Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Regions Hatterdays in Fl

DS7 tried MASA for the first time today and my son really enjoyed himself. They learned about rocketry and forensics. I was thrilled to learn at the drop off that they had a mentor working with the kids today who was a police officer that worked on the forensics team and was also an undercover cop for many years...so he taught them all about fingerprinting, how to solve mysteries through science. My son was totally fascinated and came home with his fingerprints done along with guide sheets talking about whorls, tented arches, double loop whorls...and he proceeded to give us a whole lesson on DNA and fingerprinting.

Everyone was very nice and the person talking at the drop off said all the teachers are gifted endorsed and are gifted teachers in the area so that was nice to know. She said they were going to be offering a summer camp as well and the kids would rotate around different topics.

We are signed up for HatterDays in February so I am curious how he compares the two of them.

Belle,
It looks like we'll be seeing you there. DD is signing up too. It was a hard choice for her because she wants to do both, but we said she could try MASA another month.

Oh that's great Kerry! MASA was really neat but it looks like they only offer the same class each month - so it doesn't change each month like Hatterdays...DS7 is looking forward to Hatterdays this month...he is still a little nervous about going into a group of kids he has never met but I am really proud of how he handled MASA so I know he will be okay :-) We will see you guys there

Hi all,
I just found this old thread. Is Hatterdays still worth it, or have things changed? We are in Jax and were thinking of trying it in Feb or March.
Thanks-

The Feb one will be our first so I will post when we finish :-) We are driving about an hour to get there

For us it will be nearly two hours, so I look forward to seeing what you have to say!

DD (7 tomorrow ) has loved the 2 she went to. They are so interesting and hands on that she finds them amazing. In fact, they are so good that we can pretty much be guaranteed a bad week a school after one becasue she realizes, on some level, how bad things are at her school right now.
We asked her last month why she liked it so much and she said that the teacher is great and rather than making them just do worksheets they actually teach her things that she doesn't know yet.
We too drive a bit over an hour to get there, so it makes it an early morning start, but it is worth it for us because since her school situation isn't too good right now, it is the only time she gets to be with other gt kids and feels like they understand her and that don't think she is just wierd.

Well, we just found out that DH waited too long to send in the check for Feb. class, and it was filled already. So, we won't be going this month, but are already signed up for next month. So hopefully you'll be there then too Belle.

Oh Kerry - that's a shame :-( I guess it is a good sign though that it is filled up- that means kids must like it :-)We want to see if DS7 likes it enough this time around and if so, we will sign him up for the next one....the parent talk this month is on Perfectionism...which is perfect for us!

They just put up on their website the classes they are offering for their summer program..the only thing is that they have the classes split into K-3, 4-6 and 6-9...my son wasn't very interested in any of the K-3 classes - he was more into the 4-6 classes (geocaching, Harry Potter Science Magic, Blast Off/Rocketry, I want my mummy/egyptology, an experiment Experience-science and math, and Let's Build/architect)..the only classes offered for K-3 were geometery (basic understanding of shapes to sorting, describing, identifying and demonstrating symmetry) or Medieval Times Adventures.

DS7 said the Medieval was the only one he would be remotely interested in but he was really bummed that all the "super cool and interesting" stuff was only for Grades 4-6 :-(

I've thought the same thing about their k-3 classes. I think it is because they have just started this level class and are not sure what would be the best bet for this age group. DD is more interested in the older classes too. Maybe we should let them know this and see if they can make any changes?