Rock and a Hard Place

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-12-2003
Rock and a Hard Place
1524
Thu, 11-20-2003 - 10:45am

There's something on this board that has been bothering me, and I hope I can articulate it.

Pages

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 12:38pm
Sure it does. Because that is how the exceptional label is deterimined. The kid who is outperforming peers is out performing peers, and the situation needs to be addressed, whether said child is outperforming a) just the 20 kids in his class, or b) the other millions of 5 yr olds in the world. The grand world scale comparison doesn't tell everything and it doesn't identify every situation. a) is only discernable by making a comparison of the kid to the rest of the class.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2002
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 12:43pm
None of the discussion of grades is relevant to the Swedish system because no grades of any kind or variety are given out until 8th grade, when the nature of expectations and the relevance of the classroom distribution also enter in to play. So no, no parent will fret about their 6 yo's grades.


Laura

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2002
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 12:50pm
Interesting...as far as I know, in the U.S. system the label of exceptional is only determined through some kind of independent I.Q. test or evaluation, almost always be a psychologist who does not have direct contact with the classroom. A teacher may recommend that a child be tested according to how far ahead of his/her peers that child is, but a child who is outperforming his/her peers is not labeled exceptional without comparison to a general standard. In other words, children have to test into the gifted programs (using generally accepted tests) and their abilities in relation to their classroom of peers is not considered in the evaluation. So the only point of comparison to a class of 20 that might help in labelling is the initial identification, it is not a determinate of giftedness. Hopefully, a good teacher would be able to recognise potential giftedness in a child without necessarily having to compare that child to the peers that happen to be in that class that year. Ime, good teachers have developed a sense for these things based on their experiences with hundreds of kids over many years, not one set of 20 children.

Laura

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 1:48pm
If I am told my child is excelling I want to know the dimensions of the excelling pack she has to run with, if any. It makes all the difference in the world, to just about every move I could make, or word I could say. Not only that, if I happen to know she is excelling according to some general guidlelines, and I have been told that she is excelling in terms of her class, why would I not want to know how the class over all compared? Why should a parent not be allowed to know if the rest of the class is above average itsef, average, or below average. I can't believe people are really determined to pretend this information isn't extremely valuable to a parent.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 1:57pm
In general, smoking is bad for ones health.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 1:58pm
<>

Really. Then those must be pretty frivolous ends that you work to make meet.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 2:04pm
Theres no way to predict that smoking will automatically give a person lung cancer. Or that not smoking will prevent it. We consider it wise to avoid smoking anyway, even without the guarantees.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 2:30pm

"My oldest was reading by the time he hit k and the youngest is not ready yet.

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> 

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 2:35pm

"Do you think Joey is not as smart because he is not as verbal or do you think that comparing their skills is pointless as they are individuals and will develop at their own pace?"


Neither.

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> 

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 11-28-2003 - 2:57pm
Gotta get me one of them ther crystal balls like, so's I don't need to bother bout them nasty old statistics just always tryna say how them there things might just afect me and my brood same as they go and affect just 'bout everyone else in these here parts. Cause course were not like them ther other folks, mind its right hard to think bout them family affectin general things otherwise them with them thar statistics, without sumpin a bit more concrete ta rely on. Crystal ball bout rightly do the trick, I'm guessin.

Pages