Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion The ultimate brag thread

Not a brag. Just funny. Dd3 was getting annoyed at her dad trying to get her ready for bed instead of letting her play. " dad, if you keep troubling me, I will trade you for some magic beans."

DD (13) got her PSAT results today (212 S.I. according to our school counselor)-- she's disappointed because they are likely to be JUST shy of our state's semifinalist cutline (which varies from ~211 to ~216, depending on the year)...

but they are 99th percentile, and almost certainly commendation level.

She's upset (a little) that by missing just a couple of math problems, she probably missed the semifinalist level....

but she isn't beating herself up over it. Yes, I talked to her a bit, with calming statements such as "but you gave it your best that day, yes?" and "different day, could have been another few points either way, right?" It has to sting to know that maybe... maybe... if she had just... worked that one problem one more time... been more careful with that other thing...


But she is really doing fine with it.

(This is a BIG, BIG deal for my perfectionist-- HUGE win!! )

Secondarily, I'm pretty elated that (yet again) my DD has proven that being an 11th grader is probably a conservative placement in academic terms.

Oh-- and I should mention also that this was the first time she's taken a timed, proctored exam, and it was also the first time she'd taken a standardized exam somewhere other than home, or with a stranger proctoring. Her anxiety about her SAFETY was through the roof. In light of those two things, these results are pretty darned good, I'd say. I'm very proud of her.

Those are great scores! Congratulations!
I don't know what state you are in but one post said you are in the Pacific NW. For 2012, the Oregon cut-off was 216 and for Washington was 220. I know your daughter is grade accelerated but it begs the question- if she waited 1-2 more years, maybe she could hit the score to be a national merit finalist (which is obviously not the end all and be all). Would it be worth waiting for?

HK - that is great, score-wise and attitude-wise!


Dd6 was just officially accepted into the gt program here, at least for the next couple of years, until they re-assess in 3rd grade. I am really relieved since I was anticipating an all out mutiny if that one tiny slice of 'interesting work' was discontinued....

and I was getting very nervous with all the odd signals from the teachers. I sent in 99th percentile scores in K, and the only mention of scores last time I chatted with the gt teacher was 'oh she got 95th percentile on the k-bit, so the scores are fine for the program, we just have to get more achievement data'. WHY would you look at the scores from a 20 minute test instead of a deeper professionally administered test? (I know "why", but really "WHY??").

Anywho, drama over, and she was admitted for both language arts and math. Breathing easy for at least a month or two, right?

Well; a) too late now, KWIM? Once you get into official high school placements and they have a graduation cohort year assigned, any funny business looks baaaaaaaaad, baaaaaad, bad. So even if that WERE the case, the instant that the school reported her as a 10th grader last fall, this was a done deal, and
b) pretty sure that it wouldn't have mattered-- her problems simply aren't related to ability. She could have gotten a perfect score. If she'd not made errors related to misinterpreting/misreading questions and just dumb arithmetic errors, which she's incredibly prone to when she does mental math (which she INSISTS upon doing anyway, being both 13 and possessed of Cool Hand Luke syndrome, as noted elsewhere...).

So no, I don't think that she'd have been any better off taking it a year from now. Different day/different test, she'd have had a 225 score even this year, as we saw with practice exams. Her problem isn't ability to do the material at that level. Her problem is the same as it is with schoolwork; a) over-thinking, b) sloppy mental math, and c) speedy Gonzales syndrome (where she just flat out misses things because she's skimming the questions/answers rather than really reading them).

The easier the material, the worse all of those problems become. There's also an element of luck to things when the material is all skills that you've mastered, since misinterpreting the intent of any one question becomes so problematic. That is a known problem with scores on the ACT/SAT/PSAT above the 98th percentile.

Anyway-- explaining that because that was where MY head went, too. I actually apologized to DD in case SHE felt that being grade accelerated might have been the reason for not doing as well as she'd hoped. She reassured me that this is not the case, and explained much of the above to ME. I'm actually kind of proud of her for not taking that opening from me... since I realized after I opened my big mouth that it was a glorious opening for her perfectionism.

Even if it were true that an additional year might have added 10 points to her selection index score... I am quite confident that it would NEVER have been worth the angst of whipping her through below-level work for an additional year.

I will say that the guidance counselor was a bit taken aback that we weren't OVER THE MOON with 99th percentile results. LOL. She was speechless when I explained that DD had "hoped to do about 5-10 points better than that."

MAJOR happy-dance time! YES.

I'm completely with you one the "whyyyyyyy??" there, too. Makes me go "huh??" when I run into things like that.

This is small potatoes by comparison, but DS13mo was captivated by a brief youtube clip we watched of the London Symphony Orchestra today. I named the instruments as they appeared on screen. A few hours later, when I named the instruments again without offering visual cues, he mimed about a dozen instruments unprompted. He then rummaged through our bookshelves for any books on musical topics, flipped through the pages, and mimed the instruments while pointing and giggling at the corresponding pictures.

That love of learning is so heartwarming! I hope he never loses the ability to see the beauty in everyday life.

DD7 has been homeschooling for about 2.5mos now. This decision was made after she experienced more than a year of a haphazard nonsense in which she spent most of the day an age-grouped class in which the work was well beneath her. The remainder was spent in a daily, gifted pull-out in which she was at least a year younger than everyone else, and they were teaching to the level of the older kids, so they were assuming she knew things she'd never seen. Not feeling like her needs were being met or that she belonged in either group, her confidence level cratered. Resistance to challenge and to learning was rampant.

In these past 2.5 mos, her average school day has increased from 3 hours to 4. Most of the increased time is going to her daily journal entries ("You can't time creativity, Mom."), and to extra math problems, by request. DD is actively pushing her mom for more now. For example, adding/subtracting fractions was introduced to her with values that had the same denominator... DD instantly declared it too easy and boring, so they went straight into numbers with different denominators and finding the LCD. DD jumped into that with both feet, and asked for more problems.

This newfound confidence showing up in other areas, too. DD is the youngest member of an acting class, because her age would place her in a lower group, but DD sat in for a trial in both, privately observed to DW that the first one full of babies, and the teacher was very receptive to allowing her to participate in the older group ("She certainly seems mature enough."). They're doing a play next week. She got over the initial disappointment of having one of the smaller roles quickly, because she thinks her part is hilarious. As of last night, she's the only one rehearsing without her script.

Also, she was very shy about being in a class full of older kids, at first. Now she's dressing up for class in her own unique style, bringing her doll, and doing cartwheels when she's not a part of whatever scene they're working on. She recently acquired the phone number of the class alpha-girl, who I'm guessing is 11 or 12.

A couple weeks ago DD wanted a haircut, and she wanted bangs this time. She'd done it before, and DW said she looks better without them. DD did it her own way anyway, and declared herself adorable when it was over.

Also, after we rented Hunger Games, we bought the full series of books, which DW and I quickly devoured. DD declared herself unequal to the task of reading them by herself, because they were too much. Well, she has recently decided to re-read the entire Harry Potter series instead, by herself this time (we were doing it as bedtime stories last year). That's a reading project at least 3x the size.

In short... we've got our kid back, because we recognize this as the girl we had when we first sent her to kindergarten.

Hooray! This belongs in the ultimate victory thread too.

Over the last month or so DD4.5's favorite pass-time to to tell us all of the words that have 2 meanings, for example: back up - to go backwards and to have an alternate plan in case the first didn't work. Light - the thing that helps you see and when something isn't heavy

She is constantly coming up with them - it is getting quite a reaction from people in stores when they hear her say them.