My 4th grade twins just received invitations to our state awards ceremony based on their Explore scores. This is a first time experience for us and I would appreciate any input from experienced parents here on what these ceremonies are like? Did your child get much out of attending? Attending the ceremony is not a hardship for us as it happens to be ~2 miles from our house and at a time with no conflicts for us. However, I was surprised from the invites that the ceremony duration is *2 hours*, followed by a reception. My 10 year olds have squirminess as well as intellectual gifts, and I am concerned whether this ceremony will be engaging enough to keep their attention for two hours. Also, I am deeply conflicted about the whole concept of an "awards ceremony" for this.... I am guessing the primary benefit may be contacts with other kids and/or programs at the reception, but fear that after two hours sitting still, my kids will just rush for the sugar and start bouncing off the walls.
Also, I notice that NUMATS now have criteria posted for recognition at their awards ceremony. Although we have not received an invitation yet, it is clear that dd meets their criterion based on her Explore scores. Thus, the same questions apply for that one. The NUMATS ceremony would be a hike for us, so it is more unlikely we would go (especially since ds barely missed the criterion) unless there was a compelling reason.
Thanks for your input!!
