In USA schools want to make sure that the children get challenged intellectually for their development. Therefore, students are tested for their aptitude in early primary and secondary classes. If they are found to be Gifted and Talented, they can take some more challenging classes.
The program might have different names (GT, LEAP etc.) in different school districts and might be administered little differently.
What does this mean?
Elementary Grades (1-5) – GT students have a GT class in addition to the normal curriculum.
Secondary and High School Grades (6-12) – students have opportunity to take the GT (More challenging) version of the same class. For each class there is normal version, Pre-AP version and GT version.
If your child is identified as GT – fantastic. Let them take the GT class.
If your child is not identified at GT – do not worry. They can try again.
Both my kids didn’t qualify as Gifted and Talented. They tried many times. However, as the aptitude test is testing IQ, they couldn’t qualify as it is difficult to change IQ.
If your child is Gifted and Talented – lot of things will come easily to them. It also helps their standard testing etc. However, I have seen that many GT kids not doing well in the High School and beyond as it takes much more than just basic intelligence to be successful for example, grit, attitude, time management etc. become more and more important.
In the middle school – let them take as many as possible Pre-AP classes. That will challenge them and make them ready for the High School.
In the High School also, let them take as many as possible AP classes. That will make them ready for the college and will help their GPA.
