Childs IQ

Independent Schools as an alternative to Grammar

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Dadwithtwodaughters
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 4:00 pm

Childs IQ

Post by Dadwithtwodaughters »

I have recently been reading a post concerning a child's IQ and choice of school; to get some perspective on this, I found the following:

http://giftedkids.about.com/od/gifted10 ... scores.htm

Isn't there government program's for gifted children, pretty certain they have a scheme in America.

A gifted child may feel out of place or bored in a standard school.

Unfortunately I don't have this problem :-)
When do you stop being a parent, well never :-)
scatshouse
Posts: 438
Joined: Wed Sep 26, 2007 10:00 am

Post by scatshouse »

Dadwithtwodaughters wrote:
Isn't there government program's for gifted children, pretty certain they have a scheme in America.
Dadwithtwodaughters,

There is a scheme in this country for gifted children, the National Register for Gifted and Talented Youth. The schools put forward children aged 11-19 who are in the top 5% nationally and they are invited to join the National Academy of Gifted and Talented Youth (NAGTY). They are just in the middle of being taken over by CfBT Education Trust.

They run courses through the school holidays (you have to pay!), but I can't say that it gets the children any more help in school. I've posted the link below for details.

https://ygt.dcsf.gov.uk/landing.aspx
Susan
Posts: 55
Joined: Mon Jul 31, 2006 3:49 pm
Location: S.W. London

Post by Susan »

Dear Dadwithtwodaughters,

You might be interested in this quote
There are three children in a million who are 'profoundly gifted'. Conventionally this means they have measured IQs of 180+. It is likely they will have spoken in sentences at 6-9 months, learned to read and spell by the age of 2 1/2, self-taught, and are ready for formal learning by the age of three. ...
By the age of 10, if allowed, they will have learned the whole of the National Curriculum and passed GCSEs and be ready for A levels. ... Within a year or so they will have passed A levels and be ready for University
Taken from the Introduction. Gifted & talented children with special educational needs. Diane Montgomery. 2003

and later in the Introduction
Hollingworth (1942) and Pickard (1976) found that with an IQ above 155 very few children were happy or could be maintained in ordinary classrooms ...
I suspect that the IQs mentioned refer to Stanford Binet L-M. For an idea of levels of IQ from more usually found tests a glance at the levels needed for Mensa membership is useful.
A top 2% mark in any of these frequently used tests below qualifies you for entry to Mensa. The minimum test mark to get into Mensa is:

* Cattell III B - 148
* Culture Fair - 132
* Ravens Advanced Matrices - 135
* Ravens Standard Matrices - 131
* Wechsler Scales - 132
http://www.mensa.org.uk/iq-levels/

At both the Infants and Primary school my DS attended/attends there are a group of children - 2 children from each class within each year group who have a "thinking outside the box" type session once a week. This can be a lifeline for some children who find the repetition within the ordinary classroom a challenge.

Hope this helps
Susan
Marylou
Posts: 2164
Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2006 2:21 am

Post by Marylou »

Susan,

That's interesting about what happens at your primary school. In my experience G&T provision is quite patchy and depends very much on the opinion prevalent at the school since there is no legal requirement to cater specifically for high-ability children. It's quite possible for a child to go through the entire primary stage without their potential being noted, simply because they are perceived to be "doing OK" for league-table purposes.

I was particularly interested in the quote you provided: "Hollingworth (1942) and Pickard (1976) found that with an IQ above 155 very few children were happy or could be maintained in ordinary classrooms ..." it says it all, really, but unfortunately needing a challenging environment for a child of proven high ability cannot be used in an oversubscription appeal to demonstrate why your child needs to attend a school with an academic ethos and fast pace of learning - unless you are focussing specifically on their ability in a field in which the school specializes. At least, that is how I understand it - perhaps I'm wrong?

Marylou
Susan
Posts: 55
Joined: Mon Jul 31, 2006 3:49 pm
Location: S.W. London

Post by Susan »

Marylou

I'm afraid I don't know anything about appeals - we're still in Year 4. I'm finding my way through the maze of blind alleys which is SEN/Gifted provision, and this is probably not the right forum for that tale! The impression of my experience this academic year is that giftedness is regarded as a nuisance on so many levels. It wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that your supposition is correct.

Susan
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