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Why is it when anyone mentions a "gifted" child or school people get really hostile? Sometimes it sounds like people believe kids can't be gifted unless the are profoundly gited. The other take on it that I have seen is kids can't be evaluated accurately at an early age.
40 replies [ Reply | Watch | Options ]ditto. My dd is in a "gifted" program, and I think the term is applied so loosely nowadays that it really doesn't even mean anything. It's just used to make parents feel like their kid is special.
[ Reply | Options ]I think it's a term used in an attempt to legitimize the horrible gen ed education in many but not all nyc public schools.
[ Reply | Options ]np - But at least people who accept that their kids are gifted and have them in a gifted program/school are being straight with themselves. IMO of course. The two posters above are the ones being hypocritical and are just using their gifted programs to escape gen eds. No?
[ Reply | Options ]I'm the OR above. Why wouldn't I want a better education for my child? Of course I'll pick the citywide G&T over the local zoned school -- it's a better education. But when I talk to my friends about my kid, I don't say, "so, Susie is doing xyz. She is so advanced and gifted." That's how TONS of people talk.
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because the word gifted is so obnoxious and innapropriate in this context? do you really think that any of these kids are "gifted"?? if anything, they are NOT gifted insofar as they were bored enough to be prepped for the test. that is not a gift.
[ Reply | Options ]My DD received a score of 99.8 on the Stanford Binet test when she was 6 years old. We took her to an Educational Psychologist to have her evaluated again because we wanted to understand what level she was at and how best to steer her education. When she was tested again using an entirely different test, she was answering some sections of the test on a 10 or 11 year old level. Now my child is not a profoundly gifted child. She is a fairly normal behaving child who is now at a private school and doing well. I would have to say that she is to some degree gifted.
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because it implies that my kid is NOT gifted perhaps? the whole idea that a 4 year old is both gifted in talented is assinine.
[ Reply | Options ]It many states, it is now a state LAW that a certain percentage of kids are pulled out for a "gifted" program. So the definition of "gifted" changes year to year, depending on the peer group. It's really just a new version of "tracking." Unfortunately many parents don't understand that and assume that their child has a higher intellect. Often the kids in the "gifted" program aren't really smarter, just harder workers, as is the case for my dd.
[ Reply | Options ]People with DCs in public and feel insecure about it discuss the 'gifted' programs. Whether the DCs are actually gifted or just better than average remains to be seen but they do not strike me as more intelligent than most.
[ Reply | Options ]As used by experts, the term only relates to a child's potential for learning as exhibited through a number of different traits. Performance on a single standardized test -- because they are children -- is only a small part of any self-respecting assessment. The fact that NYC parents cram academic learning on their pre-schoolers so that they perform well on these tests means nothing, and that's why using SBV or ERB (which wealthy NYers buy on E-bay to prepare for TT admissions) is frowned upon by those who really understand how to look for gifted kids.
[ Reply | Options ]At least 50% of my friends believe (and have made statements to the fact) that their kids are "gifted." Legal/school system definitions aside, it has become the norm for UMC families to claim their kids are "gifted." Statistically of course, it is impossible for so many kids to be truly gifted.
[ Reply | Options ]Thta is because the definition of gifted is used in NYC public schools as top 10%. This is not used elsewhere. I think at the least, top 5% of IQ is used for many G&T programs around the country. I think top 2% actually need gifted curriculum. But so much prepping and testing at 4yo skew the data. There are so many kids who got 99 but perform like an average smart kid.
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The term gifted is a technical term constructed by those studying giftedness in the field. Whatever the cutoff is, they came up with it. I guess avg smart kids can receive adequate education and do not face many obstacles that true gifted kids do in regular schools. The problem with defining the gifted in such a wide way (say top 10% as NYC does) is that the curriculum is focused on middle of that population and the teachers spend most time helping those who are slow to catch up. The kids in the top end of the spectrum don't really get any benefit of being in a G&T school. BTW, OLSAT is not a test that measures IQ, but that is a diff issue.
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Mom of two "gifted" ds's here Guess what -- "Gifted" only takes a kid so far. At a certain point, work ethic, character, and life skills become equally if not MORE important. If a kid is "smart enough" and has plenty of the other qualities, that kid will find more success that the more "gifted" kid who is lacking in those other areas.
[ Reply | Options ]HATE the term "gifted." Everyone else is not? I think that's why people get hostile-- it's just an obnoxious term. Just say where your kid goes to school and that's that. I have a kid in the "gifted" program. She's smart, but only truly gifted on Christmas morning, surrounded by presents. The term is just bogus.
[ Reply | Options ]Do you really think that everyone has the same intelligence, athletic, musical, artistic, etc ability?
[ Reply | Options ]np: no, some are better than others at other things. Gifted is supposed to mean truly exceptional. Use "talented," if you need to brag.
[ Reply | Options ]But "gifted" is not just a braggart's word. There's an actual, clinical definition of the word. And, no, profoundly gifted (what I think you mean by "truly exceptional") is not the only category for giftedness.
[ Reply | Options ]but nowadays it has become so bastardized that its actual clinical definition is no longer applicable.
[ Reply | Options ]How has it become bastardized in your view? Because the public schools use it to describe their G&T program?
[ Reply | Options ]Yes, and the criteria for those G&T is the top 10%. So you could have a child who is a really hard worker and they could qualify as "gifted." My brother was assessed as "gifted" in the 1970's and my dd is considered "gifted" now, and they are two completely different types of intelligence.
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Get over yourself. It's like saying my dc is beautiful. So what if your child is very good at playing the piano, or doing equations? Why label it? Most kids have certain talents and not all of them can be measured by testing. If you dc is fantastic at getting along with people or has a killer sense of humor would you call him "gifted"? Just makes you sound pompous and competitive.
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