To Test for Gifted Program or Not? What do you think?

My cousin and I chatted about this one and I thought it was important to ask this question, should she have her daughter tested for the gifted program?

I will interject here that she was in the gifted program in school and I was not so we have both view points going into this dilemma. Plus, both her brother and my sister were in the gifted program. Apparently, in the smartypants tree, I just fell out of it.

My first thought is this, why do we call it “gifted”? Isn’t there a better term? Aren’t we all “gifted” in some way? I may be a MIT graduate but can I fix my car? I may be a gifted salesperson but does that make me a good sales manager? I may be as dumb as a stump but I can throw a 95 mile an hour fast ball, etc…

Perhaps we should stop labeling and just call it an advanced studies class, because that is what it really is. Then maybe, just maybe we can get beyond the first question of do I let my kid or insist my kid get tested. Test everyone.

How do you present it to that they are going to be tested in the first place. Second question is what happens when your kid doesn’t make it into the gifted program? How do you break this news to you child? Telling your kiddo they are not “gifted” sounds about as fun as slamming my finger in the door.

My cousin did not want her daughter tested, I think her exact words were “not only no but hell no.” She felt it did not offer much in the way of “real world skills” and didn’t seem to help her brother and my sister much when it came to motivation and application. I agreed, it almost seemed like it gave some of the participants in there an “I am gifted, I don’t have to work at it” attitude. Then when things got hard outside the classroom there was no application on how to function or study for that matter.

I will explore more in the next blog as I have a lot to say on this one… look for part two and here is a good link to how to increase your or your child’s IQ (to prep for the gifted test).


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