IQ score question and school choice (Plano, Garland: home, neighborhood, buy)

[MobiusStrip]

I know we are in early days but I have to decide were we are going to put our roots down. My kids are 3 1/2. I just had their IQs tested at 154 and 150. Please reassure me that a better school in Plano or McKinney can meet their needs and that they don't NEED to go to a G&T school (as in the Garland district). I am sure many people here have very bright kids...how satisfied have you been with your choice? Is the curriculum individualized enough for your child? Did kindergarten bore them? Thanks!

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by MobiusStrip

I know we are in early days but I have to decide were we are going to put our roots down. My kids are 3 1/2. I just had their IQs tested at 154 and 150. Please reassure me that a better school in Plano or McKinney can meet their needs and that they don't NEED to go to a G&T school (as in the Garland district). I am sure many people here have very bright kids...how satisfied have you been with your choice? Is the curriculum individualized enough for your child? Did kindergarten bore them? Thanks!

IQ tests at that age tell you less than you may think. Your kids are a couple of standard deviations plus above the mean for 3.5yos. That may mean you've taught them to read and cyper numbers etc. Treat this as a data point. If your kids remain 2+ standard deviations above the mean as the years go by then you need to be really concerned as unchallenged super bright kids suffer in regular enrirons many times.

[pinipig523]

At 3.5 age... you have to be careful that your scores are not erroneous.

But, if they truly are at an IQ of 150s, they are technically geniuses. Moreso than me (my IQ was 130-137 depending on the test) and I turned out fine. You will need to ensure they are in a school where they are challenged... good luck!

[MobiusStrip]

EDS, my daughter has taught herself to read to an extent and they have taught themselves a bit of addition but no. I did not even let them watch literacy based television till recently and we stay away from most electronic gadgets - they each have a digital camera and I have a nice keyboard my daughter loves but I am mostly just like to let them play and read to them a fair bit. I think we'd be more at home in Finland or Germany educationally. They have some age-appropriate workbooks but they just pick one up and work in it if they happen to feel like it, and that only happens a few times a week.

This is a little personal to share but they came to me through embryo donation and both egg donor and donating family father were very bright, accomplished people (and had no financial incentive to embellish). I knew my kids were very bright but was unsure how bright (and I know I am still not sure but this gave some indication that yes, they are as bright as I think they are).

Will McKinney or Plano likely satisfy us? I know Plano especially produces (or attracts maybe) some stratospherically (sp) bright kids.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by MobiusStrip

EDS, my daughter has taught herself to read to an extent and they have taught themselves a bit of addition but no. I did not even let them watch literacy based television till recently and we stay away from most electronic gadgets - they each have a digital camera and I have a nice keyboard my daughter loves but I am mostly just like to let them play and read to them a fair bit. I think we'd be more at home in Finland or Germany educationally. They have some age-appropriate workbooks but they just pick one up and work in it if they happen to feel like it, and that only happens a few times a week.

This is a little personal to share but they came to me through embryo donation and both egg donor and donating family father were very bright, accomplished people (and had no financial incentive to embellish). I knew my kids were very bright but was unsure how bright (and I know I am still not sure but this gave some indication that yes, they are as bright as I think they are).

Will McKinney or Plano likely satisfy us? I know Plano especially produces (or attracts maybe) some stratospherically (sp) bright kids.

If I were you I'd lean towards Plano over McKinney. Others from Plano will better explain why, however, for one metric Plano has a super impressive math program for seriously bright kids called "Math Rocks". PISD also has a long history helping exceedingly bright kids thrive.

[MobiusStrip]

I actually majored in math as did donating family father . Maybe we will go that way.

[pinipig523]

Congrats on really smart kids.

I would also do Plano based on what I've read on the boards... No experience per myself.

[MobiusStrip]

pinipig I am very, very blessed. They arrived at 25 weeks so I had reason to dread/expect a very different outcome. I made a lot of nutritional choices both when pregnant and in their early days that may have swayed their intellectual development.

[PISDstudent]

I went through PACE, Plano ISD's gifted program, and had great experiences from that program. I have no personal experience with Math Rocks, but have only heard positive things about the program.

One piece of advice: wherever your end up, I would see if you could find a school environment that is less- how should I say it- structured and didactic (I know, it's hard to see whether or not a school is like this), I think very smart kids tend to learn differently than others, and in a more outdated, structured classroom, teachers often don't appreciate this and fail to adjust to the kid. But that's just my 2 cents.

[gymrat]

My D was in the GT program and I saw what PISD is talking about. Kids everywhere! Took me back at first then I realized this was how this kind of kid operates. These kids are not in a box. They can not be put in a box. Yes, they had some structure. It was not a classroom of chaos nor was it your typical class where every student does the exact same thing at the exact same time. I really liked that even in 1st grade in the magnet the kids were already changing classes between the 3 teachers for each subject based on what level they were on in that subject. Even within the GT classroom you will have kids that move at different learning paces than their peers. How accomodating are the teachers and the school in allowing such? Say a kid is blowing right thru all of the math classes do they have the resources at the school to accomodate that child? Will they allow them to be taken to the next school level (elementary to middle school and middle school to the high school) for a math class? One of my D's peers was allowed to do this. He is now at TAMS.

I am not a big fan of the pull out programs that some districts institute or they do on the neighborhood level if the parent does not want their child at a magnet school. Basically, the student does all of the same work as everyone else. Except a few times a week for sometimes an hour at a time they are pulled out and given "extra work". This is when a kid that is exceptionally bright flounders and can be deemed a "distraction" in the regular classroom. I saw kids in my D's GT classes that if they were in a "normal" school they would be in the office every day all day long. In the GT classes they are given the chance to expand that energy into something useful. Some kids dig reading a dictionary. And this could be when they are seen as "different" by their peers in a "normal" classroom and the bullying could begin. I personally liked that my geeky kid was around kids that were just like her and they all thought they were normal and nothing special about them.

Yes, I had that kid that taught herself to read at 2. She could do simple math by 3 and was constantly taking things apart to see how they worked. I would buy her workbooks from the teacher supply stores and just had them on her shelves for her if she wanted to do them. She loved them. She played with her puzzles, barbies, hot wheels, fisher price little people, etc. Even now as a teenager she is not into watching tv and has never gotten into playing video games. She has had it all available to her but she prefers doing things with her hands and has always enjoyed being outside and active.

Best of luck to you in your journey with your kids. It can be a lot of fun. Trying at times but always fun