DebateGate

General Category => 3DHS => Topic started by: Brassmask on August 15, 2008, 05:04:01 PM

Title: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: Brassmask on August 15, 2008, 05:04:01 PM
Every parent is proud of their kid and rightly so, but today I'm really proud of my kid.

The Memphis City Schools has a program called CLUE. 

CLUE is an education program designed to meet the needs of academically talented and gifted students in the Memphis City Schools. The curriculum incorporates both group and individual strategies focusing on creative thinking, critical thinking, communication, leadership, group dynamics, and problem solving.

CLUE currently serves preschool, primary, intermediate, middle, and high school students. Placement is based on individual assessment.

So, Benjamin's teacher at his daycare suggested that we take him and have him tested to see if maybe he might be eligible for their pre-school program.  She had said that was very verbal and that he would have a good shot at it. 

So, my wife took him to be tested.  The test meeting is kind of odd because they don't allow the parents to be in the room during.  They don't tell you right after as the results of the testing have to be evaluated.  They call you for the meeting to let you know if they qualify and what their test results were.

So, she just sent me an email after going:

Quote
As far as his IQ testing went, 100 is considered average.  He scored 129 which is in
the superior range.  His verbal skills were off the chart.  He was also tested on
academic stuff (reading, letter ID, Applied problems, etc).  He scored a 97 in
Academic Knowledge.  This puts him above the 95th percentile in that area.
Apparently this is impressive because he is four and has not actually been in a
school setting where he would get academic knowledge.  He was way low in spelling,
however she said boys always are.

Of course, I am so super proud of my kid but it is also great to know we haven't failed as parents and perhaps, have even done pretty well.

It's a red-letter day at our house today and I thought I'd share.

Back to the political grudge matches.  :)
Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: kimba1 on August 15, 2008, 05:23:44 PM
forget him brass
congratulations
people don`t understand the art of parenting is a most challenging vocation not to entered lightly.
I praise anyone who does it well.
Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: Amianthus on August 15, 2008, 05:23:57 PM
One thing I remember about my daughter - this was like at 1 year old. The pediatrician was testing her basic reasoning skills, and he took out a box of raisins and an empty bottle. He gave my daughter a couple of the raisins to show her that they were good (she had already had raisins, but I guess it's part of the testing) then put a couple in the bottle. He put the bottle in front of her and put the box of raisins back in the drawer. Obviously, the test was to see if she could figure out how to get the raisins out of the bottle. My daughter looked at the bottle, looked at the doctor, looked back at the bottle, got up, walked over to drawer, opened it, and took out the box of raisins. Then she shoved the bottle over to the doctor and sat down and started eating raisins from the box.
Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: sirs on August 15, 2008, 06:27:54 PM
I'm glad you're happy Brass.  It's ususally a good and healthy thing to brag about one's child.      8)
Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: BT on August 15, 2008, 06:35:57 PM
Congrats Brass.

Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: Brassmask on August 15, 2008, 06:42:59 PM
One thing I remember about my daughter - this was like at 1 year old. The pediatrician was testing her basic reasoning skills, and he took out a box of raisins and an empty bottle. He gave my daughter a couple of the raisins to show her that they were good (she had already had raisins, but I guess it's part of the testing) then put a couple in the bottle. He put the bottle in front of her and put the box of raisins back in the drawer. Obviously, the test was to see if she could figure out how to get the raisins out of the bottle. My daughter looked at the bottle, looked at the doctor, looked back at the bottle, got up, walked over to drawer, opened it, and took out the box of raisins. Then she shoved the bottle over to the doctor and sat down and started eating raisins from the box.

Nice!


Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: Brassmask on August 15, 2008, 06:51:21 PM
Thanks y'all.
Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: Kramer on August 15, 2008, 07:00:12 PM
Thanks y'all.

How goes the brainwashing?
Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: Brassmask on August 15, 2008, 08:14:29 PM
Thanks y'all.

How goes the brainwashing?

Pretty good.  But I'm way ahead of you.

When he starts getting about 12 or 13, I'm going to start pretending to be really conservative and bible-thumping so that when he is rebelling against anything I say or do, he will be more inclined to rebel by getting all liberal and agnostic!

:)

Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: Michael Tee on August 15, 2008, 08:18:55 PM
<<One thing I remember about my daughter - this was like at 1 year old. The pediatrician was testing her basic reasoning skills, and he took out a box of raisins and an empty bottle. He gave my daughter a couple of the raisins to show her that they were good (she had already had raisins, but I guess it's part of the testing) then put a couple in the bottle. He put the bottle in front of her and put the box of raisins back in the drawer. Obviously, the test was to see if she could figure out how to get the raisins out of the bottle. My daughter looked at the bottle, looked at the doctor, looked back at the bottle, got up, walked over to drawer, opened it, and took out the box of raisins. Then she shoved the bottle over to the doctor and sat down and started eating raisins from the box.>>

LOL.  Also impressive that she walked at age one.

And congrats to Brass.
Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: Plane on August 15, 2008, 09:03:46 PM
Excellent Brassmask.

This is good news for us all.

I just received some good news from my son in Colledge , he is doing very well there and I am very proud of him.


So I know exactly how you feel , good isn't it!
Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: Amianthus on August 15, 2008, 11:08:11 PM
LOL. Also impressive that she walked at age one.

Err, no. That's normal. According to this poll (http://www.babycenter.com/viewPollResults.htm?pollId=6631), about 72% of babies are walking by age one. Which agrees with what we were told by the pediatrician - he said around 3/4 of babies are walking by one.

Guess all that ice and snow up there impedes development of walking skills - they gotta learn how to handle the snowshoes first, eh?
Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: kimba1 on August 15, 2008, 11:38:08 PM
my brother and me has parents with lower expectation.
they`ll just happy we made it to adulthood.
seriously we inherent our dads natural ability to dumbly get in trouble.
it really a miracle none of us ever saw jail,let alone be alive.
Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: Stray Pooch on August 16, 2008, 01:55:31 AM
Hey Brass, that's pretty cool.  I'm glad Memphis has a program like CLUE.  The truth is (and I'm not picking a political fight, just pointing out a parenting issue) many places have banned programs like TAG (Talented and Gifted) and the like because they single out children and, apparently, make the other children feel bad.  My kids were in TAG in Massachusetts but eventually they did away with the program.

Just something to keep in mind for the (not-so) far off future.  There is a great program called Odyssey of the Mind (OM) for Middle and High School kids. (It may be available at Elementary age, but I don't know.)  It encourages kids to be imaginative and solve problems.  My eldest son was in it in HS and they were asked to build a vehicle powered by a car bumper jack. His HS team worked on it and came up with a solution but didn't have sufficient time to put it together.  Rather than risk embarrassment at the competition, the whole team dropped out except Chris.  He worked all night to put together the design and it worked.  When he ran the course with it, the jack fell off halfway through.  Thinking quickly,, he simply used the jack to push the wheel to the finish line.  While he was technically disqualified, the judges congratulated him for creative thinking in dealing with the breakdown.  He then received an award called a Renatra (or something like that) for having the guts to show up when the rest of the team quit. 

Glad you are having such a great experience, but then being a Dad is the greatest experience you can have.  I'm not surprised your son is such a prodigy.  We often disagree politically, but I have never doubted your intelligence. 

Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: Amianthus on August 16, 2008, 02:13:04 AM
He then received an award called a Renatra (or something like that) for having the guts to show up when the rest of the team quit.&nbsp;

More information about Odyssey of the Mind and the Ranatra Fusca Creativity Award (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey_of_the_Mind).
Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: fatman on August 16, 2008, 08:57:09 AM
Congratulations Brass, it sounds like you're doing a fine job of parenting.

That's a very funny story Ami.
Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: Michael Tee on August 16, 2008, 09:03:45 AM

<<Guess all that ice and snow up there impedes development of walking skills - they gotta learn how to handle the snowshoes first, eh?>>

Guess I just took too small a sampling.  My grandson's 14 months and doesn't walk.  I have no idea when the other two grandchildren or even my own three kids or myself began to walk, but the good news is that we're all quite proficient at it now. 

BTW, thanks for that Odyssey of the Mind link.  That's very interesting and I'm telling my kids about it.  I see they have both New York state and Ontario organizations.
Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: Amianthus on August 16, 2008, 10:47:49 AM
Guess I just took too small a sampling.  My grandson's 14 months and doesn't walk.

That's ok, too. Some kids are just more inspired to get up and move around than others. He's still in the normal range. I think if he's not walking by either 16 or 18 months that you need to start worrying. I'm sure his pediatrician is keeping tabs on it.
Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: kimba1 on August 16, 2008, 11:31:16 PM
anyway I agree about the motivation factor
remember baby walkers?(not sure there still around or not)
it was proven they hinder baby walking developement.
the use of it does lower the drive to walk on thier own.
and I always say motivation is the key to intelligence.
shame most parents don`t have a good grasp what motivation means
Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: Lanya on August 17, 2008, 03:08:22 AM
anyway I agree about the motivation factor
remember baby walkers?(not sure there still around or not)
it was proven they hinder baby walking developement.
the use of it does lower the drive to walk on thier own.
and I always say motivation is the key to intelligence.
shame most parents don`t have a good grasp what motivation means

_______________
One of my next-door neighbors when I was really little used to get strolled around in a baby carriage, and I'd run along side.  The little girl's mother would tell my mother that all that running was bad for the heart. ;)

Yay Brass!  I'm so proud of you all. Such a sweet kid, and smart like his mom and dad.
Title: Re: Off-Topic Child Bragging
Post by: Brassmask on August 20, 2008, 08:47:41 PM
Hey Brass, that's pretty cool.  I'm glad Memphis has a program like CLUE.  The truth is (and I'm not picking a political fight, just pointing out a parenting issue) many places have banned programs like TAG (Talented and Gifted) and the like because they single out children and, apparently, make the other children feel bad.  My kids were in TAG in Massachusetts but eventually they did away with the program.

Just something to keep in mind for the (not-so) far off future.  There is a great program called Odyssey of the Mind (OM) for Middle and High School kids. (It may be available at Elementary age, but I don't know.)  It encourages kids to be imaginative and solve problems.  My eldest son was in it in HS and they were asked to build a vehicle powered by a car bumper jack. His HS team worked on it and came up with a solution but didn't have sufficient time to put it together.  Rather than risk embarrassment at the competition, the whole team dropped out except Chris.  He worked all night to put together the design and it worked.  When he ran the course with it, the jack fell off halfway through.  Thinking quickly,, he simply used the jack to push the wheel to the finish line.  While he was technically disqualified, the judges congratulated him for creative thinking in dealing with the breakdown.  He then received an award called a Renatra (or something like that) for having the guts to show up when the rest of the team quit. 

Glad you are having such a great experience, but then being a Dad is the greatest experience you can have.  I'm not surprised your son is such a prodigy.  We often disagree politically, but I have never doubted your intelligence. 




Thanks, Stray,

It's very exciting and a little daunting.  I worry about his getting a big head.  He's a big-time charmer.

The other day he came in and asked, "Daddy, what does 'robust' mean?"  I had to check the dictionary because that is one of those words that I've always just known but not known.  I explained it meant 'healthy' or 'strong' and he just said, "Ah!" and walked away like I had explained something that he had heard and didn't understand.  It was one of those "he's a real person" moments.

I was actually in CLUE when I was in middle and high school and I don't think it was the best thing for me but I had other things going on.  I'm hoping it will give him a headstart.

Lanya,

Thanks for the kind words.  We are so proud.  Another gushy story...he came in from his room with an M&M in each hand and gave us each one saying, "One for Mommy and one for Daddy!" And we were both, "Well, thank you, little man!" and he just said, "It is my pleasure." and walked back to his room.

Got a little misty over that...gotta admit.

Sweet, sweet!.

B