Totally understand your point Grinity, but I was playing Devil's advocate. And those tennis players didn't have to play with me. And you didn't quote my point about the skater.

It is America and if the parent can prep and get that 130 into a group that is more PG, all the power to them. But it is my responsibility, as a parent to make sure my kid gets what she needs. So we take her to Mandarin, she does the piano. I will arrange accelerated math to keep her math skills prime and take her to Liberty science center and the museum of Natural History for special classes.

My kid is lucky in that she has the poster child for the A-type personality and I will bust down any door so that she has options. And we have enough money to pay for the programs, the lessons. But the point was the prepping. If my kid didn't start reading at 2.5 or start telling math calculations at 2 and 3, but heard stories...I bet I would one of those prepping. Glad I didn't have to face that side of me. I prepped for the OLSAT this year. Not hardcore but after last year's dismal result, I wanted to make sure she knew to take her time, look at all the answers before choosing. Not assume, she knew a picture and that was the answer. The reason that High scoring SB kids do so poorly on the OLSAT, they rush, assume because they are not tortoises. Too often they are the hares. And my daughter is ultra hare. That she gets from me. So I can give her much better skills than I ever had.

Ren

I have a child like this as well. She did above avg on the group ability test but was clearly gifted on the individual IQ test. It has been the same thing with group vs. individual achievement tests. It can be very frustrating as a parent when your child isn't getting recognized as what she is due to poor group test results.

I guess that I see a distinction btwn prepping a child for a group test in the hopes that she will do as well as she already has on an individual test vs. prepping a child with answers in the hopes that she will appear more able than she really is.

"Everyone's doing it" doesn't make a wrong thing right. I am very uncomfortable at the idea of prepping children for the SBV, which is an individualized IQ test.

Lorel, Agreed and I have never prepped either dd for any test they've taken which might be why dd#2 did so much worse on the CogAT than the WISC. A lot of the other parents here who are hoping to get their kids into the TAG class prep for the CogAT.

I'm extremely uncomfortable with the practice as well. Only I'd be less uncomfortable were I faced with the prospect of my kid getting stuck in some dilapidated NYC school as a result of taking the proverbial high road.

You are correct is saying that "Everyone's doing it" doesn't make it right. But a mile in their inner-city shoes might make me a little more understanding.