Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Identifying gifted boys and girls

I have a lot of nephews and nieces and 2d cousins. We all get together over the holidays and its a wild party.

The boys' energy levels vs the girls at the same age is a notch or two higher. Also, boys consistently get timeout and break things where the girls don't - if at all. Its very interesting to observe the differences at all age levels and the changes both sexes go through as they get older. The girls definately have a much higher verbal ability and verbal reasoning.

As for testing, I can see how a test or screening that favors conformity will tend to screen for girls while a test that penalizes independent thought that is acted upon will penalize boys.

Has anyone heard of the argument of starting boys a year or two later in school because they do not conform to the class environment? This was a conversation I had with a F of mine a few months back. There is a push to adjust boys ages as schools are becoming more and more structured in the earlier years. I just thought how interesting the gifted comment ties into my previous conversation.

Yes I"ve heard that argument. But for anything, one blanket rule won't work for everyone. My son is highly verbal and putting K off a year, would have been detrimental. K was detrimental as it was.

Are the teachers there (Israel) mostly men or women? Just trying to figure this out.
My son's gt class last year was mostly girls, this year he says it's an even mix. I wondered if the mostly (?) female teachers in the u.s. mostly recommend what they see as gifted, at least in the early years.

Wouldn't have worked for mine either- he was ready for school and begging at 2. However, it may have worked for one of my son's classmates but in what I perceive to be a very negative way. He is a full year older than nearly all the kids in the class and a year and a half older than my DS. He is naturally bigger and more mature and therefore has fit perfectly into the bully position. He is constantly harassing other children. But the boy can sit still for circle time.

I can tell you from watching both my girls the last few years that they, at least, blend. Whether or not they are trying to blend or if it just naturally happens.

They seriously underestimated first DD. They knew she was very G, but they had no idea HOW G until she took their CogAt and had a WJ administered.

You would think........that they would listen to me........when I tell them...............that they are now underestimating DD6...........

"Academic redshirting" is very, very common in our school system and is one of the reasons I rejected the idea of putting DS7 in K a year early, though I did consider it. He's got a late spring birthday, so he's already one of the youngest in his class. Factor in that literally half the boys I know in his school have been redshirted--his best friend in the neighborhood is older than he is by a couple of months, but is a year behind--and that puts DS7 almost two years younger than some of the boys BEFORE a grade skip! I simply couldn't see putting him in early and making him THREE years younger...

Even so, he was bored out of his skull in 1st grade.

The part I have trouble with is that redshirting is totally accepted around here, but grade skips are unheard of. It just doesn't make sense to me. If one is sensible and okay, philosophically speaking, why isn't the other? It makes me sad, actually.

Mostly women here, too.
However (as I also felt on my own flesh), teachers - men and women alike - tend to encourage boys nore than girls in math and science lessons. I know it has been verified in studies, and i wonder if that is worldwide as well...
Anyway, as far as I know, the screening test they use here is identical to what was mentioned above (WISC-IV), so it is extremely interesting how come there are such differences between the Israeli and the American results...

So does it seem to help those boys that are redshirted? I just can't help thinking that instead of forcing the square peg in the round hole perhaps we should find a different shaped hole. I understand it is not logical to think that the shape would be so idealistic as being a square but maybe a rectangle? AKA change the school structure. And yes IF they allow for holding back the natural polar opposite would be acceleration so I see even more your frustration of the system.

Maybe we can make a clear and logical argument in preparation for the next time a school says they do not allow acceleration.

School: We do not do grade acceleration.
Parent: Is it because of the difference in ages?
School: Yes.
Parent: Oh! But I don't understand. Tommy is in kindy, and he just turned 7. Isn't there a problem with the 2-year range of ages?

(of course, my argument needs work! i never said I was logical and clear...)

In my town, redshirting is very common because of sports. grrrr.