I was looking over the DYS application and now I am having serious GT denial. For those of you who have kids in DYS could you give some examples of the "Wow" factor? My DS7 is so normal to my DH and me that I just have no clue what to put down. Example right now he is into Geology and rocks. We took a trip out to a gold mine in CO and he asked so many questions and found so many loopholes in the presentation that I almost got up and left. Not sure on proper etiquette there. Afterwards I approached the presenter to apologize for all the interruptions and she said, "Wow. Your son is really something. He really knows a lot about Geology." He brought home tons of rocks in his suitcase which he has been cracking open to get the gold flecks out of. I get a lot of these comments about him but have no idea what is so "wow" about it. Doesn't every 7 yo boy like rocks, gold, jewels, etc? And all the lego creations around my house of space ships and aliens, well those aren't "wow" either, they are just frustrating because we trip over them a million times a day. LOL So back to my question, if you don't have the "wow" factor in achievement scores, what do you put in the questions and portfolio?

you can call dys and talk to them about this. I did and found them to be very helpful. We are have started are application. My son seems borderline to make DYS. So I want to wow them too. One thing that I put on the application was my son's obssesiv learning. He loves to study. When he was in kindergarten he made aiprplanes for days, folding different ways and reingineering with weights. Other people here have more experience with this. I'll be interested to see their replys.

Best of Luck to you. As a parent I feel a certain amount of pressure to get the application right too. I've been dragging my feet on handing it in because I afraid to leave something good out.

Great story about the gold mine trip. If you are having trouble getting folks to write the recommendations, track down the presenter at the gold mine.

My son had 'just over the borderline scores' and I didn't know where I was going to get reccomendations, since back then he was severely underachieving and a PIA to every grown up he could find. Our state gifted association sponsors occasional Saturaday afternoon learning events for elementary aged kids. I got permission for him as a young 3rd grader to take a class that captured his interest that was geared to gifted 4th and 5th graders.

We also just naturally compare DS13 to ourselves, and frankly, he doesn't seem that impressive when compared to gifted adults in their 40s and 50s! ((Humor Alert))

Anyway - DS attended the program, and I checked in at the end to see if I needed to appologise for his behavior, and to the contrary, the two presenters, who did a gifted program at another school district, were very positive. I got their contact info, and asked them to fill out the YSP reccomendation. They did. DS is tall and broad for his age, and they had had no idea that he was younger than the others. They said he was 'head and shoulders' more interested and mature than the others. I tried not to gasp, because, well, when placed with agemates, his behavoir was so bad that the school didn't want to accelerate him - LOL - Catch 22, eh?

So that's a pretty good guide to PG behavior in elementary school - fitting in seamlessly and shining with regular gifted kids who are 2ish years older.

I hope that this is what you mean about the 'wow' factor...I'm actually not sure from your post...say more,please?

Most PG kids are surrounded by HG and PG families, friends, cousins and really don't seem that 'different' (in a good way at least) until you sit inside a classroom and see what real, 'randomly selected' kids are like. IF you can't sit in your own child's classroom, try a classroom of a similar age in a different district. Really, we like to blame the teachers, but our kids tend to be much more unusual that we give credit to.

Smiles,
Grinity

Thank you all for your posts. On the app they ask for a lot of examples of how you knew your kid was GT. What stands out to you? Well, my DS7 is pretty normal to me, then again I am not around a whole lot of other kids and when he does have a friend over, he plays at their level. However, he prefers to hang out with the teenagers at family functions and LOVES our babysitter who is 16. So I was looking for those specific times you just knew your kid was "different" not just gifted but DYS gifted. I guess I am curious about the difference there. Dottie you mention the diffence in your girls. Is that difference clear in milestones, personality traits, achievement, etc? And Grinity, do you notice differences btwn your kiddos?

That's a great idea onthego to call them directly. Sometimes things that are so obvious get missed in my brain. LOL Kind of like when I ask my son a multiplication fact and he sits on it forever, yet put it in a word problem and bam! there it is. *rolls eyes* Anyways thanks again everyone.

I just have one child, but I did notice differences with the other kids at daycare - although my 'denial' was very strong, and I was sure that the other kids were just shy, and having these deep conversations with their moms at home.

Smiles,
Grinity

[quote=Grinity]

Anyway - DS attended the program, and I checked in at the end to see if I needed to appologise for his behavior, and to the contrary, the two presenters, who did a gifted program at another school district, were very positive.

LOL I love it. I do that too. I also cannot believe every little kid doesn't go home with a ton of questions that he has been sitting on all day waiting to discuss with mom. Seriously that's not normal????

I am just waiting on the achievement data grade placement testing from the school then am going to send off the DYS application. Thanks for all the tips and ideas.

Good Luck hkc75! It's great that you are ready to go!
I'll bet some of those 'burning questions' are exactly what YSP is looking for.

Grins

Hi, I don't post much but wanted to respond because you sound like me. I didn't think DS was that "wow" either, even with his scores, he's such a normal, chatty kid. When I filled out the app, I didn't really have anything wow to include, other than he read early and way above grade level and gets very involved in whatever interest he has at the time. I just figured most kids like to learn, he just happens to enjoy reading non-fiction more than some.

Good luck!