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    Joined: Jun 2012
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    Offhand the way you describe your son's dysgraphia "He can't write to save his life" seems incompatible with both this program's entrance requirements and expectations about advanced writing. Do you have any additional information that makes you think this would work?

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    Yeah-- I'd be wary. Based on that description alone, it seems like there is a very large, and perhaps disproportionately so, emphasis on rubrics, metrics, and quantifiable numbers generated by participating units. Er-- students. I meant students.


    Assessment focus is NOT a good thing for many gifted students, particularly those with motivational and/or 2e issues.

    There is also a mind-bending and alarming penchant for buzzword bingo happening in the description of the program itself-- and not all of those buzzwords are being applied in ways that immediately make sense to me, frankly. It's as though they were trying to tweak SEO with keywords. smirk

    Truly-- not even most PG children are creating "outstanding literary works" at 10-14yo. Maybe they ought to be honing writing skills and STUDYING such works... but that isn't what the description states.

    I think an in-person visit and some frank discussion about the placement and expectations is in order. I'd be very concerned that this could just put you on the hot seat to hold the whip with increasing amounts of homework that he doesn't particularly want to do.

    Also-- what facets of this environment would be better for him? How?

    Note that I'm not saying you shouldn't do this-- just that these are the red flags that I'm seeing, and the questions I'd have in determining whether or not it's the right thing. We had to address some similar concerns with DD12 when we did an additional acceleration in high school, so I do feel your pain here. In her case, her writing skills suddenly blossomed, and it turned out fine-- but it could just as easily have gone the other way. I credit one of her teachers with that success, honestly, so it's not something that I'd bank on without that kind of idiosyncratic factor in play.


    Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.
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    Cola Offline OP
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    Thank you guys so much! We have such a hard time with him because he scores so high on placement exams and tests but then does the bare minimum and has an attitude about it. Some say he needs to be "pushed" and he'll accelerate and enjoy it and some say he can't do it because of his current "attitude" about learning. Yet this is the same kid who reads car manuals and engineering books for fun but couldn't finish a chapter of "Where The Red Fern Grows" thus resulting in a C in literary arts. It's so frustrating. He's our oldest and started Kindergarten at 4 so he's the youngest in his class which doesn't help either. He's writing a book currently about World War II aircraft and he's a walking encyclopedia of random knowledge so we know he has the ability to really go far but he just doesn't want to. He even said he wanted to join the Navy so he could build fighter jets and aircraft carriers but would refuse college. So frustrating!

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    I see red flags too.. 2e kids (at least mine) don't handle pressure well, and all that description did for me was scream PROVE YOU DESERVE THIS SCHOOL by your previous high achievement.. which my kids would flat out refuse to perform for, especially in areas where they struggle.

    If he loves what he's interested in, you may just have to get him through school as best you can and get him outside courses/electives in the things he loves. Or if you can find a school that uses project based learning where he can choose the project in an area that he is interested in that might work better… it's interesting how motivated the unmotivated learner can be when s/he is working on subjects that interest them…

    However that is just a description, so I would try to talk to parents with kids there to give you the real picture.

    Last edited by LAF; 01/06/16 10:33 AM. Reason: forgot something...
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    We decided not to move forward. We tried to talk to him about it and he flat out said he didn't want to go anywhere else as he was "Comfortable" where he is. He's really in to aviation and aeronautical engineering things so I'm trying to find camps and programs in that area somewhere here in Arizona for him.

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    Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott
    http://www.erau.edu/

    Has summer youth camps involving many aeronautical, aviation, robotics etc
    http://summercamps.erau.edu/camps/index.html

    http://summercamps.erau.edu/

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    We got his report card and in big bold letters it says "Does not apply himself although he has great potential to do wonderful things". I think I should get him a shirt that says "Warning: I will not apply myself" lol. We've known this about him forever. Even though he "didn't apply himself" he still got an A in the math class and B's in everything else (with a C in writing but the kid has Dysgraphia and Executive Function Disorder so this doesn't surprise me). We did talk to him about the Emery center in Prescott and he seems really excited to do that so we told him we want to see him do better this quarter for his grades (bringing those C's up to B's at least). Lets see if that works.

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    LAF Offline
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    Every single report card I received in elementary school said "extremely bright but does not apply herself". I just remember not having any interest in the way they were teaching subject matter. You could usually find me reading a book on my lap with the desk hiding it…however the book was probably a book on how to teach yourself to read Egyptian hieroglyphics…

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    aeh Offline
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    I expect if you took a poll of posters here, there would be a sizable fraction in that category...


    ...pronounced like the long vowel and first letter of the alphabet...
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    Originally Posted by aeh
    I expect if you took a poll of posters here, there would be a sizable fraction in that category...


    Um, guilty. But not as guilty as my brother. ;-)

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