<p>*The poster was a mom not a kid, that is different. Sorry, but I have noticed how some parents on here just can't separate their children's lives from their own. The thing is, if you feel like it is a badge of honor for you when your kid does something of note, then I hope that those same parents would be willing to take responsibility when the child falls down. And we all fall down at some point. My mom is not a bragger, she will tell someone what I am doing if the person asks first. But she could care less about being seen in line as if I were a trophy. *</p>
<p>Boomu, I think the post was in jest-you are taking it too seriously. It's fun to see who is there....the spaciest girl on the soccer team? The boy who almost failed 2nd grade? Kind of like NHS induction - a few surprises about who is and isn't there.</p>
<p>Wow-- what a different world most of you live in than where we are. I had never even heard of a student taking SATs until Jr. year, and had never heard of CTY until I learned of it here (had to look up what it meant!) :confused:
Sometimes I think I'm in outer Siberia.......</p>
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I think taking the SAT as a 7th grader is only "good practice" if you child does reasonably well. It's totally no fun to sit there and not know how to work most of the math problems. That could give a kid an unnecessary fear of the SAT when it counts.
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<p>That's a very valid point. Know thy kid!</p>
<p>Another 7th grade boy at my S's school took it and did not do very well and his father melted down. I think that a parent needs to assess what the PARENT's reaction to low scores will be. That other dad never quit pushing his son on grades, academics, etc after that "disappointment."</p>
<p>Ok -- I'm going to ask what will probably seem like a silly question to many of you, but please bear with me.
When you say your 7th grader (or 8th grader) took the SAT, do you mean THE SAT -- the same test taken by Jrs and Srs?
When my kids were in grade school they took grade-level SATs which were nothing like these tests.
Just wondering. Thanks!</p>
<p>When Son took it in 7th grade, I had him do the practice tests in the book. He did fantastic on CR. When he took the real thing in 7th grade, he did not do well on the CR at all. I thought I had learned that maybe he doesn't test well. But then he got a 740 when it counted last year, so I didn't really learn that at all.</p>
<p>What does amaze me is how well some 7th graders do on the math section. When I was looking at the questions with my kids, they kept saying, "We haven't learned this yet." But there are a whole lot of kids who somehow ace the test without ever having learned how to work the problems in school.</p>
<p>QUOTE: "Whatever else can be said about this program, for kids who nail the SAT in 7th grade w/o prepping, it takes a lot of the pressure off in HS."</p>
<p>And puts that pressure right back where it belongs - on the back of a 12 year old 7th grader!</p>
<p>It's the real SAT - same location as the HS juniors and seniors. You go there and the big kids are looking all nervous and there are these little kids wondering why they had to get up so early.</p>
<p>For some kids, they really thrive on challenges and brain teasers. My S was purchasing books of brain teasers with his own spending money when he was in grade school because he thought it was "fun." He found the tests for CTY to be just more brain teasers and enjoyed taking them, seriously. It takes all kinds to make a world. D could take or leave the tests. Both found it helped familiarize them with the SAT so there was very little pressure on them when the "real" PSATs and SATs rolled around when they were in HS. </p>
<p>The kids were surprised that the SAT scores many of the private schools & various Us bragged about as their average scores were lower than the scores they & their buddies achieved when they took the SATs in middle school.</p>
<p>Both kids did well enough in middle school to have gotten into our state flagship U for college, but honestly were not taking it for that purpose. Some of nieces & nephews took the tests as well because the private school they attend encourages it as good practice for all students who qualify to take the SAT in middle school. That school does have a disproportionately high % of the NMFs in our state.</p>
<p>I have no regrets, nor do my kids. We could all have done with out the awards ceremony, but it was interesting. The speaker was a young man who took the SAT with CTY, scored perfect 800s & was awarded tuition-free college after 8th grade. He was 18 and getting his college degree & going to Harvard law school in the fall. He had been student body president at the college & encouraged all kids to consider skipping HS, if that was what they preferred. It was fascinating to me as a parent, but I don't know of anyone who skipped HS as a result of the talk--we all thought that was very unusual and would not want that for our kids for many reasons.</p>
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And puts that pressure right back where it belongs - on the back of a 12 year old 7th grader!
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My kids took this, and I don't think there was much pressure--the stakes were not that high--if they didn't go to CTY, they'd do something else. And you don't need fabulous scores to get into CTY.</p>
<p>He was 18 and getting his college degree & going to Harvard law school in the fall. He had been student body president at the college & encouraged all kids to consider skipping HS, if that was what they preferred. It was fascinating to me as a parent, but I don't know of anyone who skipped HS as a result of the talk--we all thought that was very unusual and would not want that for our kids for many reasons.</p>
<p>So then he's got his law degree at 21. I was 27 when I got my law degree and still had a hard time extablishing crediblity with 40-60 year old CEOs. What's a 21 year old to do?</p>
<p>"And puts that pressure right back where it belongs - on the back of a 12 year old 7th grader!"</p>
<p>I know this is probably hard to believe, but there really are people who think taking standardized tests is fun because they enjoy the challenge. I was that way with most standardized tests, and both of my kids were that way when it came to taking the SATs as middle schoolers, when the tests didn't really count for anything.</p>
<p>Taking regular classroom tests, though, was not fun because those tests really counted for something that mattered -- class grades.</p>
<p>My hubby, kids & I have always perversely enjoyed standardized tests. The theory behind allowing young kids to take these tests is because they have maxed out at their age-appropriate testing so this is one of the few ways to have some idea of how high they could go if allowed. Honestly, the kids said (& I believe) there was NO pressure on them to take the tests in middle school or we would not have had them do it.</p>
<p>When they were in HS, they had less pressure than they would normally have had because they already know how they had scored years earlier and assumed that over time with more coursework their scores would increase (which it did). I believe it made them much less stressed than peers when they took the tests for colleges. They also had a better sense of time management during the tests, since they had handled it before & knew what it took to get through the entire test in the appropriate amount of time.</p>
<p>I don't think my kids felt any pressure either. We didn't make a big deal out of it and neither did they. Only my youngest qualified for award status, and he held it over my two older kids, but that was the only fall out, and they probably deserved it!!;) </p>
<p>He did attend "math camp" one summer and really enjoyed it. If he didn't like the other camp where he goes and shoots guns and arrows and rides horses, I think he might have enjoyed continuing.</p>
<p>
[quote]
What does amaze me is how well some 7th graders do on the math section. When I was looking at the questions with my kids, they kept saying, "We haven't learned this yet." But there are a whole lot of kids who somehow ace the test without ever having learned how to work the problems in school.
[/quote]
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<p>My S likes standardized tests and had been asked to join the Math Club beginning in 5th grade and had been competing in local and statewide math contests beginning in 6th grade. He liked the fact that they got out of school for the out of town competitions and they got "cool" trophies and medals when they placed high enough.</p>
<p>I doubt there are many 7th grade students who make 600s much less 700s on the math section of the SAT I in 7th grade who haven't been in something like these clubs and competitions.</p>
<p>"Pressure on the back of 7th graders?" As I previously noted, there is no pressure in 7th grade that isn't coming from the parents if you let the kid decide whether to take the test and the parent doesn't provide prepping. Just to be asked to participate in Duke's TIP - SAT I test group means the kid is in the 95th percentile of the grade level assessment tests.</p>
<p>My point was tongue-in-cheek and meant to reinforce the idea that the pressure was coming from the parents, not necessarily the test. Based on many of the parents I know, the pressure actually does come from the parents who are driven to push their kids from the earliest possible ages - in all likelihood, the parents O7DAD refers to (and which I was obliquely referring to) have been putting pressure on their kids anyway starting well before the 7th grade. The key, as 07DAD more eloquently put it, is that the kid be the one deciding whether to take the test and how much prepping to do. I'm glad so many here seem to have downplayed this to their seventh graders but for each of you, there are probably 10 others who see it as yet another way to ensure their kid gets into HYPS... and the kids are well aware of their parents' goal......</p>
<p>How much to push (or encourage) your child is always a delicate balance, and I'm sure we've all seen parents who (in our opinion) erred on both ends, either driving unwilling children to excel, or failing to provide talented children with the opportunities they would love.</p>
<p>My son came out of the SAT in 7th grade saying, "that was fun, I want to do it again next year." There was no pressure or prep before the test. I just told him that he should not get discouraged if some parts of it seemed difficult, since it was made for high schoolers. We had not told him that anything (such as summer programs) hinged on his results, and he was simply eager to do it for the fun of it. He qualified for CTY and the awards ceremony. When we got the catalog of summer courses, his eyes bugged out at the course offerings. He had a lot of fun deciding what to take, and very much enjoyed his 2 CTY summers. This is the kid who, when we had suggested traditional summer camp in the past, had looked at me as if I was crazy. Once he saw the CTY catalog, he was hooked. After the 2 summers, he moved on to other (academic) summer activities. For some kids, this is truly the most fun thing there is, to be learning in the company of kindred spirits.</p>
<p>My S took seriously the comment by his summer camp counselor that he had outgrown his summer camp so he was eager to take the PLUS test. He enjoyed the experience so much that he was eager to go back and attend senior CTY. But he knew he had other options as well. So he was truly relaxed when he took the SAT. Not so the seniors whose college admission hinged on their test scores!</p>
<p>They usually put the 7th graders in a separate room for the test. I'm not really sure if that's for their benefit, or for the upperclassmen, though!</p>