early start looking for tips

Parents Forum
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<p>I'm the mom of an 8th grader.
We are just starting our search into schools and aid. I just found this site today and I was hoping some of you could share you knowledge and experience with us.</p>

<p>DD was in private school up till last year when we decided to start home schooling.
She does very well on standardized tests but due to poor organizational skills her grades rarely matched her ability.</p>

<p>She is above grade level in most subjects so I plan to focus on giving her the skills to organize as well as letting her work at her grade level.</p>

<p>Last year while researching standardized testing we would use for our state reporting, i discovered she could take the SAT at 12 years of age. I had her take the SAT last year just to see get a baseline of her ability. She scored well enough on the verbal portion to qualify for john's Hopkins CTY program. I was thrilled (now I just have to find the money for her to take some classes).</p>

<p>she did not answer the math portion however. She is currently 1-2 years below grade level in math. It is my plan to reteach the math skills she missed and get her through too pre calc.</p>

<p>Can any one offer any pointers to things we should be considering?</p>

<p>SAT or ACT prep class? Is this a good idea or are the good ones more than we can afford right now?</p>

<p>What type of organizations should we look to have her participate in? We live in a small town in upstate NY. Right now she voulenteers at our library and I would love to find a way to get her to vouleenteer for the local paper. She's a strong speller and catches spelling/grammer error in the local paper and other printed sources.</p>

<p>Any places I can start searching for potential aid?
I left my full time job 3 years ago when I had another baby. </p>

<p>thanks for any tips!</p>

<p>LW</p>

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<p>Last year while researching standardized testing we would use for our state reporting, i discovered she could take the SAT at 12 years of age. I had her take the SAT last year just to see get a baseline of her ability. She scored well enough on the verbal portion to qualify for john's Hopkins CTY program. I was thrilled (now I just have to find the money for her to take some classes).</p>

<p>If you are comfortable with homeschooling her- I really don't see how CTY is going to be a big benefit. Homeschooling allows her to work at her own pace so I think CTY is overkill.</p>

<p>(My D took the SAT @ 11 and took a CTY course )</p>

<p>My advice would be forget about college for a while- help support her interests
Hoagies</a>' Gifted: Home Schooling Gifted Children</p>

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<p>There is a thread you might be interested in:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/557114-advice-any-parents-hs-freshmen-even-8th-graders-out-there.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/557114-advice-any-parents-hs-freshmen-even-8th-graders-out-there.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>If you are comfortable with homeschooling her- I really don't see how CTY is going to be a big benefit. Homeschooling allows her to work at her own pace so I think CTY is overkill.</p>

<p>(My D took the SAT @ 11 and took a CTY course )</p>

<p>My advice would be forget about college for a while- help support her interests </p>

<p>I think home schooling is a good fit for now. However I am having her take a few classes on line: Latin & writing for now.</p>

<p>What class did you do from CTY?
I've been thinking about the writers workshop.</p>

<p>thanks!</p>

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<p>thank you! Singersmom07</p>

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<p>CTY summer programs can be beneficial; depends on what a kid needs. (My son LOVES the summer programs.) </p>

<p>In this case, CTY's summer program would play to this girl's strengths; if she's not even at grade level in math, though (and the SAT would not be the right test to determine that), it looks to me as though math is the area on which to concentrate. Not that gifts should be ignored, of course! She should keep working on those, too, but more time should be spent on math IMO.</p>

<p>If I were going to homeschool and had no experience doing so, I'd look for a local homeschooling group, and I'd look into buying a good math curriculum that I could supplement with practical and/or fun projects around the house and in the community. I'd also look into whatever resources my school district makes available to homeschoolers, and I'd look for an online homeschooling support group.</p>

<p>I'd also look for online resources for math instruction; this assumes I'm already excellent at math through pre-calc myself and skilled at presenting math concepts (and if not, then I'd look for a teacher who is to work with my child). Online resources can include distance learning courses and problem sets and explanations.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>My D. took SAT prep and said it was waste of time. She felt she was much better off practicing on her own using books you can buy on Internet or in bookstore. One suggestion is to take both SAT and ACT tests. Results might vary.</p>

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<p>Second the Hoagies website for gifted kids. Don't forget that when the time comes that AP tests can be taken without taking the courses- she can learn the material and take tests in May following when she feels prepared for them. This will give her standardized proof of doing well in courses taken by HS students. No need to be of any grade level. There isn't an age req for SATs, the Midwest Talent Search offers them by grade, so an accelerated student could be younger. Solid academics are the only test prep needed to do well on ACT/SAT- just a run through of the free sample test for practice. She is better off spending her time learning material in usual courses than just that tested. We were lucky - our schools accomodated gifted kids well and we never needed to leave them.</p>

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<p>"Solid academics are the only test prep needed to do well on ACT/SAT"
- It is helpful. However, I feel that additional prep is needed because most material (math especially) is not High school material but rather from earlier grades. It needs to get refreshed. Also, it is helpful to know the format. My D. spent some time practicing math. She did not feel that she can improve anything else by practicing, she just checked the format of other sections.</p>

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<p>OP - This has probably been mentioned in related threads, but college success in primarily based on solid study habits. This appears to be an issue for your D, one that you might want to address during home schooling.</p>

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<p>"What class did you do from CTY?
I've been thinking about the writers workshop."</p>

<p>Younger S, 20, took one CTY class and one from TIP (the Duke-affiliated similar program). He chose philosophy and existentialism, and loved both of them. Until he selected those classes, we had no idea he was interested in philosophy. In fact, we thought his main interests were science and math. </p>

<p>Older S had scores high enough to take classes, but said that he didn't want to "go to school over the summer." So, we sent him to a sports camp and to a camp in which he got to be immersed in German in a fun way involving sports, music, etc. (Concordia Language Village). He chose those camps and had a great time.</p>

<p>Bottom line: Let your D know about the camps and only send her if she's eager to go. One can be gifted and still not want to go to those camps. Let her pick the classes -- whatever she thinks would be fun.</p>

<p>If you'd have to sacrifice to send her to the camp only do so if she is hungry to attend, and if there are no lower priced alternatives. To me, the best part of the camp is that kids who normally don't have peers who care about the academic things the kids love are able to be around other kids who are fascinated by what they love. The kids also are with teachers who love their subjects, and teach the material in a creative, in depth way that is like heaven to smart kids who are passionately interested in those subjects.</p>

<p>As for preparing your kid for college, my strong suggestion is to notice what she's interested in (not what you wish she were interested in), and look for ways and create ways to allow her to pursue those interests. Then, when she's a junior and senior in high school, help her find schools that best suit her personality and interests.</p>

<p>The worst thing you could do is to try to force her into what you think Harvard or Yale would like.</p>

<p>Remember, too, that your job as a parent is not just to help your kid reach her intellectual potential, but even more importantly, it's to help her be an ethical, compassionate, fulfilled human being.</p>

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<p>I second what Northstarmom said about CTY summer programs. Both of my kids qualified for CTY/TIP summer programs, but both said that there was no way they wanted to do school over the summer. One kid did do a distance course in writing from CTY (that I insisted on due to a weakness in her english teacher/class), but that was during school year. When the cost is high, my general rule is the kids aren't doing it unless they're begging. There's a lot of info on college confidential, so keep reading and you'll learn alot. ACT has score choice (you decide which scores you send to college) and SAT will have score choice beginning in 2009 (march, I think), so instead of investing in expensive test prep courses you might want to let her try the tests once with no prep in high school and see how she does.</p>

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<p>The academic summer camps may also have some scholarship money if finances would preclude attendance, also. Being homeschooled it may be nice to attend a class setting, especially with academic peers. Definitely work on those study habits for being successful at any level college.</p>