WWYD.......Where would u go ..school related

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I think that if she is aiming for Harvard she needs to plan backwards by looking at the kinds of experiences that most Harvard freshmen enter with. I don't have hard data but I can speak anecdotally about kids I know who have matriculated there. Generally they have:

-- at least a year of math beyond BC calc (e.g. multivariable calc, IB math H.L.).

-- either many AP classes, an IB diploma, or classes taken online or in person at a well regarded 4 year school (not a community college).

-- activities that show sustained commitment to an intellectual interest outside of school. The fact that she is asking for extra homework and pop quizzes tells me that she's got a lot of growing to do in this area as she is still expecting the adults to spoonfeed her and chart the course. As she matures she needs to think about what interests her and pursue that-- will she write a novel? Develop a research project? Take up a political or other cause and research/advocate/fundraise? Etc. . .

-- activities that demonstrate leadership.

-- meaningful ongoing community service

I think that if you look at this list you will find that your location provides both challenges and benefits. On one hand you will find that she needs to look harder for opportunities but doing so allows her to denonatrate initiative and develop independence. She may have fewer politicians or scientists to approach but if she finds a fit she may be the one highschooler doing meaningful work alongside adults, rather than one of a pack of interns doing busywork.

[traviesojmt]

My DS15 was also reading at the age of 2. Skipped second grade and has an IQ of 146 (given by a child psychologist). I took a much different route though. As a military family, we move quite a bit. Schools and academic standards are different in every city/state in which we move. On our latest move, my son was quite a bit ahead and they wanted to put him in sophomore classes (he was a freshman) and we said No. He was already the youngest freshman due to skipping second grade. He didn't feel comfortable with the older kids. We decided to keep him with his peers. The only exception was history but only because he would have to completely repeat the same book. He is now a sophomore. The only Jr. level class he takes is History. I do not regret the decision at all. For us personally, there is more to life than hurrying through and trying to be the smartest one around. He runs cross country and track and has made good friends. That makes us all happy. I am already freaking out that my son will start college at 17. I would not do it one minute earlier though.

OP, having moved around quite a bit, I can you tell that you will not know the full extent of your child's level until she is adequately tested. Schools vary greatly from state to state. She may be very advanced compared to her peers now, but that could change greatly if you lived elsewhere. I have seen it with my own DS. Sometimes we move to a city where he is really far ahead and then sometimes, he attends a school where is a closer on track with everyone else. I would hate for you to make such a huge decision without all of your DD's academic facts.

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Would you be willing to move to FL were I live the high schools partner up with the community colleges

[badblackpug]

Originally Posted by traviesojmt

My DS15 was also reading at the age of 2. Skipped second grade and has an IQ of 146 (given by a child psychologist). I took a much different route though. As a military family, we move quite a bit. Schools and academic standards are different in every city/state in which we move. On our latest move, my son was quite a bit ahead and they wanted to put him in sophomore classes (he was a freshman) and we said No. He was already the youngest freshman due to skipping second grade. He didn't feel comfortable with the older kids. We decided to keep him with his peers. The only exception was history but only because he would have to completely repeat the same book. He is now a sophomore. The only Jr. level class he takes is History. I do not regret the decision at all. For us personally, there is more to life than hurrying through and trying to be the smartest one around. He runs cross country and track and has made good friends. That makes us all happy. I am already freaking out that my son will start college at 17. I would not do it one minute earlier though.

OP, having moved around quite a bit, I can you tell that you will not know the full extent of your child's level until she is adequately tested. Schools vary greatly from state to state. She may be very advanced compared to her peers now, but that could change greatly if you lived elsewhere. I have seen it with my own DS. Sometimes we move to a city where he is really far ahead and then sometimes, he attends a school where is a closer on track with everyone else. I would have for you to make such a huge decision without all of your DD's academic facts.

This is very smart.

I am not a fan of skipping grades. I think that it does a disservice to children socially. While I think academics are important, I think that people get so caught up in the pride of their child being smart that they forget that there is more to life.

OP, it seems that your daughter is already missing social cues. No matter how academically challenging or advanced a class is, it is never socially acceptable amongst kids to ask for homework or pop quizzes. Even the most brilliant student sees this as sucking up.

The above poser is correct. Schools vary from district to district and state to state. Your daughter is obviously bright, but she may not be leaps and bounds above her peers in a different district. She may, indeed, be a big fish in a little pond.

I would also encourage you to seek out your nearest large, university-based hospital with a pediatrics department and have her tested by an educational psychologist. In all honesty, I would focus now more on enriching her education via extracurricular activities and online programs if she needs more intellectual stimulation.

[Southernmiss]

[QUOTE=badblackpug;46710337]

The above poser is correct. QUOTE]

This cracked me up.









I do know what you meant.

[badblackpug]

[QUOTE=Southernmiss;46710384]

Originally Posted by badblackpug

The above poser is correct. QUOTE]

This cracked me up.









I do know what you meant.

Oh my! I do apologize! I didn't mean that. Spell check wouldn't catch that one would it?

[ctinct]

Originally Posted by cntrygal

they really dont offer any extras to add to her schedule



I am not encouraging the 2 yr high school plan. School is suggesting this.

Op, if the school is suggesting this, they surely have done some testing. Have you asked where she stands in relation to other kids her age, and do you know her IQ? Was her older brother gifted? Also, in most states, you need a certain core group of classes to graduate. For example, in my state, you need 4 years of English/LA/literature type classes. How does the school plan on having her meet those requirements?

I'm not a big fan of kids taking the SATs or ACTs early because I think a lot of the stuff on those tests is acquired knowledge. For example, it's hard to answer the math questions unless you have taken that particular math class. It doesn't mean a kid is not intelligent. Although they are not perfect, I think iq tests are a better indicator of intelligence. I'm also not a huge fan of the Johns Hopkins and Duke programs, because they are quite expensive. But, you've been given some good advice on some enrichment stuff online, such as the MIT and Yale open courses. They don't provide college credit, but they are free! Also, your daughter can self-study for any AP test, so if she finishes hs early, she can spend a year or two preparing herself to take those exams. Hoagies gifted was also mentioned, but again, most of that stuff costs $$$$. There are some competitive free programs,however. Do a search also to see if there is a parent advocate group anywhere in your area. They sometimes pool their resources to provide enrichment activities for their kids.

Also, please, please, please don't encourage your daughter to only set her sights on Harvard, or even the Ivy League in general. There are many, many excellent colleges in the US. Every year there are students with perfect SAT scores and gpas who are turned down at Harvard. It's really a total crapshoot.

And sorry, I also have two off topic comments. A prior poster mentioned a GIEP. I'm guessing that means a gifted iep. In CT, I used to get a letter every year saying that my child had been identified as gifted, and that they were obligated to inform me of that, but they were not obligated to provide services. Do other states mandate special services for gifted students?

Also, I'm curious about the specialized high schools in NYC. I always assumed that you had to actually live in nyc to apply to them. It sounds like that is not the case---is that true? Seems like a bad precedent, because then people from out of district can apply and take a spot from someone who is already a bona fide city resident. Just doesn't seem fair to me.

eta:Sorry. I started this post earlier in the evening. After I finished it, I read the posts that were written between the time I started writing and the time I finished it, and I see that others have mentioned that some states do, while others do not, require IEPs for gifted students. Personally, I think they should, but I don't rule the world.

[tigercat]

My granddaughter is gifted. My daughter decided that she was to stay in her grade level. The teachers used her as a teachers aid and she did secretarial work as well. This went on for 3 yrs. She did really good in school however she lost all interest in it. It has been a hard battle getting her interested again and it isn't working. She is in her last year of HS and can do the work easily but is now very lazy. Her cousin was the same and ended up not going any further than HS. If she had of been pushed harder and given more challanging work it could have been so different.
tigercat

[badblackpug]

OP, it is apparent your daughter is interested in science. So we know the concentration area in which she would be interested. You are willing to move anywhere. How much are you willing/able to pay? Are you okay with religiously affiliated schools?

There are quite a few good prep schools in my area, but they are very costly, and many are religiously affiliated.

[Tigger&Belle]

[QUOTE=Southernmiss;46710384]

Originally Posted by badblackpug

The above poser is correct. QUOTE]

This cracked me up. .

Cracked me up too!

[crazyme5kids]

ctinct, for the specialized high schools you do need to be a resident. I believe you also have to be a resident for the gifted and talented programs, but I could be wrong about that.

You can go to other city high schools as a non-resident, but you will have to pay to attend the school.

[pandamom]

Originally Posted by cntrygal

This is just the type of place im looking for. She is taking her SAT in dec so that too may open up some opportunities for her

My dd took the SAT's in 7th grade as part of Northwestern's talent search. A few months after the test she started to get a bunch of offers from elite boarding schools to apply for scholarships and admission. She's in 9th grade now and still gets a couple of mailings a month.

[MariDisney]

Originally Posted by ctinct

And sorry, I also have two off topic comments. A prior poster mentioned a GIEP. I'm guessing that means a gifted iep. In CT, I used to get a letter every year saying that my child had been identified as gifted, and that they were obligated to inform me of that, but they were not obligated to provide services. Do other states mandate special services for gifted students?

Yes. In PA specifically gifted is identified as "having an IQ over 130 and in need of specially designed instruction". The Gifted IEP (GIEP) has the same core components as an IEP: present levels of performance, statements of goals and objectives, lists of specially designed instruction, and any special services such as a gifted pull-out program or or other alternative placements. It is revisited every year. Essentially, in our case, we plan in which areas my DD will receive enrichment or deeper teaching. We also list alternative means of assessment such as special projects. Each of her teachers is in contact with her to identify topics of particular interest.

[cornflake]

She does have same age friends that she can do some things with but they really just are not on the same level as her they dont really have the same intrests as her. They sometimes dont get her, like when she asks for more homework in class, asks for pop quizes wants to go faster in school. She wants kids that will work on science projects with her and she can talk about books with, someone who can challange her in scrable and trival persuit and race her in sudoko and crosswords.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure she's a perfectly nice girl but I can't imagine many kids liking a kid who asks for more homework and asks for pop quizzes to be given in class? In my extremely competitive high school, she'd have been shunned - and we all liked academics and such. Asking for the whole class to be given more work because you want it is just verboten in school in my experience.

Kids who want more work go get more work for themselves - extra-credit projects or what have you.

Also, I'm curious about the specialized high schools in NYC. I always assumed that you had to actually live in nyc to apply to them. It sounds like that is not the case---is that true? Seems like a bad precedent, because then people from out of district can apply and take a spot from someone who is already a bona fide city resident. Just doesn't seem fair to me.

You have to live in the City to attend them but I dunno about taking the test. The OP said she'd move anyplace so ... not sure if you need to reside already to take it or just to enroll if you make it in to one. Moot point though.

There's no districting to them though, if you meant it beside City/not, anyone in the City itself can go to any of them (like a kid from the Manhattan can go to B'klyn Latin, someone from Staten Island can go to Bronx Science, etc.)- admission is decided by your test score alone.

[Bonnie151]

Originally Posted by cntrygal

My purpose of post where no one knows me is that you never know who knows the one piece of information you need. Some one here may know the name of the one school that would be the perfect fit for her.

I'm not trying to be rude, honestly, but that's just unrealistic. We don't know your daughter, we have nothing concrete to assess (e.g. test scores) and we don't know your financial situation. As a PP poster mentioned, there are lots of top notch private schools - particularly in New England, places like Groton School, Phillips Andover, Phillips Exeter, Concord Academy might be worth looking into, depending on your financial situation. For public schools. I grew up in Harvard MA and the local high school, The Bromfield School, is small but has an excellent track record in sending its top students to Harvard, other Ivies & Little Ivies. However, I'm sure there are hundreds and hundreds of similar public schools - we have no way of identifying that "perfect fit" for your daughter.

I wish you the best of luck in working out what is best for your daughter.