Originally Posted by polarbear
OTOH, I think there is probably a semi-large portion of children who are capable of working ahead of what the average early elementary school is offering (at least in my mellow part of the woods). This is part of the reason there are so many parents in early elementary latching on to outside enrichment and attempting to get their kids into gifted programming - the programming in the regular classroom really isn't all that great for most kids, not just for out-of-the-ballpark ability kids.

polarbear

this is exactly my dilemma. Here, it isn't just about getting a certain IQ test or ability test score to get into the gifted magnet school. Unless the ability test shows intelligence above around the 99.5th percentile, they ALSO have to have achievement test results in reading and math. And in order to score that high they HAVE to be working above grade level. If the school does not instruct kids above grade level, the kids either have to teach themselves or the parents have to do it. So the majority of the kids who qualify for the highly gifted program here are most likely hothoused. I made DD do reading comprehension tests over the summer for practice in hopes that she can pass the dumb reading achievement test (98th percentile or above) so that she has a chance to get into that program. Since she already has the math score I'm not worried about math at all and we never talk about it. And it's because the regular school classroom is grossly inadequate. If I felt it was meeting her needs, I wouldn't bother. It's not about my ego or about her being labeled "gifted"--it's about getting her out of her heinous school and into something more appropriate. Since she has some 2e issues, I'm not sure what's appropriate for her yet and she needs more testing. But I at least want to give her a chance.