Anyone familiar with the St. Louis Missouri PEGS program? My 6 yr old will start it for 1st grade next year and I'm not sure what to expect. The open house for those applying was a little scary with a lot of Tiger parents in attendance. I'm just hoping my kiddo finds a place to fit in a little better and be challenged since he's passionate about science.

Any response would be appreciated.

I'm sorry I don't know of that specific program, but it's true that some gifted programs fit some (but not all) gifted kids.

That's why 'flexibility' on the part of the parents, school folks, and students is the key ingredient. Good luck. If possible, see if you can visit a 1st grade classroom under 'normal' conditions and observe the teachers, the students and classroom materials.

If for example, the classroom library shelf has a wide variety of levels of books, then you can feel encouraged. If the library shelf only has books your son read at age 4, then, well, you can worry.

Open houses can be very misleading, because it's a 'marketing experience.' Tiger parents can be a good sign, even if they don't feel like people you'd like as friends, because most of them have kids who are at least some level of guessing. (This is an unscientific wild guess, but that is how things look around here anyway.) Try and see what the school looks like on a normal day.

Smiles,
Grinity

There's an open house in May where we'll get to meet everyone who actually made it into the program. I'm hopeful because the director, teachers & students I met were wonderful. And now that you mention it every classroom was filled with books of all kinds & many different levels. It would be nice to meet some more people locally with 2E kids.

Maggie - Did you get my private message?

~jen

Jen, I just saw your message and replied. So sorry for delay!

So, how did it go? We are in process now, just completed my daughter's SBV by the PEGS tester, I am curious on what happens now.

So funny you should bring up the books on the shelf thing. We visited a school last year (before we decided to homeschool for the year) and were in LOVE with it. But...I looked at the bookshelves in the reading classes. A sure sign it was the wrong school.

I wish I had seen this last year to reassure you irishmaggie. I hope you love it as much as we do. Our DD12 has completely turned around in PEGS. We cannot say enough good things about the program and feel so fortunate that it exists and that DD12 can benefit from it. The host school system is fabulous for gifted kids in general, but the PEGS program is amazing for these kids.

Our DD7 did not make it into PEGS (made it past the IQ step, but not the interview). It has meant a rough year for us as parents to ensure she gets enough enrichment and challenge both during the school day and outside of school (tough both financially and logistically). Our time without PEGS for DD7 has made me appreciate even more how much PEGS has improved our family life since we were able to stop doing all of this extra work for DD12 once we found PEGS for her.

For those in the St. Louis area with these kids - I highly recommend looking into PEGS if your child needs it.

Science ? What types. Our little guy likes chemistry