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happymama
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| Posted: Aug 07 2007 at 5:08pm | IP Logged
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our local public school system has a "gifted" program. i'm considering sending my child to it next year, maybe 2 hours per week. (Homeschooling the rest of the week.) It would mostly be for socialization with other kids of mixed ages who love to learn. [plus, it's free.] He's currently 4 1/2 and reads at a 3rd grade level.
Anyway, we've begun the "testing" process to see if the school system considers him "gifted". They have a list of about 30 qualities typical of the children they are looking for, and he meets the ones that apply to his age. They're things like ability to concentrate, reading at early ages, interested in learning, excited and compassionate... As i'm reading through this list, i'm thinking, "this sounds just like Montessori's description of EVERY child in the 3-6 age group!" (assuming there aren't any handicaps.) For many months i've wondered if my child is "gifted" or if he simply has average intelligence but has been given the opportunity (through our Montessori home schooling) to grow where so many other children unfortunately aren't. I'm wondering if his current enthusiasm for learning will fade as he ages past this magical time? Has anyone read any of the books about Montessori for older kids? Has anyone tried out "gifted" programs at the public schools for your kids?
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CKwasniewski
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| Posted: Aug 07 2007 at 5:37pm | IP Logged
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In Paula Polk Lillard's book, Montessori Today, she talks about plans with older kids. It's general, but still very helpful.
I was in a gifted program in junior high for a little while. It was like regular school just a little more independent, and project based. Like homeschool! 
From what I've read subsequently, there is just as much brainwashing going on in Gifted and Talented programs as there is in regular classrooms.
I would hesitate to put a 5 year old anywhere near the ps system. And I don't think you'd find any advantages at this age--mostly disadvantages. If he does test with a high IQ, it just may mean you need to find him a tutor or classes at a community college later on. He also doesn't need the label!
hth,
CK
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Meredith
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| Posted: Aug 07 2007 at 5:40pm | IP Logged
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Well, my first question for you is why would you choose to send him into the public system if you are happy with the way in which he has currently been learning at home??
Besides the fact that it is FREE, I personally don't see any reason why he can't continue to do the advanced activities he's getting at home, but I am also not inclined to do anything that involves PS. Just my .02.
Keep in mind there are MANY Montessori extensions for the 3-6 activities. What are you currently working on with him that you could extend?
The best resource I have found for Montessori with older children was also discussed here
HTH with your decision! Blessings!
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SeaStar
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| Posted: Aug 07 2007 at 6:57pm | IP Logged
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That is so great that your ds is reading so well at 4.5 yrs. Sounds like a combination of gifted child/dedicated mother. At his age, I don't know that even a "gifted" program would be enough to keep his interest academically- compared to what you can do at home for him. I doubt that many other kids in the program would be at his advanced level.
He might very well enjoy the social aspects- but he might also "learn" a lot of things that you would rather he didn't know. My ds (4.5) plays with a little girl across the street who went to preschool four days a week last year. Her mother was continually shocked and dismayed by all the "extra" things her dd learned (but still kept sending her every day). It would only be two hours a week for your ds, so it wouldn't be constant exposure, but that would be a big deciding factor for me.... what will he be learning from the other kids?
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Eleanor
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Speaking as someone who was reading at a very high level by kindergarten, I don't think you need to worry about providing him with "intellectual peers" at such an early age. Besides, as Melinda says, even in a gifted program, you might not find other children his age doing such advanced work. As far as socialization goes, he'd probably do as well, or better, if you enrolled him in a non-academic activity instead.
I went to a regular public school kindergarten (back in the days before they started pushing academics), and I'm sure most of the other children couldn't even read "See Spot run" yet, but it was never an issue between us. I made some good friends, and had fun doing show and tell, singing songs, painting, playing with blocks, sprouting seeds on paper towels, and so on.  Same goes for swimming lessons, Brownies, pottery classes at the community center, and whatever else I managed to cajole my parents into signing up for. 
When he's a bit older, you might want to look into gifted homeschoolers' groups, or other resources that might be available in your area. At this age, though, I'd be inclined to doubt that there's much of a need for such things. If he's anything like I was, he'd be quite happy to socialize with children of all academic ability levels. (And, if he's not happy to do so, that would seem to be a problem in itself.)
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montessori_lori
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I'm always skeptical of "gifted" children - even though I was one! In my experience, most kids are capable of more than we realize, especially in the right environment.
That said, I did have one child in all my years of teaching who definitely qualified as gifted (I had many, many smart kids, but this young lady was off the charts). The Montessori environment was perfect for her, as she could work on much higher level materials since they were in the classroom already, and she had a lot of flexibility as to what she wanted to study.
Aside from the academic side of the program, do the other trappings of the public school appeal to you? The rigid structure, the time cut-offs, the rules, the testing? Those things can be part of a gifted program, no matter how enriching it might be in other ways.
I personally don't think there's anything they could do with your child that you couldn't do much better at home...and without all the "extras" that public school brings.
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Eleanor
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Just wanted to add that I was in a city-wide gifted pull-out program in the fifth grade. Unlike some full-time gifted classes (which I've also experienced), the pull-out program wasn't rigid or rule-oriented, and there was no testing. We just did various types of puzzles and "thinking activities," and there was plenty of free time to socialize and discuss our interests. There also wasn't any cliquishness, because we all came from different schools, and we were only together for a short time each week.
I would consider doing something like this -- with caution -- for an older homeschooled child who really seemed as if he could benefit from the mental and social stimulation. Again, though, definitely not with a kindergartener. And I'd have to have a pretty good sense of the teacher and the curriculum. The program I was in had nothing objectionable about it, but I know there's some pretty weird stuff out there. 
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Kathryn UK
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montessori_lori wrote:
| I personally don't think there's anything they could do with your child that you couldn't do much better at home...and without all the "extras" that public school brings. |
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I agree with Lori. I was off-the-charts gifted myself. With hindsight my mother and I came to the conclusion that the more gifted the child, the less likely it is that any school or gifted programme will be able to meet the child's needs. She now wishes she had homeschooled me, but back in the 1960s homeschooling was unheard of. Educationally, I doubt the gifted programme will offer anything you can't offer at home, and there are many other ways of providing social opportunities
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~Rachel~
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ITA... I don't think you need it . You have obviously given your son the absolute best environment for him, why spoil it with someone elses' input when you know MUCH better what he is capable of .
It sounds to me like he is ready to progress a little on his own... if you want more socialization with kids of all ages, you are better off finding a homeschool group near you... they usually have a better age range anyway
But a job well done to you 
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: is this child gifted?
