... and a few questions.
Does anyone have success stories of reapplying to DYS? I wonder if the selection committee takes a glance at that "Have you applied before box" and, if yes, they kind of inwardly groan on seeing a re-applicant. Or, if they see a kid back who was really close last time, do they give the same consideration they'd give everyone else, or even closer consideration?
Would I use the same sources for letters of recommendation, since they obviously didn't do the trick last time? Or do I try to find someone else? Since KG's K teacher clearly doesn't *get* him, she's not a great choice. We don't have a lot of close friends around here who have really seen KG in action. After his preschool teachers, there's pretty much only the teacher at his gifted Saturday class -- but that class was only 7 Saturdays for 2.5 hours. Not a great choice. I'm not married, but have a live-in boyfriend of 2+ years (who's at least EG himself, btw) who is *not* ds's father ... does that count as "in the family" or could he write a recommendation?
Can I include video/portfolio material if we have two qualifying test scores, or should I not bother? If we do have him take the WISC and his scores are, once again, very, *very* close, could I reapply with his 2 qualifying+ WIAT scores and the portfolio option? Or would that be a sign to not bother applying?
Final question: How much of the last application can I recycle for this one? I used a few of my best anecdotes on the last one, and now I'm in a conundrum -- I don't want to use "less good" anecdotes, but I don't want to recycle. I have a few new ones up my sleeve ... but should I replace a really *good* anecdote for a new one?
And a related last question ... this is the funny one ... so the application asks for an incident that describes the child's need to explore a subject in surprising depth. Well, for some kids it's weather, for others it's dinosaurs, etc. KG loves role-playing games and is a nut about them, knows all the details and stats, etc. Has his own RPG called "Super KG" that he plays in his head all the time and narrates for us. Other than that, he doesn't really *have* a topic of focus -- because that *is* his topic of focus! Is that ridiculous? It's not that he doesn't have an intense interest, it's just not academic in the least. It's more recreational.
Thanks for any help, I know that was long.
