Does anyone know how they approach g and t in the US at primary level?

[itsnotatoy]

Hi all

I'm just wondering if anyone has experience of how g and t is approached in the US?

DS1 is in UK in year 4 and on g and t register for numeracy, literacy and Science and we may be relocated to the US for 2-3 years from this Summer, so I'm wondering what I need to know/ do. Not sure where we'll end up but it would be interesting to hear of any good programmes / approaches.

Thanks

I think you'll find it varies by state.

I'm in New York City and here there are gifted and talented programmes in certain public (state) schools. There is a test children take to 'qualify' for g&t and then you would send the child to a school that had a g&t program - I think you would have a free choice of school. Those children are then educated more or less separately, I think, from other children in the school.

Other children going to public schools go to their zoned school, you don't get any choice usually.

I don't have personal experience so can't go into any more detail than that - and I have no idea how it works in other states. But hope this is somewhat helpful.

I think it does vary by state, and it also varies within states, because in the US, schools are run at municipal level. Your best bet for a good gifted and talented programme is in a public school in a better-off suburb of a large city, so if you have a chance to live outside the city limits in a 'leafy' suburban area, grab it.

Large city school systems are usually beset by problems of bureaucracy, and you will have residency plus G&T credentials to prove. If your child gets into a G&T programme in a big city system he may end up being bussed quite a long way from home to get to it, depending on your location, requiring getting up at the crack of dawn (most school days in the US start at 8 anyway, ime) for a long trip. If your DS doesn't get into a G&T programme, you may find that a better-off suburb offers really good public schools for all children whether gifted or not (this has been my observation anyway), while your local school in any given big city may or may not be your cup of tea. Suburban school districts may be friendlier to deal with and the trip to school may be shorter than any you would be faced with in a large city.

Schools vary widely within big cities, and catchment areas ('residency') are very strictly enforced within cities as well as from city to city. It's worth asking whoever handles your accommodation arrangements to steer you in the direction of sought-after schools, or doing research on your own. School systems are known usually as School Districts and can be googled.

I live in the US and ds1 is in a G and T program. It definitely varies so you need to research the area. For example, we knew early on that ds1 was profoundly gifted so looked at various schools, found one we liked, moved to that area and sat in line all night to get him into said school. Okay, so that is your extreme example But the end result is that we couldn't be happier. He is challenged, has a mulit-cultural experience and the entire curriculum is focused on creating great minds and not teaching to the test iykwim.

Also, your DS will be in the middle school years when you're in the US. Middle schools are usually further apart than neighbourhood elementary schools. They tend to be bigger than the elementary schools, and cater for 6th, 7th and 8th grade. Usually they are administered by the Elementary School District. Classes are usually streamed and there are other strategies like differentiated teaching within classes, plus g&t.

a linkthat might help your research a bit. This is an example of what's on offer in a specific school.

Thank you all much for taking time to reply - really appreciated and sorry I haven't come back sooner as I've been working.

It's all really useful info and a gives bit more to think about.

Thanks

Wow, I think school in the US has changed. I don't remember any g&T stuff, except an advanced math class at about age 10 or 11. Then, in high school, there were honors classes, but that's for 14 years +.

(I did however live in a nice ,eafy suburb of a big city )

sorry Strix, missed your posting, thanks.

It does look more and more like we'll be going to the US so I've started to look into it - thanks for all the pointers so far.

It does seem that every primary (elementary / middle) school has policies for identifiying and working with gifted children so seem a bit more on the ball, but they do seem to have very set times of the year for testing etc so it's possible we might not get to slot in initially (if he qualifies.

Just another thing to add into the mix of things that we need to think about!