Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Some Updates

Wow, haven't been here in awhile -- definitely not nearly as often as I should -- and the forum's even gotten a facelift! I've been trying to login using my previous user name, but for some reason the reminder e-mail's not getting sent so I just decided to register again.

Anyway, hello everyone Just want to share some news about my 6 year old (link to my previous posts in my siggy) - the Clark County Highly Gifted Program finally got around to sending their licensed psychologist out to my son's school last week to test him.

And finally, I got a call yesterday saying that my son qualified for the Highly Gifted program The lady I spoke with said, "Your son is a very smart young man.", and -- is it just me or did everyone else feel this too? -- I mean, I've always known my son was smart and so has his teachers and the rest of my family, but to actually have concrete proof of it just really blew me away.

They're going to send me the results in the mail, but she told me over the phone that his Stanford Binet results were - composite score: 149; verbal: 145; abstract/reasoning: 144; quantitative/math skills: 148. I don't know if that's good, but I'm just really happy that this part is over, that licensed people are confirming something I've already known.

We will all have a meeting next week with my myself, my son, the school principal, his teacher, the GATE teacher, and the folks from the Highly Gifted program to discuss options for Lyle.

Honestly, I'm a bit nervous and excited about the meeting -- but I'm looking for help from the rest of you as to what should I expect, what sort of questions should I ask, should I demand for, if any, in my son's behalf. The lady I spoke with said they certainly can do grade acceleration/subject acceleration -- just depends on the school's leniency and if Lyle can handle it emotionally/socially. She said they will definitely put my son in the GATE program even though that doesn't start till 3rd grade, but I'm wondering if that's enough? What else should I ask for?

Thanks in advance for pointers from you folks who've been here before

-- KAT

Oh, just checked the mailbox, and found the letter--

Dear Parent(s):

Your child has been evaluated for consideration for the Highly Gifted Program in the Clark County School District. Inclusion in this program is based on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test, 4th Edition, and/or the Stanford-Binet L-M. Placement in the Highly Gifted Program requires a test composite above the mid-140 range (3 standard deviations above the norm).

Lyle qualifies for the Highly Gifted Program with the following scores:

Verbal Reasoning 145
Abstract/Visual Reasoning 144
Quantitative Reasoning 148
Short Term Memory 126
Stanford-Binet IV Composite 153

Your child's Principal, Counselo, and Teachers will be notified of his placement and your child will be visited at school by one of the GATE specialists within our program.

----

I'm trying to get more info on what exactly does the results above mean, but seem to get more confused the more information I find. Since I saw that the Stanford-Binet 5th edition is out, does that mean the 4th edition is outdated? Should I get newer/other tests? I thought Highly Gifted meant the same across the board, but now I'm coming across terms such as Highly Gifted, Exceptionally Gifted, Profoundly Gifted..where do the test scores place my son?

Oh, and isn't it odd his Short Term Memory is only 126? Or is this normal? What can I do to improve this?

Sorry for so many questions, but it seems I have more questions now after I've gotten the results than I did before, if that makes any sense

Your son's scores are very nice!!!

How wonderful that he will be accepted to a highly gifted program.

I wouldn't worry about the short term memory being lower. It is still quite high!

If they accept the SB4 scores, I'd leave it at that.

I have to run My son is yelling to have me come out to ride the hover craft that he and his dad just finished! THay are both very excited!

Hovercraft sounds fun!

Cheers!

I wouldn't worry about the short term memory score, either. I think those scores are often affected by how interesting the children find the task. They don't remember what they don't care about. DS got a working memory score of 47th percentile on the WISC4 (boring task) and was diagnosed with ADD because it was so much lower than his other scores. But he got 99.9 percentile on working memory on the SB5, because he thought the task was really fun. So I took away the ADD diagnosis without consulting anyone. I'm guessing that the short term memory on the SB 4 is a similar kind of thing.

And I wouldn't recommend doing another test. These scores are giving him what he needs right now and helping you get a sense of where he fits. If at some time they don't, then you can revisit the issue.

So what sort of questions should I be asking when I meet with everyone next week? What demands should I make in behalf of my son? What's too much or too little? Should I push for grade acceleration? He seems to always gravitate towards the older kids at the playground instead of his peers, and has always been very social. He loves conversing with grownups too, and the adults are always pleasantly surprised once he starts yapping off because of the extensive vocabulary that just rolls off his tongue with ease.

Dear KAT,

Is your son going to go to the highly gifted program before the end of this school year of wait until next year? If it's this year, you might ask to go see the program and meet with the teachers before the IEP. That way you'll know what's appropriate to ask for. Our highly gifted program lets the child visit for a day before the IEP to make sure they like it, fit in, etc.

Does the highly gifted program go through elementary school or all the way to high school? I had my kids grade-advanced (1 grade) after several years in the highly gifted elementary program. It was a hard decision because I didn't want to rush them out of the program, but I hated the fact that they would end up on the "other side" (middle school) back with age mates after spending years doing accelerated curriculum. It seemed stupid. Also, my kids like older kids (like your son) and it worked well for them. But I wouldn't rush into it before you see the program. Presumably age/grade shouldn't matter much while you're in the program (they should do advanced work)--it should matter more when they get out.

Your son seems to have strrenghts across the board so see what they do for each area. The program might already have in place that might meet the needs of your son. Reading, language arts, math, etc. should be accelerated and/or compacted and enriched. Our program uses accelerated reader, class book analysis projects, ALEKS math, they can test out of spelling units, etc. Does your son have specific passion areas yet? I have a son who loves to write so we had him do a book publishing project and create a newsletter. Your son may be a little young for those type of goals. I like contests (art, essay, poetry, math)--that's possibly something to ask for. We do Continental Math and now (thanks to Ania) Math Kangaroo. I really think keyboarding skills are very important from the start. Also working with programs like Word, Powerpoint, Xcel, etc.

Go see the program and talk to people there first--that's my suggestion. Good luck!

Cym,

I appreciate your feedback, and I honestly don't have all the answers to your questions (ie, is my son going to go to the Highly Gifted Program before the end of the school year or wait till next year, does it go all through high school, etc), so I will just see what happens at next week's meeting, and see what their program is like, see what they have to say, and take it from there.

Since end of last year, his teacher has already had him go out for reading to a 2nd grade class, and he attends a 5th grade class just to sit in every now and then. I'm so glad he's not the shy type as I would've been in those situations had I been his age; he just loves meeting new people.

But the tests he brings home to me from class, makes me shake my head because they were stuff he had already mastered at 3, so I wonder if he's still being challenged enough. Like the math's addition and subtraction which they're doing now in class, it's stuff he was doing in his head when pointing out to a group of items when he was still in diapers. And the spelling words, "house", "flow", etc.. my son is now and have been reading on his own with no prodding from me, almanacs, dictionaries, the newspaper if I'm not too careful (I don't like him reading the news yet, I think there's still stuff out there he's too young to understand), and once he told me "Mom, did you know Jello has a high viscosity? Can you make me some please?" (I was embarrassed but I had to look up what viscosity meant )

How old is your son now? At 6, he loves all the typical 6 year old stuff - video games, cartoons, sports. He hates to write by hand but give him a PC and Word, and he'll write up a storm. He writes stories based on his favorite action figures, puts them into chapters, and on the front of each book is always a dedication to me I think he spends more time on the computer than other kids his age simply because I'm in the IT field and he's been in front of computers ever since he was born.

I really love this forum because I can learn so much from you all that's been here before, and I can actually talk to people who can *relate*.

Thanks

Hi again KAT,

I have 4 boys, ages 5, 8, 10 and 12--all HG/PG. The creative writing one I mentioned is 10. The avid reader/economic theorist is 12. The math one is 8. We don't know what's in store for us yet with the 5 yr old. Yes, it's comforting to find that there are others other there (here) that are experiencing some of the same things I face.

One last bit of advice...go to the HG program willing to help/volunteer. Our program's teachers appreciate parents so much. I used to volunteer to do science experiments with the class, and before that art projects. One mom continues to volunteer to teach Spanish to the class. We help advocate with the administration for sufficient classroom space and money, chaperone field trips, even plan field trips and speakers. Now we're trying to help them select science curriculum technology. In return, the teachers work hard for each kid. It's important to keep it positive.

I will do as suggested!

My, with so many geniuses in the family, you must have quite interesting dinnertime conversations!