ncpto - Could I get the Math Superstars and the reading one, too? (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - let me know if you'd prefer a fax # instead.) I have 2 gifted elementary kids and I live in the WRONG STATE for this! The state has said that each school can decide whether or not to even recognize giftedness as a special needs child. When my daughter was in 1st grade her teacher suggested putting her in THIRD GRADE! I said absolutely not, we needed to find other ways to challenge her. When my son was in kindergarten, halfway through the year we did agree to "promote" (the school's word, not mine) him to first grade. He had missed the kindergarten cutoff date by only a few days, and had we not moved from PA he would have been in 1st grade anyway so I was o.k. with that. He was a guinea pig, no one had ever been promoted at the school before, and it has worked well for him. There is now a pull-out program called Wider Horizons, the kids get one hour of accellerated instruction per week if they have tested within the top 5% of their grade's population. Testing is done each year and based upon parent and/or teacher recommendation. I agree it's not the best scenario, but it beats nothing. In PA where we used to live giftedness was seen as a special needs child and an IEP was written for those children which would require the school to provide and pay for any services dictated in that IEP. At this school, we have 16 special education teachers for students with learning disabilities (I have one of those also - he's 17 and stayed in PA with his dad because the educational opportunities were better for him there than they are here - it hurts every day but I know I made the right choice) and one person who is 1/2 time to work with the gifted kids. It's ridiculous and unfortunately until it is recognized that the district is stagnating the gifted children things won't change. Sorry to get on my soap box, this just happens to be one of my big pet peeves!!!!!

Ours is called ES for Extended Studies.

I only had a chance to skim the other replies, so maybe this has already been covered. Be sure to check your state laws -- there must be something about gifted programs. Here in FL, it used to be treated like a disability in that once identified, students had the right to appropriate education under an IEP (Individual Education Plan). Gifted kids no longer have an IEP, giving parents less rights regarding their education.

As for identifying kids, we use only IQ testing at this point. The state is currently working on new guidelines that will use other criteria including achievement test scores, teacher observation/recommendation, grades, etc. (much more subjective)

Check out the hoagies gifted site for great info: www.hoagiesgifted.org/

Good luck!

In our District, the child has to receive a minimum score on the testing, but it doesn't have to be in all areas. Gifted children are known for highly developed skill in one area, but others may be lacking. A lot of gifted children are academically excellent, but have poor social skills. They also include hyperactive, and ADD children. For this reason, I firmly believe the teacher needs to be certified in gifted.

The objective of the gifted programs I know are to enhance and increase exposure, not to advance the child. This also requires a different mind set than a regular teacher might have for classroom work. That's why many gifted programs provide projects, field trips, and hands on programs, rather than accelerated learning. Frankly, if my child becomes so accelerated, how can I expect the public school to accomodate my child's specific needs?

Our program is called GSP (Gifted STudent Program), or one was called QUEST, which was gifted but allowed other high scoring, but not gifted students to participate since there was room in the class. The current program involves a one day pull out of all gifted students. The teacher was full time at the last school because there were enough gifted students there to have full classes each day (by grade level). At this school the teacher comes once a week, and goes to two other schools the other days of the week. All grades are together because we have a small school. Being that they work mostly on projects, the kids really look out for one another and this works well. There is a comraderie. Right now they are producing videos on character education.

My nephew went to a program where the gifted kids were always together in their own classes. they ran a parallel grade at an existing school. It caused hard feelings amoung students in the same grade level, and I think my nephew felt like he was missing out on some of the fun and regular stuff the other students did. I prefer imersion.

At my daughter's Jr. High, she has three gifted classes. She is enrolled in Gifted-world cultures, instead of regular world cultures for one period of her daily schedule. They use the same book, but enhance it with more info and projects. I think that's important to keep the gifted student interested.

Definitely a worthwhile program. Interestingly enough, I have found that the active parents at my school -- the ones you see there all the time- are frequently parents of gifted kids. Are the kids smarter, or are their parents just more in tune with exposing them to things?

Our elementary school gifted and talented program is called A.C.E. It stands for Accelerated activites, Creative clustering, Enrichment and extensions. It is two fold. For those children identified as GT, they are pulled out once a week for a half hour. They do some really cool hands on activites. They also cover just about every aspect of education you think of. It is really not enough time, but we have one certified ace teacher for a school of 375 students. Once a week for 45 minutes, every class has a push in period with the ACE teacher. She calls it brain stretches. It helps to identify some kids who may have fallen through the cracks and not been evaluated for the pull out program. We also have a number of after school activies run by the ACE teacher, including Page Turners (reading competition with area elelmentaries) and Science Club. As a mother of an ACE student, I feel this program is a great service to children who learn quicker or differently. So often, these kids are labeled incorrectly and not given the challenges they require. If a school can concentrate on slower learners, it would stand to reason that they should also concentrate on the accelerated learners. Is it less important to help one reach their fullest potential than another? I am sure we all agree it definitley is not. I hope you are successful in your quest. Best of Luck!!

Our program is called Sage. It's the only k-12 program in Massachusetts. You can find out more information at www.framingham.k12.ma.us. For the most part, this is a pull-out program, twice a week. Ideally, programming should be incorporated into the classroom. One of the best parts of the program is how the students learn to handle their giftedness among each other and students not in the program. They're taught that everyone learns at different rates and different ways (multiple intelligences) and that they are "a different kind of smart." Unfortunately, with a state budget crisis, we're in danger of losing all or part of the program. We are fighting for the program locally, but one way you can raise awareness of the need for gifted and talented programs is to contact the National Association of Elementary School Principals at www.naesp.org. Good luck.

Thanks for the links JHB they have been very helpful along with what the fellow posters have added..
Please keep the the repsonses coming--the more the better!