How do you go about finding intellectual peers? My son plays soccer - same age. He does Karate - ages 5 - 12 (he's 6) but intellectual? At school in the GT program - it's only 1 1/2 hours a week. Homeschooling - where? Are there GT Homeschool groups? He plays piano but very little interaction with other kids? Boy scouts?

Oh, I just had an idea A personal ad: Wanted: child reading at 4:3 level, math at 5:6 level, IQ > 130 and < 160, willing to play with 6 year old. Non-readers need not apply.

Seriously, though, I haven't seen this addressed. What have you experienced/done/seen/found? I think he wouldn't qualify for DYS based on low "social comprehension" that brings his VCI down. Too young for talent searches. Any other organizations? Ideas?

Hope this is of interest to more than just me.

Oh, would someone please tell me how to add a signature? Thanks.

How to find peers?
Chess club
Lego leauge
Anime section of the library
Any section of the library
Library or Bookstore sponsered book clubs
Talk to librarians or the head of the children's department in the bookstore
Library sponsered game nights
Nature Center sponsered programs
Talk to parents of kids at the GT program and see what they have found.
State-wide Gifted Association
Beyond IQ weekend conferences with children's programs
Local universities that sponser kids programs, or have someone in their Gifted Department who 'handles' calls from worried parents.
State Department of education gifted coordinator - email or phone call.
Personal Ad isn't a bad idea, just list your kids favorite books and activities instead of his IQ scores.
Ask everyone you met about really smart homeschool kids or gradeskippers.
Academic Competitions.
Sometimes Relatives - particularly 3rd cousins.
Talent Search starts in 2nd grade, but I think it's worth trying JHU's Scat as a first grader - under 100$ and you may be quite suprised! He will probably score right along with the MG 2nd graders.
Summer Institute for the Gifted day camp.
GT homschool groups - or got to regular homeschool groups and ask everyone for folks who obviously aren't homeschooling for 'religious reasons' - you may get a giggle here!
Historical Society presentations.
Here's the thing - you hope to find agemates, but teens who can be paid as babysitters are also good, as are adults who can play the role of friends until a suitable agemate can be found.


Have some kind of organizer and get phone numbers, email, contacts - open your mouth and ask, ask, ask! You may find it easier to do for you kid than you would have on your own behalf.

Best Wishes,
Grinity

I think Grinity nailed it here. But I have to laugh at this one:
Sometimes Relatives - particularly 3rd cousins.

Too funny!

I was actually talking to people about this one after a gifted homeschoolers talk I gave last week. Gifted kids tend to gravitate toward the same hobbies and academic interests. Interest based groups give a focus for activity and are self selecting. My son sees other bright/gifted kids at chess club, math competitions, knowledge bowl events, book club, and dungeons and dragons. My daughter has found friends at science club and/or who share her love of horses.

People seem to have less success when they advertise for a gifted playgroup. (And yes, I have known people who did!) I think that many parents are hesitant to use the G word when their kids are untested. For others, it smacks of elitism and they would not feel comfortable telling their neighbor or acquaintances about it.

Here's a link to a related article I wrote a while ago:
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art10774.asp

good luck!

One thing that worked for my oldest DS was simply a grade skip. He never connected with kids in his grade but suddenly when he skipped, he found a great group of friends (now going on year 5). They were top students together through middle school and just came back from overnight state science competition (3 kids won 1st place in Robotics, the other 2 kids won 3rd place; all great buddies)--4000 students participating! It may just have been coincidence that he found the kids in the next grade, but I'm so happy it turned out that way.

I think for my other DS's, a second grade skip would accomplish that (DS11 connects best with kids in grade above even his one-skip grade). Currently he rejects further skips, but he still like to socialize with the older kids.

FYI on SCAT for JHU/CTY. Only second graders and up have to take the SCAT. Look at their website and you'll see that if your child has the IQ/other scores in K and 1, they're in without the SCAT. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that provision until DS was already in second grade, although his scores were obtained in 1st. They gave him a 6 month exemption to take online classes, but he'll still have to take the SCAT. Just haven't bothered to take it yet. But all of you with qualifying scores, apply in K and 1 to save time and money.

Lorel -
loved your article! Glad your talk went well. Any more details to share?
Grin

Grin-

Thanks for asking. It wasn't a big crowd, but some people had traveled from RI and one couple even from Maine in order to be there. A couple whose only child is four months old attended- I wish I'd been as on the ball as they were! They wanted to hear about the options as they both had underwhelming experiences in school.

One woman was talking to me about how she knew homeschooling was the right thing for her son, but she got all teary eyed... I think it was that sense of "leaving Kansas" that most of us can probably relate to somewhat.

Wendy is lovely inside and out, and she TOWERS over me! I felt like we were Mutt and Jeff! It was so great to work with her though, and she made some excellent points in her advocacy talk. She really stressed getting assessments for maximum benefit, as school officials really want hard core data. If anyone gets the NAGC publication "Parenting for High Potential", she wrote the cover feature on the latest edition.

All in all, it was a great experience, and I will be doing a similar (yet different) talk at the New England Gifted Conference this fall.

Ah, yes, "leaving Kansas" is a good code phrase for the exact sort of insecurity I was describing back in that ill-fated thread about defensiveness...

Thanks for putting a good name to it, Lorel! And I'm glad it was a good experience for you.