Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Achievement - Ability Discrepancy

Hi Kriston

What you are saying is making a lot of sense to me and sounds a lot like him. DS is not good at working out the mental maths - I tell him that when doing word math problems to illustrate it all with drawings - write it all down. This appears to be working to some extent.

The visual spelling methods have also worked recently but unfortunately it will take some time as he has been trying only the rote method for so long. He "detests" rote learning! What a surprise!

THanks so much for telling me of your experiences.

Tiz

Hi Grinity

I really think I would not have the patience for homeschooling all day! I have enough trouble staying tolerant with the homework! However, I must admit since learning has become a bit more fun for him (with visual and kinaesthetic approaches to homework) this has changed somewhat.

We may have to think about the private school route!!

thanks again for all your help
Tiz

I think it can make it harder to serve a GT child--especially an HG+ child!--if the kid's memory and speed aren't GT, too, mainly because people *expect* more speed and memory from a GT child. But I think this is a flaw in the way we approach teaching GT kids. GTness and speed do NOT always go together! I think we need to accomodate GT-but-not-fast just as much as we accomodate GT-and-fast.

No, grade skips and curriculum compacting won't always work well for a child like mine. But SOMETHING must be done for him and others like him! He still needs to be challenged. He is still PG.

And there are quite a lot of kids like him! As rare as it is to find a kid with just one PG score, how much more unusual is it to find one who is PG across the board, including WMI and PSI?! There needs to be some solution available to those relatively more common "deep but slow" kids.

Reasons we're homeschooling...

Not to campaign for homeschooling--I don't like evangelists doing the hard-sell of ANYTHING, so I don't evangelize myself. But I just want to point out that HSing a grade-school aged GT child isn't usually an "all day" proposition. We usually spend 2.5 hours or so each day on academics, and I feel like a slavedriver! I know families who do more, but they tend to be more school-at-home types whose kids need lots of drill. As that doesn't really work well for DS7, that's not how we approach it. It's not how most HSers whom I know approach it.

We did some homework, and it is FAR easier to get DS7 to do his homeschooling work than it EVER was to get him to do his homework! It's amazing what appropriately geared work can do for a kid's motivation level.

I complete understand if you choose not to homeschool. No argument here! But I do try to point out the myths and misconceptions that people have about HSing whenever I can. The notion that most of us are spending "all day" on school is wrong (and a very common misconception, I might add!). Kids do tend to require more time for school as they get older--though more of that time should be independent work as they are more capable of it, naturally. But I think even most high schoolers who are HSing tend to spend less time on academics than their in-bricks-and-mortar counterparts.

Sorry for the intrusion. Carry on!

I think the majority of identified GT kids are fast.

Both of my girls IQ scores indicate "global" giftedness, no big discrepencies. They both have respectable WMI and processing speed scores. One is being reasonably accomodated at school and is recognized, dare I say, respected for her high intelligence.
The younger one has had an opposite experience, although the tide MAY be turning; too early to tell.

Why is one recognized over the other with similar reports? I think it boils down to personality and how their intelligence is manifested in the school setting.

I agree, Cathy. And it doesn't mean that's the majority!

Just logically speaking, I don't see how it can be the majority--it's much harder to get 2 high scores on the WISC than 1, so the numbers of across the board kids MUST be smaller than those high in one area!

But even if the majority had a processing speed equal to their PRI or VCI, does that mean that those who don't should be ignored? My son is PG. Does he get nothing?

CFK, it sounds like you're saying that if GT kids can't keep up, then they should just be out of luck. Is that what you mean?

Cathy, both my girls are fast. In fact, little one is faster than sister in certain areas. But last year, both classroom and enrichment teacher seemed so skeptical, based on how she presented herself at school, so I don't know.

I do wonder sometimes why the newer tests weigh so heavily on WMI and processing speed................

I can't speak for CFK, but I think she is wondering about this just like me. I think it's reasonable to assume that it's a ridiculous notion to discount extreme intelligence like your sons exhibit, simply because their processing speed isn't as fast as some. ((shrug)). I would like to know what the deal is with the emphasis on processing speed especially.

Unfortunately, the sad reality is that some really smart kids who should and need to have gifted services end up getting totally screwed. You can't control some nameless, faceless decision making board member who set policy on GT education. But you can take matters in your own hands in a variety of ways, like homeschooling.

I think the smartest people know when to call it quits and spend their energy in a more productive manner.