I agree with the previous posters about your strategy not being optimal to raise a math 'loving/liking' child. Having said that, you know your child best. if you're already set on moving her on to MM..A few suggestions. I think Maria Miller has placement tests on her site to correctly place a child into the appropriate grade. Use those. I would focus on the content rather than grade number.

CBSE is Central Board of School Education.It's one of the popular(and fairly rigorous) Boards of Education in India.

FWIW, before I'm accused of not being sympathetic to the plight of gifted children+their parents; I have an intellectually advanced child whose needs are not served even in 100%(non-state funded) private schools in my country of residence. I know and understand the frustration of being the statistical intellectual minority. But, my daughter is fortunate that she has resources at her disposal. I worry about the intellectually advanced underprivileged and first-generation school students who have no recourse except inferior public education. :sad:

The findings from PISA would agree with you (w/r/t) the bolded. But to come to the conclusion that distribution of funding(most money goes to bottom 10%) in public schools drives down overall achievement is debatable.

The bolded is a loaded statement which unless backed by data (For eg- Who are the biggest contributors to GDP) seems egregious. ETA: An article in Forbes talks about the GDP in U.S. Guess what contributes most to the U.S. economy? Consumerism. To quote:

Without getting into a direct debate on the merits or demerits of argument you're making, I would propose that 'mass public' education policy has as much to do with sociological and political perspectives; as economic and technological advancements. Here is just one of the many studies that refers to the 'origins and expansion of mass public education'. The U.N. has classified education as a human right, especially in the developing countries- 'Education For All'. Another one, this time by UNICEF. IMhO, the natural fall out of education being considered as a human right/ for all is that standards (whatever they may be) are lowered to be inclusive of all. ETA: A study reflects on the relationship between mass education and democracy.

I think what dmmetler is hinting at(correct me if I've misinterpreted)is the burden of expectations that these children carry, being in the media and exposed to brickbats and bouquets at a very young age.. Another aspect I found interesting is the gender of high potential kids in the media. Most(all?) are overwhelmingly male.

Braces. I have had TMJ for as long as I can remember (since childhood)and the only solution that has helped/helping me is adult braces. I had them put in 4 months ago and TMJ is history.ymmv ETA: my TMJ was due to poor teeth alignment, not stress.

The secret to making moringa leave stir fry is to add a little bit of sugar at the end. It cuts down on the astringent-bitter flavor of the leaves. A little sugar goes a long way...about 1/2 tsp or so. Or cook it with moong dal that is naturally slightly sweet; like http://www.savi-ruchi.com/2010/02/nugge-soppu-palya-drumstick-leaves-stir.html?m=1

We cook drumsticks like its shown here: http://www.padhuskitchen.com/2014/06/murungakkai-sambar-drumstick-sambhar.html?m=1 And this: http://indianhealthyrecipes.com/munaga-kaaya-tomato-kura-drumstick-tomato-curry/ I would describe drumsticks as slightly astringent..maybe even wee bit bitter.

How about blogs? http://recipes.malayali.me http://www.kurryleaves.net/p/kerala-vegetarian-recipes.html I second Chandra Padmanabhan's "Dakshin- Vegetarian cuisine from South India", the technique and ingredients are authentic.

I agree. It's the same here in India. It's the grade not the number of classes because music exams are taken as a representation of the skill/ability and not the class hours. Some students take 2 years and over 200 classes to clear a grade, and some do it in 40. Having said that, instead of looking at it as 'if he were not a mathematician then he would have been a musician'; maybe it could be presented in a way that showed how his (music) training prepared him for advanced math, how music and math are very similar etc.

Love the narrations Ruth! I'm amazed by the IMO kids, your son included! They managed to have a little fun despite all the performance stress and anxiety. :thumbup1:

Rangapravesham is an event that marks the debut of a classically trained dancer on a stage. Depending on how close the person is...I have brought flowers (bouquet), gift cards or just turned up with a greeting card. Indians usually dress conservatively at such events...sarees or salwar Kameez for women and kurta or suits for men. But these rules dont necessarily apply to non Indians. A skirt or dress should be fine as long as its relatively formal. If you have been invited I suggest you go along with your dd for the experience!

Another vote for fountain pens. My personal favorite is the relatively inexpensive Lamy safari (medium nib).

Self proclaimed Hinduism-loving Heidi Klum would agree with you. That's how she ended up dressing as Goddess Kali at a Halloween party back in 2008 in New York. I can't link the pictures here as it's against forum rules (I think), but a simple google search would pull up her photos and the subsequent furore. ​ETA: What Heidi Klum did is a textbook case of cultural appropriation…or worse.

Slightly OT: Unfortunately, I cannot access the study published in this month’s Journal of Family Psychology, it's for paid subscribers only. I'm curious to know how the researchers defined 'spanking' vs other forms of abuse; and the frequency of spanking. For eg. Is it spanking if a child is hit maybe 4 times in a year? Hitting on the face vs hitting on the hand? I guess I'm looking for nuanced studies that categorise physical abuse based on degree/frequency…Does a child of 5 who is hit on the hand face the same outcome as a child who has faced incessant and relentless physical punishment? It would also be interesting to see if there is any overlap between parents who primarily spanked as a first line of punishment and parents who were primarily verbally abusive. IME, a parent who spanks may/may not indulge in verbal abuse and vice versa. I don't know which is worse- getting spanked only or getting verbally abused and not spanked. I can imagine a child going through both, but I'd rather not. :(

Nutrition science, evolutionary biology, genetics: Your inner fish- Neil Shun Ominvores Dilemma- Michael Pollan The violinists thumb- Sam Kean Cats are not peas- Gould The selfish gene- Richard dawkins Cognitive science, developmental psychology etc: Thinking, fast and slow- Daniel Kahneman Blank Slate- Steven Pinker The tell tale brain- V.S.Ramachandran ETA: None of the above are directly related to education; but I found all of them invaluable to shore up my own info/knowledge gaps.

I think cultural appropriation is deeply intertwined with fundamental power inequalities among different races. Or the power relations between the majority and minority (assuming that majority= most powerful) I've had the understanding (and I might be wrong) that appropriation is when a race (insert any other variable) that is dominant/ in power lays a claim to a cultural aspect of the dominated/less powerful for personal profit. So, afaik, and given the current race discourse; (ethnic or racial) majority can 'appropriate' a cultural aspect of the (ethnic or racial) minority ; but when the minority takes on the cultural aspect of the majority, it is assimilation.

You aren't alone and I wouldn't worry. :001_smile: 'Peers' is not necessarily equal to chronological aged peers. In fact, I think most kids, gifted or not, have trouble with same age peers. I do encourage my DD to seek friendship from all sorts of people at all kinds of ages. fwiw, personally I have friends who are 10 yrs younger than I am; as well as 30 yrs older. Age is no bar. :D ETA: This article talks about 'generation gap' friendships- having friends in a generation older/younger than oneself. Although the article talks about women, it can be extrapolated to boys/men too, I think...

OP: I agree. Spanish comes second in terms of practicality; only next to Chinese. Yet, I also agree with the PPs. There's a higher chance of learning a language to speak it like a native when interest, passion and motivation are present. Go with French for your DD. It has certainly worked in our case. (DD studies French even though it is very impractical given where we live)

If money were no object, I'd start a democratic school on the lines of Summerhill (A.S. Neill fame)

This is a relatively recent thread that offers diverse points of view wrt IQ testing. HTH.

I'm not attempting to persuade you into choosing B/M school!!! :001_smile: Just offering my experience and thoughts. Make of it what you will. I am pretty much neutral wrt a B/M school. On the fence regarding homeschooling too. (I guess my perspective is coloured by the country I live in? shrug)

wrt peer pressure- Depends on the personality of the student. My DD doesn't seem to be affected to a significant degree; positively or otherwise. She has changed many schools, some schools had high achievers across the board and some didn't. FWIW, she is doing better in a school with a fuzzy focus on academics. The academic focused schools were extremely rigid about flexibility and teachers would insist DD stays at the pace of the class. The current school, although not as academically strong, has far more accommodating teachers. Yes. In our case, her B&M schooling has lead to immense independence. Primarily because *I* have taken a backseat, and her teachers have moved to centre stage. I think a good analogy would be learning to swim by jumping into the deep end of the pool. Although the learning curve is steep, IMO, children are more resilient than we give them credit for. It *will* be frustrating initially, as all life skill learning usually is; everything does settle down by the end of the first year. Trial and error. For us, changing schools is always an option if the school environment isn't compatible with DD's personality. In fact, we are debating a move to a more relaxed school. ​wrt: Mental health issues…she was highly anxious as a baby. This has improved over the years, especially so after entering B/M school. Yet, anxiety and its related issues are always simmering in the background. I don't know if one can predict anything with certainty when it comes to human beings. ;) We went out on a limb and like all life choices, we have made mistakes (as parents), but *none* of them are *irreversible*.. We chose to make that sacrifice (academic vs social/emotional) 3 years ago; but we can always (1) either change schools (2) homeschool; if we find her getting toooo relaxed or toooo competitive, iykwim. Your (read: family) values and priorities will drive your decision making so YMMV. ETA: DD's opinion/comfort has always been a factor in school choice. ETA 2: DD is a novelty seeker. School changes leave her unfazed. What works for her might not work for children prefer predictability and the comfort of the familiar.