Gifted and a normal state school

[Machadaynu]

I have no idea what level the kid is at, and I don't want this to be a 'my kid can...' thread. We thought she was just a kid until a relative who has worked in schools and nurseries for 40-odd years and has her own children and grandchildren told us that she has never known a child as advanced.

Now we're worried that a normal state primary won't be able to challenge her effectively. In a way it's fortunate that she will be amongst the youngest in her year, but based on what she knows now I think she'd be ahead of most in a reception class, and she won't start for another year.

We need to start looking at schools when they go back to apply by January, so I hoped some of you could make me feel happier by telling me how your local state primary is doing an excellent job educating your gifted child.

I don't think you are necessarily comparing like with like. A child like Mrs Shears' dd who is on the 99.9th percentile (1 in 1,157) is going to be different from another child on the 98th percentile (1 in 52) who might be much more easy to accommodate.

From Hoagies Gifted site:

Levels of Giftedness

The next question is harder to answer... what does this level of giftedness imply?

There is the numerical answer: a child of IQ 160 is as different from a moderately gifted child of 130, as that child is from an average child of 100. But IQ scores are no longer derived from a ratio, with the numerical difference between scores indicating the variation. Today's IQ tests score on a curve, so that the difference between 100 and 115 is far less than the difference between 130 and 145, and the difference between 130 and 145 is far less than the difference between 145 and 160, though the ranges appear similar numerically.

And there are lots of different levels of development to consider in each child. There is intellectual development, the development measured by an IQ test. There is also physical development - gross and fine motor skills, social and emotional development, and spiritual development. And all of these development levels characterize the gifted child.