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Johns Hopkins CTY talent search


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My girls have been participating in JHU-CTY for the past few years. They use the SCAT for the younger kids, and then starting in 7th grade, they require the SAT. The SCAT is a short, computer based, out of level test. Depending on the scores, the kids may be invited to attend the state awards ceremony.

 

We haven't done much in the way of online classes or camps, however, we have done quite a few of the family field trips and classes, and we've enjoyed them enough to keep participating each year. :)

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how one goes about the JHU-CTY testing? We are in N. Ca., also. Would doing well on these tests provide any other benefit besides the accolades of accomplishment?

Our dd performs so well on STAR testing, and I would like to stretch her beyond STAR test/homeschooling. We HS through a charter school, and they really don't have any advice or info for gifted learners. I am hoping some of you would help us out!

 

Any info of past experiences, preparation, and opportunities would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks a bunch:001_smile:

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We live in California, too, and our kids take the STAR test every year. Unfortunately, the questions on the STAR test are all at grade level, and when your kids get perfect scores because they are not missing any questions (makes sense, if they are working above grade level), the test is meaningless. The only benefit is to ensure that you are not "missing" any grade level material.

 

Both my sons took the SCAT test last year and qualified for the state awards ceremony. After the awards ceremony, my then-7 year old asked, "why did I get an award when I didn't do anything but take a test?" It felt strange to them to be honored for doing well on a test, as opposed to "winning" something. I don't really see any point in taking the test unless you want to sign up for any of their classes, camps, or workshops. The classes look wonderful, but they are really expensive!

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It felt strange to them to be honored for doing well on a test, as opposed to "winning" something.

 

 

I guess I feel differently, because I feel like DS should be acknowledged for his talent... Just like the star player of a team, or the spelling bee winner. I told him that his giftedness is something to be proud of. In this day and age when schools are constantly dumbing kids down, I think it's great that there is a program to acknowledge the smartest children.

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Dd started taking the EXPLORE, then has done the SAT and ACT, for the Northwestern Midwest Talent Search. First I had her take them to get into their classes, but she's never ended up taking any. Then, I thought it was good practice for SAT and ACT, and still do. It's nice to see them go up each year.

 

Even really gifted dcs should be warned, however, that what would be a low score for a hs junior is a very good score for a 7th or 8th grader. My dd was very upset when she opened up her SAT results and didn't see a perfect 800-800-800, until she got the invite to the ceremony! It ended up being a good lesson that there's still a ways to go in her education.:)

 

Danielle

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I am going to look into the SCAT test (ing). I agree with the STAR test. Nothing but standards based. No real challenge for my kids.

But, I must admit, it is great to see their near perfect scores! At least I am covering the basics .

But any step up in the academic ladder leaves us isolated. It still floors me that our local schools and charter schools do not know what to do with gifted kids. GATE program...that is a washout.

Thanks for all your thoughts!

:001_smile:

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It sounds like your daughter is not yet in grade 7 or 8 (since you mention the SCAT testing), but I'll post my experience in case it helps someone. My older son took the SAT through JHU-CTY last year (at age 12) & qualified for the math/science courses; my 11-year-old son will take the SAT this January & I have no doubt he will qualify for both math/sci and verbal classes (& what's more, want to actually take them :-)

By searching the web I found a middle-school just a few miles away that offers the SAT just to its 7th and 8th graders (for this talent search) in small classrooms, and they graciously let my son take it there. This year my friends have gotten into the act and there will be at least three other homeschooled kids taking it with my younger son. It's a nice environment because there aren't big scary high-school kids taking it with them. This school site isn't listed in the College Board materials; I just found it through this middle school's GATE (gifted) website. Oh, and I didn't bother having this son take the SCAT last year because there was no Prometric site near us (by near us I mean within 3 or 4 miles!), and he'd have to re-qualify this year anyway for the JHU programs.

 

~Laura

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My dd took the SCAT when she was in 4th grade. She did qualify for both the verbal and math sections. Their courses and camps look great but they are really expensive, so we have not participated in any of them. For us the value in taking the test was having the validation that she is indeed academically gifted.

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One has done camp and a distance course, one has done camp. Honestly after this year, I think I will not encourage them to go to the day camp. It is expensive and they have had OK, but not really thrilling, experiences there. What I probably will take advantage of again is the sleepover camp, held at a college campus, for kids ages 13-16. My 15 yo did it this summer and it changed his life. He returned feeling that he had spent three weeks with kindred spirits, and has been in regular touch with many of these kids, exchanging books, talking. I talked to another boy I met recently who had been at the camp, and he said the very same thing.

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One has done camp and a distance course, one has done camp. Honestly after this year, I think I will not encourage them to go to the day camp.

 

My son has scored off the charts in Verbal skills when he was in 2nd and 3rd grade. I had him take the Stanford 3rd grade test. It told me he was reading, comprehending and had word recognition at a 12th grade level. Many HS Moms told me that this was did not qualify him for gifted program because many HSers did this.

 

Several Sunday School teachers who taught, analysed & determined gifted students told me that my son is very gifted in verbal skills.

 

This is so confusing to me.

 

When do you persue these things and when do you do your own enrichment?

 

I we do a lot of Museums and field trips once or twice a month usually.

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Hi, sorry if these comments are coming in a little late in the conversation, but I only check the gifted thread about once a week....I usually hang out on the high school board.

 

I hope sharing a little information from our experience will help those of you who have younger kids and are considering or have already done the gifted talent search type of thing. We did the JHUCTY testing when our ds was in 8th grade. I had heard of it earlier, but hesitated to have him tested because I was uncomfortable with the idea of labeling him as gifted...plus, since we have homeschooled from nearly the beginning I wasn't really sure what "gifted" means, or how to tell. Anyway, in hind sight, I wish I had done it sooner. I probably would have taken advantage of more distance ed types of courses if we had tested earlier. I would encourage folks to test....it can't hurt and it can open up doors.

 

He qualified for all of their distance education classes and for the CAA camps. He won an award for his spatial abilities and for scoring high as an 8th grader on the math portion of the SAT.

 

Why does this matter to me? Well, it helped in several ways. First it shut up the relatives who were constantly fussing that we were going to ruin ds by homeschooling. Second, it gave me a boost in my confidence that ds was actually a pretty sharp cookie and that I wasn't likely to push him too hard or too fast. Third it told ds that he is gifted and therefore should use his gifts and talents...ie, don't be lazy about your school. Fourth it opened the door to those distance ed classes (and camps if we had wanted them). Fifth it gave us an outside evaluation to use as evidence in applying for other programs that we wanted to get into. Sixth it looks mighty nice on his high school transcripts and resume....some college applications even have a place to fill out if you've participated in a talent search....which certainly can't hurt in the world of highly competitive college applications.

 

We were pleased with the CTY programs we attended; they were interesting, well run, informative. We liked the two distance ed classes that ds took from them. We only did two because of the expense. So he took two programming classes since that was something we could not do on our own. Plus, he thinks he wants to go into engineering so these were good courses to have for his high school transcript. We didn't use the camps because of the cost. However, I like to think that having the CTY stuff on his applications got him a bit more notice on the camps that he did apply to at other universities/summer programs.

 

It has now come full circle. DS spent three weeks last summer at Drexel University in a mentorship program, which was supposedly very competitive in admissions. He loved it and established great relationships with his supervisors and mentors there. He has been invited back to Drexel in a couple weeks to help them with their presentation to, you guessed it, JHU-CTY Science and technology program for 7-10th grade students.

 

So, I'd say go for it. We are feeling pretty excited about his future opportunities as far as admission to colleges goes (and hopefully scholarships....although those seem a bit like phantoms at this point.) Now that we are well into filling out those applications I'm very glad that we have CTY to add to his honors and awards....every little bit helps.

 

Thanks for listening....hope this helps someone.

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esp. to Sharon, who very clearly stated the positives of testing. I can see the only negative is cost/travel time to prometric testing center (4 h drive for us)!

We will most likely go-for-it!

Did any of you have a slight worry that you DC may not do as well as you thought?

Thanks to all for such the info!

Moki4:)

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esp. to Sharon, who very clearly stated the positives of testing. I can see the only negative is cost/travel time to prometric testing center (4 h drive for us)!

We will most likely go-for-it!

Did any of you have a slight worry that you DC may not do as well as you thought?

Thanks to all for such the info!

Moki4:)

 

DS is testing at Prometric on Nov 1. I'm a little worried about how he will do, because he tends to rush through tests. He also doesn't like double checking his work. And don't get me started on math.....he hates writing down math problems on paper. He does 3 and 4 step word problems in his head. :blink: And gets them right most of the time, but if he would just write them down he could avoid silly mistakes.

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because I really set the bar pretty high, just naturally. I knew he was doing well from regular standardized testing...you know as far as being a 95 percentile plus kid...so I kind of looked at it as an opportunity to just see where we would fall on the most detailed spectrum. Now, to be honest....I wanted it to be good news....I would be lying if I said anything different. And we did do some sat test prep because I knew that he would not know how to handle that test (the SAT) without some practice.

 

I think it is right and fair to prep them for the tests....you cannot get a real representative measure if you don't know how to approach the test. At least that is my opinion.

 

As for the test that we took at prometrics....for us that was the spatial test battery. He adored it....wanted to go back and do it again. I tried to find something similar for him to have as a puzzle book to play with at home after he raved about how fun this test was....but I could not find anything.....FWIW

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I realize your little guy is only 7, right? But I would encourage you to start building the discipline of showing the steps for his problems. Maybe you could let him have some fun with some verbal problems that he doesn't have to show the steps...so he can have the fun of wowing you with his answer and get great positive feedback from you BUT then for his real school work make him show the steps...

 

It is a very important discipline to develop....tell him he has to prove it that way or explain that other people can't see things the way he does, so he has to show them the map of how to get there. If you take the time to develop this discipline now, it may save you great frustration when he is older and has hormones to deal with as well...JMO.

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My 15 yo did it this summer and it changed his life. He returned feeling that he had spent three weeks with kindred spirits, and has been in regular touch with many of these kids, exchanging books, talking. I talked to another boy I met recently who had been at the camp, and he said the very same thing.

 

My parents paid for me to go many MANY years ago (1987, 1988) and it truly was life changing for me. I got to be "normal" (surrounded by peers) for the first time ever. I still have friends from CTY. They could have had me go to day camp, as it was only about a 30 minute drive - I am so glad they let me stay. That extra time was where all the difference was for me.

 

If your child is showing talent... PLEASE save up for this, or something similar. It is expensive, but so, so worth it - from one who has been there!

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I realize your little guy is only 7, right? But I would encourage you to start building the discipline of showing the steps for his problems. Maybe you could let him have some fun with some verbal problems that he doesn't have to show the steps...so he can have the fun of wowing you with his answer and get great positive feedback from you BUT then for his real school work make him show the steps...

 

It is a very important discipline to develop....tell him he has to prove it that way or explain that other people can't see things the way he does, so he has to show them the map of how to get there. If you take the time to develop this discipline now, it may save you great frustration when he is older and has hormones to deal with as well...JMO.

 

Thanks for the advice. I do stress the importance of him showing his work, but I think he feels super smart when he does them in his head and people are amazed. :tongue_smilie: The in-laws and my family too, love to give him complicated math problems and watch him solve them before they can. It's created a math monster!:lol: I'm not sure how to take him down a notch without damaging self esteem. So for him math school work, I usually compromise with him by letting him do it in his head 1st and then showing the work.

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Not at all to disagree with what you have said, by the way. But there are sometimes programs that are much less expensive at some of the universities, that are funded by grants. My ds now a senior, spent three wonderful weeks at Drexel University this summer on a mentorship program. Like you have said, it was life changing or perhaps more life confirming for him. He loved it...felt immediately at home, because he was with like minded students....all very bright, all very dedicated, all excited about learning. It cost us the princely sum of $300.00....yep three hundred....because it was funded by an NSF grant. So, don't give up hope if you can't fund a CTY camp....you may be able to find another option.

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  • 4 months later...

Hello All,

I will apply the STB (Spatial Test Battery) on the Children at the age

from 11 years old till 12 years old. Could anyone tell me the instruction for the assessment of the results. Could you please help me for the rating of the answer sheets? How can ı classify the scores of the STB? It is for me urgent to get information about the instruction for the rating of the STB. Could you please inform me. Thank you for your help.

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