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Ok, so those of you who have followed my story know I am raising a genius, and until recently, I was afraid she would grow up to be the world's next evil genius. As in super powers, destroy humanity, conquer the planet....etc.
Last year she tested officially Gifted/Talented (not that she is consistently good in school or homework). So this year she was placed in an advanced writing class. All the other kids in the Advanced writers class scored in the 900-1100 range on this "reading inference" test. 600-800 is grade level. So imagine my surprise when I found out her score was low, like 200's low. The teacher kind of questioned her G/T status, but I asked to see her actual answers.
Ok, let me just say I did not expect what I found. I fully thought she merely got bored and gave up trying halfway through....NOPE. She *out-thought* the test. Skipping the obvious wrong ones, and sometimes the easy right answers, she chose very deeply thought out better answers. Only the test didn't anticipate the answers being too easy, so it didn't have appropriate choices. And I was stunned at the level of thought/reason she was using. So was her A.W. teacher. So we pulled up her STAR test results from this week to see if she scored low on that too. (Overall reading/grammar/comprehension)...... She scores at a COLLEGE FRESHMAN LEVEL. She is actually 11 and in 6th grade. I am giddy and a bit frightened!
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I scored at the college freshman reading level, too, when I was in 6th grade. If your daughter is anything like me, you've got your hands full for the next decade or so, lol. Are there any special programs for extremely gifted kids at your local university that she could study on a part-time basis in addition to her regular studies? That was how they finally handled me: I started taking a couple freshman college courses at the University of Californria when I was in the 7th grade, in addition to my regular schoolwork. By the time I reached junior high school, my teachers knew that if I wasn't constantly exposed to a rigorous schedule and challenging coursework, I became bored and my behavior in the classroom became atrocious.
Congratulations! Let me share something a teacher once said to me. "Remember, an IQ of 130 belongs to a child as differently able as an IQ of 70. They are both 30 points from average". And it has proven to be true for many kids. So it is a wonderful thing, but also a challenging thing. Best of luck in your journey and congratulations again.
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I don't dare get her IQ tested... LOL But her Language Arts level level astonished me. She is in an Advanced Writing class, and will be submitted her writings to be published as part of several competitions. I look for every subject I can to teach her everything. She soaks it all up too. We also have "concurrent enrollment" at the state college near us, so she can take core college courses FREE that count for high school credit as well, and get her associates degree before she gets her high school diploma! I am still astonished at her scores. I really cannot wait to see what the future holds for her.[url=http://www.khanacademy.org]Khan Academy[/url] was a huge help this summer, helping me teach her math and fill in the gaps from 2nd-5th grade (behavior issues).
Wow! I think it's great that they have those resources for her, too so she can take advanced writing and enroll concurrently at a state college! And a teacher willing to look again at her test and figure out what was really going on. It's nice to hear that.
It's just dawning on us that our son is never going to be a typical kid. He's only 4 but with 2nd grade academic skills and a vocabulary that makes him sound like a little adult. Even in preschool, things haven't exactly been smooth. (His teachers say he gets frustrated because when he talks to the other kids, they often don't understand what he's saying.) So it makes me hopeful to hear about another gifted kid having some great success at school!
Elementary school was beastly, but Intermediate school has been great! Early on, she discovered she loved writing, so I gave her a notebook to write her stories in. I also bought "brain quest" flashcards and had her spend time on websites like pbskids.org and khanacademy.com and coolbrainz.com etc... I bought her books in all genre, such as non-fiction animal ones, science experiments, historical fiction, how to do sign language, origami, etc. I also bought her a set of the childcraft encyclopedias from a thrift store. And I got her started loving the classics, by reading to her a chapter a night from the Illustrated Classics series (with cliffhangers to keep her interested). At one point I let her color the illustrations in the books after we finished the chapter (helped her retain the imagery, as well as geared her brain to start to build pictures as she read). Anytime I read to young kids (as a substitute teacher) I have them color a scene from what I am reading. If they can visualize what is being read they will become lifelong readers.I make sure to tell her anything and everything interesting about people or places we pass as we drive. We point out historical sites, rock formations etc... I figured early on, that her education would need to be supplemented by me, so I made sure to always be teaching her something. And she loved to learn stuff. It made her feel grown up. Letting her cook with me was also a big deal. Teaching her the correct way to do housework and challenging her to do not miss any of the steps when she did it on her own also helped her. And a trampoline was a lifesaver! I didn't put her in too many after school lessons, but I made sure to immerse her in all sorts of learning. I even put post it notes all over the house labeling things like Oven, Door, Window, Sink, Chair, Table, etc... While she was learning to read.Then as she got older, I make sure she has opportunities to teach younger kids. She gets a kick out of that.The concurrent college enrollment won't happen until 9th or 10th grade. But the advanced writing class is new this year and is being taught by a literary genius friend of mine! I am so lucky she has her as a teacher! She has always taught special needs, and G/T is special needs. I also make sure her teachers are aware of how fast she picks up on stuff. And I explain she doesn't get 2nd chances very often because she will take advantage. And, I let them know she thrives in a leadership position.If I had to do it over again, I would make a deal with her, that on days in school that she didn't learn anything new, and she was well behaved, she could come home and I would teach her about something SHE wanted to learn about. That way if she was bored, she would still be motivated to behave.
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Some good suggestions. Thanks. :) You gotta love a kid who loves to read! DJ spends a lot of time either reading or being read to. And the rest of the time, he wants to be listening to audiobooks while he plays. I've just about got Charlotte's Web memorized now!I haven't started formally teaching DJ yet. He seems to soak it up from the atmosphere, but he's a typical 4-year-old boy in that he has NO interest in "lessons" from me at the moment! Although he loves the science lessons and the math materials at school. (It's a Montessori school, so he's learning place value and double digit addition and subtraction. And fractions.) But I have wondered if his teacher next year would be willing to have me send him with work, books, projects, etc that he can work on when he has time. And if they don't adapt his curriculum, he's going to have a lot of time . . .