NAGC - is it worth joining?

[whizzylala]

Hi,
Just wondered if people had found NAGC worth joining. The website looks quite good and I like the idea of the explorers areas for the kids. The site doesn't really say what level of child it is geared towards though so thought I would seek some opinions before forking out.
Thanks.
Whizzylala

hi, i took my ds to a meeting a couple of years ago, and to be honest - although all the booklets and information you get on joining is very useful, we didn't like the meeting. It seemed to be pushy parents and obnoxious kids. (of all ages - the session was divided into age appropriate activities) Don't like to generalise and obviously not all the groups are the same, but it put us off. To re-iterate the folder and information was worth joining for alone. They are also happy for you to go to a meeting, so would say try it out, you don't have to keep going if you don't like it.

Online forum is a waste of time! The helpline is usually very helpful and you learn more info from that free service than you do from the forums, meetings or information booklets. There are also some parents who think their kids are gifted because they ar 6 months ahead and blame every behavioural issue on their childs goiftedness rather than poor parenting or the kids personality or SEN issues!

It very much depends on your local group, who runs it, who attends and what sort of events they put on.

We enjoyed attending the group in South Bucks. Siblings were welcome so a wide ability range was catered for. We didn't find anyone to be pushy or obnoxious and the children behaved and engaged beautifully.

Agree with mummyrex about local groups - we attended the Greater Manchester & Cheshire Saturday Club events for a while and they were excellent: lots of good activities for the children, plus a chance for parents to chat, and we did not find any pushy parents! We have only stopped going because it's too far away really. The annual Family Weekend is also good - we've been to about five now, and they have all been good both for parents and children. I also used the helpline once a few years ago and it was very useful. I have felt the subscription to be worth paying.

Also forgot to mention that they never question your child's ability (no testing or anything) yet the activities have always been exciting and challenging.

I didn't like it, but then we don't live anywhere near any groups. I dabbled with the online forum several years ago, but didn't really feel at home. We didn't renew our subscription.