"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all."
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Kids and Education.
Since first grade, our kids have fare well in their education. There seems to be meeting and most of the time were above grade level.
Last year, we were informed that both our kids has been indentified for TAG (Talented and Gifted), that is after being tested for various Testings i.e. CogAt (Cognitive Abilities Test), ITBS (Iowa Test Basic Skills), NNAT2 (Nonverbal Ability Test 2) and likes by the school district and States.
Both kids were indentified in Maths and Reading skills. I have no knowledge about this test until we got a letter from the School District Department, informing us that our kids has been identified for TAG and need our permission for them to sit for further test to determine the factual percentile. What more could a parents ask for, right? you'd think! Of course, its only natural that we feel so elated about it but at the same time we were puzzled, what now,? as we only got to know about this upon receiving the letter.
Now, we wondered what would be the right thing to do in order to ensure that the kids potential are well met. What are the learning program provided by the school for kids with potential as such, and what are the purpose of identifying a kid for TAG and if they are TAG, what is Next!
So, I decided to go ahead and do my own research before talking to anyone at school, about this. I want to be well informed of this matter before sitting down with theiir teachers or the school TAG coordinator. What I found out were pretty scary.. well not scary as in paranormal scary hehehe, its more like What is going to happen to my kids?
Here is an excerpt I got from an online publication regarding children with abilities that is beyond average:-
"If gifted children are not challenge by curriculum early in their school lives, they will equate smart as easy, and challenge and hard work will feel threatening to their self esteem. They will either become perfectionist and avoid challenge, or they search for easy-way-out solutions, such as avoiding handing in assignments, procrastination, and disorganization for fear of conscientious work may reveal that they are not as smart as they asumed to be. The yearning for learning is stifled for children who sits in classrooms surrounded by lessons they could easily teach the rest of the class. Instead , these gifted children become defensive, angry, passive, bored, and resentful. They blame their parents, teachers, peers and siblings, but hardly ever will they understand what has gone wrong with them. It takes teachers and parents who are willing to lead gifted children on the road to lifelong learning and achievement."
Pretty scarry huh!
Though, none of the above except defensive and bored are evident with my kids, but looking ahead, I would like to know what measures are taken so that their learning qualities won't decrease to such level. Of course, I am not totally gonna take that findings as facts, where my kids are concern. Being parents, naturally you know your kids, and you know how you raise them and educate them. But there's still that inkling.. to make sure they are getting the proper level of learning and meeting their intelectual needs.
I am writing this, because we recently got a letter for my daughter, again, who are in sixth grade right now, that she is identified to sit for Math and Reading Test and if she meets the percentile, she will be eligible to be invited to SUMMA, a school design for highly gifted students, yep! so to speak. Am not kidding. I didn't even know that they have that kind of school here until my kids got TAG.
As for my daughter, she is not so thrilled on hearing this, not about the test, but that she might move to another school. She is happy where she is now, most of her friends whom she grew up with since elementary are in the current school. This is another turmoil for me, I don't blame her of course, it is scary to move to another school and be with new people and especially knowing that the learning challenges there are going to be tougher, I guess. But all that aside, my concern were that she might just not try so much in her test, so she won't have to be in a postion to make a decision between opting to go to another school or stay at where she is now.
So, to make it easier for her and to ease her mind, I told her that she doesn't have to move to another school if she doesn't want to, it's her choice, but it would be good for her to have an outstanding record in her file, for college/university purposes someday, especially in getting a schoolarship or financial aid, unless she wants to be saddled with Student Loan for the rest of her life. Hehehe.. applying the scare tactics there.. crossing my fingers it works!
As parents we can only hope, motivate, and assist in their descission making, and so forth. We cannot force them to do what they don't want to do, no matter what we thought, even if they may pass off the greatest opportunity in this stage of life. It is their decision to make.
I will of course, make sure they understand what they are passing off and make them understand the cause and effects of every decision they make.
The only rules I have for them is that, no matter what, they have to attend University and graduate.
~We are at the very beginning of time for the human race.
Last year, we were informed that both our kids has been indentified for TAG (Talented and Gifted), that is after being tested for various Testings i.e. CogAt (Cognitive Abilities Test), ITBS (Iowa Test Basic Skills), NNAT2 (Nonverbal Ability Test 2) and likes by the school district and States.
Both kids were indentified in Maths and Reading skills. I have no knowledge about this test until we got a letter from the School District Department, informing us that our kids has been identified for TAG and need our permission for them to sit for further test to determine the factual percentile. What more could a parents ask for, right? you'd think! Of course, its only natural that we feel so elated about it but at the same time we were puzzled, what now,? as we only got to know about this upon receiving the letter.
Now, we wondered what would be the right thing to do in order to ensure that the kids potential are well met. What are the learning program provided by the school for kids with potential as such, and what are the purpose of identifying a kid for TAG and if they are TAG, what is Next!
So, I decided to go ahead and do my own research before talking to anyone at school, about this. I want to be well informed of this matter before sitting down with theiir teachers or the school TAG coordinator. What I found out were pretty scary.. well not scary as in paranormal scary hehehe, its more like What is going to happen to my kids?
Here is an excerpt I got from an online publication regarding children with abilities that is beyond average:-
"If gifted children are not challenge by curriculum early in their school lives, they will equate smart as easy, and challenge and hard work will feel threatening to their self esteem. They will either become perfectionist and avoid challenge, or they search for easy-way-out solutions, such as avoiding handing in assignments, procrastination, and disorganization for fear of conscientious work may reveal that they are not as smart as they asumed to be. The yearning for learning is stifled for children who sits in classrooms surrounded by lessons they could easily teach the rest of the class. Instead , these gifted children become defensive, angry, passive, bored, and resentful. They blame their parents, teachers, peers and siblings, but hardly ever will they understand what has gone wrong with them. It takes teachers and parents who are willing to lead gifted children on the road to lifelong learning and achievement."
Pretty scarry huh!
Though, none of the above except defensive and bored are evident with my kids, but looking ahead, I would like to know what measures are taken so that their learning qualities won't decrease to such level. Of course, I am not totally gonna take that findings as facts, where my kids are concern. Being parents, naturally you know your kids, and you know how you raise them and educate them. But there's still that inkling.. to make sure they are getting the proper level of learning and meeting their intelectual needs.
I am writing this, because we recently got a letter for my daughter, again, who are in sixth grade right now, that she is identified to sit for Math and Reading Test and if she meets the percentile, she will be eligible to be invited to SUMMA, a school design for highly gifted students, yep! so to speak. Am not kidding. I didn't even know that they have that kind of school here until my kids got TAG.
As for my daughter, she is not so thrilled on hearing this, not about the test, but that she might move to another school. She is happy where she is now, most of her friends whom she grew up with since elementary are in the current school. This is another turmoil for me, I don't blame her of course, it is scary to move to another school and be with new people and especially knowing that the learning challenges there are going to be tougher, I guess. But all that aside, my concern were that she might just not try so much in her test, so she won't have to be in a postion to make a decision between opting to go to another school or stay at where she is now.
So, to make it easier for her and to ease her mind, I told her that she doesn't have to move to another school if she doesn't want to, it's her choice, but it would be good for her to have an outstanding record in her file, for college/university purposes someday, especially in getting a schoolarship or financial aid, unless she wants to be saddled with Student Loan for the rest of her life. Hehehe.. applying the scare tactics there.. crossing my fingers it works!
As parents we can only hope, motivate, and assist in their descission making, and so forth. We cannot force them to do what they don't want to do, no matter what we thought, even if they may pass off the greatest opportunity in this stage of life. It is their decision to make.
I will of course, make sure they understand what they are passing off and make them understand the cause and effects of every decision they make.
The only rules I have for them is that, no matter what, they have to attend University and graduate.
~We are at the very beginning of time for the human race.
It is not unreasonalbe that we grapple with problems.
But there are tens of thousands of years in the futures.
Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can,
improve the solutions, and passed them on~
-Richard Feynman-
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Just the Cold!
The cold is finally getting to me, sigh! I can feel my bones aching and muscles cranking, for crying out loud. A sign that yours truly are getting old. And at times like this, my weary mind ponders about a lot of stuff.
There were times that I felt I could just take off and go somewhere to be just by myself with no care in the world. But of course, having kids means you are responsible for them, to take care and be there for them...hmmm. I guess, it's really the cold getting to me.
Spring break will be coming soon, I hope we could go on vacation to somewhere warm.
There were times that I felt I could just take off and go somewhere to be just by myself with no care in the world. But of course, having kids means you are responsible for them, to take care and be there for them...hmmm. I guess, it's really the cold getting to me.
Spring break will be coming soon, I hope we could go on vacation to somewhere warm.
~First write down the problem, second think very hard, third write down the answer~
-Richard Feynman Basic Problem Solving Technique (problem solving algorithm)-
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Awww... No Snow!
No snow this morning, what a tease! It snowed all night last night, so, I was kinda surprised to be greeted by rain instead.
I looked out from the hallway, and noticed that the drain outlet in the cove area were clogged with leaves, so went out in the rain to swept it off.
Kids woke up, and they are kinda dissappointed to see that its not snowing as the weather man forecasted, they were looking forward to play in the snow and for school closure.
Anyway, looking forward to a good day today, rain or shine.
I looked out from the hallway, and noticed that the drain outlet in the cove area were clogged with leaves, so went out in the rain to swept it off.
Kids woke up, and they are kinda dissappointed to see that its not snowing as the weather man forecasted, they were looking forward to play in the snow and for school closure.
Anyway, looking forward to a good day today, rain or shine.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Snowy Day.. finally!!
Finally it snowed today. We woke up to a very snowy morning, and it got my kids excited. They had been anticipating snows since winter kicked-in, but it seems that, this year winter are milder.
My eldest, excitedly yelled "the snow is sticking," that's cos' its snowed the other day, but the ground were not freezing enough to keep the snow aground.
For the first time, the kids can't wait to head over to the school bus stop. They even argued when I asked them to get in the Van, they just wanted to walk with the snow raining on them. But after much urging by me, they finally got into the van. It was a short drive, as the bus stop is just around the corner, and as soon as I stepped on the break they dashed out and merrily they basked in the snow, trying to catch the flakes. Ah well, let them have their fun, I reasoned.
Soon after, their school bus came along and they got on.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Hmm... its already 2012, I can't believe that I have been away from my home country and people for almost 12 years now. I totally missed the kampung life.
At any rate, 2012 is here, I am thankful that I got to live to see and live another year. I have no special resolution for this year, nor did I have last year.. I guess, its just look and see what life brings my way and just relish life and hope its another blessed year for me and family.
At any rate, 2012 is here, I am thankful that I got to live to see and live another year. I have no special resolution for this year, nor did I have last year.. I guess, its just look and see what life brings my way and just relish life and hope its another blessed year for me and family.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL
AND
MAY 2012 BRINGS YOU ALL
BLESSINGS, HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY
