Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

I am interested in hearing others experiences, especially those whose children were identified young (kindergarten or younger)

What did you do for them as far as school was concerned? Did you have them in a special/enrichment program? What challenges did you have to deal with?

Thanks!

Re: Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

I think my oldest is gifted. He has not been formally identified though, I didn't feel the need to test him at this age. He is four, and going into kindergarten in the fall. I'm concerned about what they are going to do with him in school though. He's been reading since 2.5 years old, is teaching himself Russian for example, and his preschool teachers say he way exceeds expectations academically in his reading, comprehension, etc. I plan to meet with the teacher and maybe principal before school starts to discuss his needs. I don't think he'll be bored yet bc he loves school but he can be perfectionistic. I imagine they'll have to do something different like put him into an older grade reading group. I will have him tested when it's needed. Maybe next year to see if he would qualify for an enrichment program like CW Post on Saturdays.

One challenge I have personally dealt with this is feeling like I need to hide his abilities from parents to avoid looking like I'm showing off.

Re: Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

What a show off

sorry, I had to

That's great! Trying to teach himself Russian is pretty unbelievable.

A lot of people tell me to get DD tested because she's been talking a mile a minute in full sentences for a while now & she has great comprehension skills. She reads some words but I don't think it's enough to qualify her as gifted- even though I think she is genus

Sorry, i guess I'm not much help as far as answering your question but I am also curious to know if anyone has got their child tested.

Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

Not me but my BFFs son is clearly gifted. Everyone could tell from when he was a baby. My friend had him tested and he scored a perfect score without prep. She didn't put him in a school that was specifically for G&T but she does have him in an excellent school that is dual language immersion.

Re: Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

It's funny, but I am a psychologist and perform intelligence testing for gifted identification. I have tested kids as young as four for this, but often parents don't seek testing until five, six, seven or even older. What's the point unless you need the testing for a program or some other reason. I don't know of any enrichment programs that start earlier than kindergarten, and I'm not aware of any district that starts gifted programs before third grade. I am curious what my DS's IQ is but I also kind of don't want to know and put him in a box.

Re: Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

My DS is 5 and in prek right now. We had him tested for the NYC DOE's gifted and talented program for kindergarten in January and he scored in the 99th percentile so was accepted into a G and T class for kindergarten. He will be attended the class although I'm not sure how it's going to go...I keep hearing stories of competitive students and the parents being super competitive and all about homework etc...and that is not us. So we will try it and if it seems like it's all about the rat race and making a 5 year old stressed out, he will be moved to a regular class. I am also a school psychologist and have used DS as a practice subject when I was learning a new assessment...he scored high but I honestly wouldn't know exactly how valid it is since it was me giving it. I honestly don't think of him as gifted...yes, he knows a lot about a lot, can read, etc..but we just encourage him with what he's interested in and don't really push anything on him extra.

Re: Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

When you say "identified as gifted" what do you mean? Is this in reference to IQ test scores?

Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

My next door neighbor is an elementary school psychologist and has mentioned on several occasions we should get DD tested as gifted. She has offered to do it, but says the earliest she likes to do it is 5, but it can be done before that. (She is 3 now).
Her teachers at daycare and the director have met privately with DH and I about DD's "abilities". Two teachers seem to think she has a photographic memory or something along those lines. You read a 15-20 page book to her 2-3x, and she will recite the entire book back word for word. It's scary. She does this with movies too. She will recite 40-50 lines of a movie between two characters verbatim. She has an extensive vocabulary, writes and is beginning to read.
I know she is very smart, but I wouldn't have gone out of my way to get her tested I don't think, it only came as a suggestion from my neighbor and teachers.
Her teachers just give her the next level's work to do, so she doesn't get bored. She's doing the 4-5 yr old classrooms work in her 3-4 yr room. Maybe talk to the teachers and see if they can give her extra things to work on, like writing and such?

Re: Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

I think the main challenges are judgments (whether good or bad) from family members, friends, strangers, etc.

But I also think, especially nowadays, the gifted and talented have a much higher stress/anxiety level. Mostly because there is often more pressure and more testing.

I think personally, gifted and talented kids should just be put in many after school activities that interest them, be given time to work on their own talents and interests (foreign language, or reading, or science or whatever). They need to continue to foster a love for learning, a natural curiosity, their own ways to problem solve... when put in a box so to speak, sometimes they lose these things and then can no longer be who they were or could have been...

as long as they are pushed a little and given new opportunities, they will continue to excel.

just my opinion though.

Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

.....

Message edited 2/28/2015 9:53:39 PM.

Re: Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

Message edited 6/5/2014 9:46:20 AM.

Re: Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

My son who is now five, was identified throuh IQ testing as gifted at 4 1/2. The reason for the testing is because he was having behaviour problems with one of the teachers and we found out it was a result of boredom and she will shut him down. So after reading about behavior problems in 4 year olds and knowing that he was doing great at home, very inquisitive, sensitive, very early fluent reader etc, we realized that he might be gifted and we took him for the IQ test. Since then, we switched schools to provide an individualized curriculum based on Montessori philosophy and he is happy and thriving. We also enrolled him in the Hofsta Gifted Academy where he takes three classes every Saturday and he enjoys it a lot.

Re: Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

My son who is now five, was identified throuh IQ testing as gifted at 4 1/2. The reason for the testing is because he was having behaviour problems with one of the teachers and we found out it was a result of boredom and she will shut him down. So after reading about behavior problems in 4 year olds and knowing that he was doing great at home, very inquisitive, sensitive, very early fluent reader etc, we realized that he might be gifted and we took him for the IQ test. Since then, we switched schools to provide an individualized curriculum based on Montessori philosophy and he is happy and thriving. We also enrolled him in the Hofsta Gifted Academy where he takes three classes every Saturday and he enjoys it a lot.

Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

NYC has testing for children entering Kindergarden, if identified as gifted they are offered a seat in the district magnet program.

Re: Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

Are there schools out there that have gifted programs before 4th grade?
I just asked as my district did not have the gifted and talented program until you were in 4th as my son got into it. They had to cut it due to the budget and then they won't be able to get into honors classes until 7th grade.

Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

AJ was tested in Kinder, I skipped 1st Grade but will send her again in 2nd. Makes no difference to me.

I was identified as gifted in High School. I was overlooked because of poor or average grades for years. They were a result of being bored.

I qualified for GT classes but refused the English option. Mostly because why work harder for an easy A? I was (and still am) a strong believer that College didn't care if I was in Honors and GT if my grades were low 80s-90s. They did care if I had high 90s as an overall GPA. Best part was.. to me, they were freebies! I did take Math and science GTs because they kept me interested and it was fun. I took GT government and Economics because of the math element. I explained my logic to my new found GT classmates. My salutatorian agreed enough to drop Calculus to keep her overall GPA higher LOL. She said "I'm quitting because I have to as YOU for help with my math and I shouldn't have to do that for a grade I don't need"

My husband I agree to test AJ but not push her into a GT or honors program unnecessarily. We want HER to choose to be pushed up or not. Kinder and 1st didn't seem necessary to both of us.

They offer Robotics in 3rd grade her so we'll see if she wants to be placed by then.

Re: Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

ALOT depends on the district you are in - some districts have Enrichment teachers and G+T programs - others do not. There are also a lot of programs available outside of school - some better than others - starting in K. Feel free to FM me if you have any questions.

Re: Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

Yes, there is the Long Island School for the Gifted in Huntington, NY and also, The Progressive School of Long Island in Merrick, which provides individualized learning.

Re: Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

If being a pain in the @ss is a gift, then my son is super gifted!

Re: Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

My daughter was having some behavior concerns in preschool and we decided to have her evaluated. She was found to be gifted with a 130 IQ at 4 yrs old. She was truly bored in school. She also has an amazing memory and changed her iPad to French and is learning to speak French! We are so torn whether to send her to our district for K +

Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

We have an appt at LISG next week. We just want her to excel and wish that there was funding for gifted students like there is for special education. After all, gifted students require specialized instruction just as much as special needs students do.

Re: Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

I would also recommend the Hofstra Gifted Academy. My 5 year old takes the Saturday classes and he is happy.

Anyone have a child identified as GIFTED?

Hofstra has great enrichment courses and so does Stony Brook University. If your child is in or will be in elementary school soon, then I would suggest also reaching out to the SEPTAs in your district. While people think the Special Needs PTAs are just for intellectually challenged or disabled children, it is also for gifted children as well. It is for any child that needs to learn differently. You may need to inquire about differentiated instruction and any enrichment your district can offer. They also may be able to connect you other parents in district too see how they handle school issues as well as what they do for enrichment. Good luck!