Gifted identification

Nikki - posted on 05/27/2012

Our school identifies children who are likely to be gifted in 1st grade and they get extra attention such as pull outs to receive the extra instruction outside of their class. Also, they group children in all elementary based on ability so they avoid teaching to "the average," our school had implemented Project Child so the teachers are better able in my opinion to see what my child needs over more than one school year. The end of 3rd grade, this year, he was labeled gifted, so we shall see what's to come. They have always done a great job of offering higher level learning for my son. I have been very happy with our school in this area.

Knalidi - posted on 05/14/2012

i can so relate to this post. i live in Trinidad and there is no such testing to assess the level at which the child is at. it is very frustrating when your child is so advanced and the law of my country states that the child has to wait on the rest of the class to catch up, which is so unfair.

Tammie - posted on 05/02/2012

we figured out our son was gifted when he was counting to 12 at 18 months old and writing his abc's at 2. he was tested in the middle of K and found to be very gifted, and very socially behind. he was also found to be ADHD, at high risk for depression, and very Very bored. he was a very difficult child for his k and gr.1 teachers. he stayed in trouble at school, and we contemplated home schooling him. this year has been a complete change. his teacher has had extensive training working with gifted kids, his doc has him on some meds and in counselling for focus and behavior, the school has him in the Excel program for gifted kids, and he pulls straight A's with no more notes home or angry phone calls. YAY! :D

Jen - posted on 04/29/2012

I realized my child could be gifted when all her classmates were reading Cat in the Hat and she loved Charlotte's Web. I remember she read Huckleberry Finn in first grade. And sure enough she turned out to be gifted.

Candi - posted on 12/26/2010

My son was labeled "gifted" in first grade. His Kindergarten teacher didn't get the chance to have him tested b/c he was only there for half the year. We moved there after Christmas break and testing has to be recommended at the beginning of the school yr. Anyway, he was advancing and loved school. Reading on 5th grade level but hating math! Same thing throughout school. He read Eragon in 3rd grade, refuses to watch a movie until he reads the book, etc. TAG classes are different everywhere. Wew moved to VA last yr. Things were a little different here. They actually have different schools for gifted levels. Now in Middle school, he is considered Highly Gifted, so he is in a class of kids that scored over a certain amount on the VA gifted test. My daughter is in 5th grade also scored in the gifted level, but her phase 2 of the test will determine which middle school she will attend. What some teachers did to help my son fight boredom and stay out of trouble was assign him extra work a few grades above his, mostly for their pleasure to see how advanced he was. Some would assign him chores in the classroom or send him to get things from the office or whatever. Teachers really have it hard sometimes. I am glad they place all kids of a certain level together here. It sure does make things easier

Margaret - posted on 01/08/2009

I'm in shock that some schools don't test until 3rd grade! That is too late for some children. If our child hadn't been tested, he would have been lost long before then.

Here's our story:
My older son was labeled "profoundly gifted" in kindergarten. We had warned the district when we enrolled him that he had been reading since he was 2 1/2 (he read Harry Potter when he was 4), could do multiplication/division, could write, had memorized the entire Periodic Table, and could explain basic chemistry. Since he wrote in all capital letters (even though he demonstrated that he could write "normally"), they decided to keep him in kindergarten. The teacher who tested him gave us a short list of things that she thought he would benefit from learning in kindergarten, so we didn't protest. I wish we had.

Well, after about 5 weeks, the teacher told us that Zach has learned everything that she had planned to spend the year teaching him. She tried to give him extra activities, but since our district has the kindergarten in a separate facility, she didn't have access to anything above 1st grade level. Zach became exceedingly bored and a discipline problem. Luckily, the teacher had seen the "good" Zach before boredom set in. The teacher pleaded for help from the school, but didn't get a lot of support. The principal viewed Zach as a trouble maker (despite his previous good behavior) and was more interested in discipline than fixing the root cause. Zach, who had never had any problems in all-day preschool or before, was even suspended for a day. Zach later told the principal that he "did not respect" her and, when she asked what he meant, clearly explained why. (That didn't win him any friends!) By January, we began to expect calls from the school at least once a week about Zach's behavior.

Luckily, one of the staff suggested calling in the Child Study Team (psychologist & social worker) to evaluate Zach since being gifted is technically a "disability" in our district (!!). After extensive testing, they determined that Zach was "profoundly gifted" and was not being served by the school district. They implemented some changes which helped and began planning for his transition to first grade.

This year (first grade), they have him in a class with two teachers who are fully on board with the Child Study Team. He also went to 1st grade PEP classes (gifted & talented) classes during class. During the first month, the PEP teacher decided he was getting bored and added additional 2nd and 3rd grade PEP classes. This means that he leaves his regular class every day. He is now enjoying school and behaves normally, even though he wishes there was more science.

Zach also goes to a social interaction class as it was also determined that he was behind in his social skills. While they are talking about having him skip a grade next year, there is still the social skill issue.

So, in short, we went from being completely horrified by our school district to being reasonably happy. It is a balancing act, as Zach masters concepts very quickly and the teachers have to ramp up what they are doing. He now behaves like a normal child.

I can honestly say that without the Child Study team, we would have left the district. The psychologist was the one who convinced the school that Zach's behavior problems were directly related to profound giftedness (which has proven to be the case). She has been a great advocate.

My advice: If the school won't test your kids, look for private testing. You are the only advocate your kid has initially. Also, the site that really helped me understand all of this is www.hoagiesgifted.org . They provide information on testing and answered all of the questions I had.

Good luck!

Samantha - posted on 01/08/2009

There are a lot of schools of thought about gifted education (I'm sure you've discovered already). Like all other areas of parenting, you need to be your childs best advocate and decide what's best for them and when.

My childs school did not want to test my son. I didn't want my son to go on any longer becoming increasingly frustrated and turned off by school. Luckily someone called me about an ad in our local paper that there was going to be a free screening for a new gifted school in the area. I brought my son in and he was screened. Then he was tested and interviewed by a psychologist, and then they sat me down to explain the level of giftedness of my son and I cried...

How on earth would I be able to challenge him and give him all that he needs and deserves to reach his potential. Well, the fact is, I can do what i can do... Like starting this group and going to my sons new school (we since have just moved to TX and a non-gifted school) and make sure that he is challenged and had resources to keep him moving ahead.

He does so much more at home than at school at this point. He loves to learn new things on his own. He taught himself to read before we even tried. (that was a big clue) He just picked up a book and started reading. None of us knew he was learning or trying - he wasn't in school yet.

So now he's taught himself to play chess, he's learning piano, he's learning how to juggle, he's learning learning learning through books and online (using the kidzui browser).

We do what we can do and support one another on this extraordinary parenting journey.

Angela - posted on 01/03/2009

It is unfortunate that many teachers simply give gifted students extra work at the same grade level. This is not enrichment and this is not at all suitable for gifted students. What the gifted students are supposed to be receiving is work that is more challenging within the same curriculum strands.. therefore learning the same subject material, but taking it further for higher understanding such as evaluation level learning. Sadly, teachers do not get support in creating these materials, and since most gifted students "float" on through school, it is not a priority to provide the kind of programming they would most benefit from.

Lori - posted on 01/03/2009

Our school usually does not test until they are in 3rd grade. However, there was an unusually high number in my son's class that they thought may be gifted. Therefore they did some early testing. In response to those who were identified as gifted, they met with the gifted teacher maybe a couple of times a week. They were also given packets to keep at their desk. In these packets were additonal work at their level that they could do to stay busy as they often finished their work ahead of his peers. Also, his teacher would do little things to keep him engaged. For example there was a timed math test. He passed it after the first time. His teacher then added more problems to gifted students tests or would make it more diffcult without any of the students being aware...including my own son.

Alyssa - posted on 01/02/2009

I think its great that he gets to meet with the Gifted teacher twice a day! 3 of my 4 children so far have been identified as "Gifted" per the school system and thats about as far as it goes. After they are labeled they are given a website they can go to for free to do extra projects but I've been told that really nothing is done for these chidlren until they are in High School. It is so very frustrating!

Angela - posted on 01/02/2009

Well that is great! Our school system here does not identify kids until at *least* fourth grade.. and even then it is difficult to get any programming for the identified. Is he enjoying the enrichment?

Laura - posted on 01/02/2009

At what age was he labeled gifted? I have a 3 1/2 year old and I do think its more than a proud mother.