What is there to do for a high potential kid in an educational system that doesn't value his abilities ( Belgium ) ? And is there one that does ?
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Posted Sep 7, 2019, 12:15 PM UTC
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I'm sure there are maths olympiads in Belgium too.
In Switzerland tracking of school kids starts at about the age of 12-13, so after that point this isn't a big problem anymore I'd say.
>it's hard to even recognize and track his abilities, let alone cater and help him develop them
if it's hard for you as a parent, how should it be easy for a teacher with 20 kids to look out for?
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It's hard for a "non-professional". For me it's easy, he views things/problems/situations from unexpected angles, and uses these angles in order to easier come to solutions or make sense out of things around. So, it's hard for someone not thinking the same way or not dealing with this sort of way of viewing the world. For someone that does, it's intuitive, at least to a good degree.
I'm a reserved in saying he basically has an IQ over average and it's because a lot of parents tend to consider their kids special even if a lot of times it's not so. It's not actually a particular ability, but the way he processes information.
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Which test did you use? WISC?
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I'm not actually sure, we've been to a psychologist accredited to do these tests, and it had 2 or 3 parts he took in separate occasions and at the end of it she gave us a certificate stating our kid is "high potential"... But I will also look into WISC, so thank you for the suggestion.
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Hmm. It doesn't sound like you got WISC. And you get a full report explaining the results, not really a "certificate".
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I grew up gifted and know how your kid feels. My parents sent me to the John Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth summer programs which helped a lot. Having the support and encouragement over the summer that I didn't get during the school year helped a lot.
After a quick google search says this https://www.eurospacecenter.be/ has a space camp program for gifted students.
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I have two gifted/hlp kids. One of them has skipped a grade and is being accelerated in a few subjects. The other one just started school and will probably need some kind of acceleration, but not at this moment. We are fortunate enough to be able to do this where we live, but one can't get this just anywhere in Norway.
Even in countries that have gifted programs and/or gifted schools, things may not be great (i.e. the programs are just for show). Some parents have sent their kids to private schools and alternative schools (Montessori, Steiner) with varying levels of success (or no success) while others have been successful at regular public schools. The message on this one is that private schools are not necessarily the answer; public schools are not necessarily the enemy. My kids go to a public school.
Are there any national organizations for gifted kids? We have one in Norway and they've been a great help for us.
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He can skip classes here too, but we have chosen not to do that, because emotionally it's better to stick with kids his own age. And also it wouldn't change much, it's only the information that's changing and not really how you look at it, process it, or understand it. We don't look at it as 'acceleration', or to get him ahead at a faster rate, we're perfectly fine with him staying in his age bracket, would just prefer to have someone address him at his level of understanding.
There was a program for gifted kids in Belgium, but at some point in the past they decided to cut it's funding, so now there's nothing. And yes, you are totally right, a lot if not all of the private schools or special programs are just for show, it's only a pitch to sell you in.
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because emotionally it's better to stick with kids his own age.
This is a myth, and in some cases can be a destructive way of thinking. My one kid has it better socially with the "older" kids than with the kids who are in the pre-skip group. I don't know how your kid is with other kids in his age group though...
We don't look at it as 'acceleration', or to get him ahead at a faster rate, we're perfectly fine with him staying in his age bracket
Acceleration doesn't necessarily mean "get ahead at a faster rate", but "work at the right level". For example, if a kid is doing maths two grades above what the other kids his age is doing, then he or she should be accelerated two grades up to get the challenges he or she needs. If your son has a higher level of understanding, then he needs to be stimulated / challenged accordingly, and this may mean doing some work with older kids.
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Yes you might be right and advancing him a bit ( by skipping a class ) may not be such a bad idea...
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My parents refused to accelerate me for the same reason(didnt know until i was 16). I was constantly bored. I ended skipping school and getting in trouble so much that the only reason I wasn't sent to a special school for girls was that I aced my national exams. Also since everything come so easy to me when I was growing up, now as an adult I'm a lazy f... who has a hard time doing research on the matters that don't interest me.
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Probably it's the case for a lot of persons who find it naturally easy when younger, but this catches up with them when they actually have to put in the work at later stages in life. I know I'm like this as well.
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The worst case of this i have seen is my former friend(lost touch with after i moved)who was a genius smart, absolutely interesting to talk to. But he was also the laziest person i have ever seen.
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I think that might just be one school as I remember many olympiads in Belgium. And I also remember people often failing classes cause it was definitely not catered to the weakest link. Unless everything changed the past 5 years.
If you can remember and would be so kind to share this school's name it would help!
It may also be possible that in the meantime things have changed because they cut funding to special programs for kids.