlike warm mud.

Dog poop--it's nature's spa.

[sequon]

Originally Posted by Mnseca

I love it when people say this - that if a kid is truly gifted, they don't need to prepare for the test. If you say that to a Korean mother, they will laugh out loud (I know, because I've told them about this belief and they literally do find it laugh out loud funny).
"

As far as I know, there are no "Gifted and Talented" programs in FCPS. There's only something called "Advanced Academic" program.

"Gifted and Talented" and "Advanced Academic" are two very different things. People are often confused.

It's a nonsense if a parent tries to turn an ordinary child into a gifted one, but as far as AAP goes, I don't see anything wrong with parents wanting their kids to enter the program and prepping for it. I personally do not agree with that, but many parents--whether they are Korean or not--take that approach and they do just fine. It's their choice.

It looks like there was a communication breakdown between you and the Korean mother.

Your comment "if a kid is truly gifted, they don't need to prepare for the test" is absolutely right, but considering that there's no "gifted" program in FCPS, she might have taken it as AAP and if it is phrased like this "if a kid is truly academically advancing, there's no need to prepare for the test"---this does look laughable.

[kutra11]

This should be taken to the AAP forum on the DCUrbanM0M site. You will meet enough posters to convince you that you are the worst parent for not prepping or the best parent for not pressuring your kid.