GSU Saturday School announces fall classes
It’s that time again — time to register for Saturday School at Georgia State University.
The 2011 Fall A session will start Sept. 10 and run for five consecutive Saturdays, ending Oct. 8. Classes are held in the mornings and afternoons. Class topics, which vary by age group, include sharks, archaeology, law, anatomy, writing, art and much more.
Saturday School is open to children in kindergarten through 8th grade. The program is geared toward students who have been identified as gifted by their school, but kids who haven’t been formally identified can be granted provisional enrollment for one year — a perfect solution for bright kindergarteners just entering school who haven’t been tested yet.
The registration deadline is Aug. 25.
Creative writing contest for grades 4-12
In December, I posted about the 2011 Torrance Legacy Awards competition, open to students in grades 2-12. I wanted to offer this reminder that submissions are due by August 15, 2011.
There are two categories: creative writing and visual arts. The writing contest will accept short stories (limited to 1,250 words) or poems; the visual arts contest will accept any 2D or 3D art. For either contest, works must be an interpretation of one of the following themes:
- Magic of adventure
- Serendipity
- Beyond the horizon
- Unexpected answers
- Nothing set in stone
- Creating solutions
Winners will have their work published in a collection.
The contest is sponsored by the National Association for Gifted Children, among others; however, children do not need to be enrolled in a gifted program to enter.
Commission will determine future of student funding in Georgia
If you’re familiar with how schools are funded in Georgia, you’ve probably heard of QBE funding. (If you didn’t know, the QBE stands for Quality Basic Education.) In short, QBE funding is an allotment of money that every public school in Georgia receives based on the number of students they have enrolled. Some types of students — including gifted students — are funded at a higher rate, giving schools additional dollars to be used to meet their special needs.
[Note: Because of economic hardships and cuts in education funding overall, the state does not exercise any controls over the money it allocates via QBE funding. Schools and school systems have broad authority to redirect funds. So, although schools receive an additional amount for gifted students, that money is not always spent on gifted instruction. But that’s another post for another time.]
The QBE formula was developed in the 1980s and hasn’t been updated much since then. But that could be changing soon, as a newly formed commission has begun working on reviewing and possibly reforming the funding system. (I say “could be changing” because this is the sixth effort to revamp the formula, and the previous five task forces and committees didn’t change much.)
The State Education Finance Study Commission met for the first time at the end of June. I was there, and the question of how much money it takes to educate a gifted child was raised as something to evaluate.
That question, if it’s to be addressed, would fall under the realm of Subcommittee 1. Members of that subcommittee are:
- Georgia Senator Jack Hill (R-Reidsville)
- Scott Austensen, from the Office of Finance and Business Operations of the Georgia Department of Education
- Jadun McCarthy, Georgia Teacher of the Year, an English teacher at Northeast High School in Bibb County
- Dr. L.C. “Buster” Evans, superintendent of Forsyth County Schools
- Georgia Representative Tom Dickson (R-Cohutta)
This subcommittee will hold its first meeting on July 25 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the 20th floor of the Twin Towers East legislative building downtown.
In the first meeting of the Commission, chairmen Sen. Fran Millar (R-Dunwoody) and Rep. Brooks Coleman (R-Duluth) both encouraged people to get involved and share information with the subcommittees. I think the best way to do that is to attend the meetings and — when given the opportunity — share my point of view. That’s what I’ll be doing, and I will keep you posted via this blog.
You could also contact members of the subcommittee with your thoughts about funding for gifted education. I’ve looked up their e-mail addresses for you, so you can write to them simply by clicking on their names above. (Sorry, couldn’t find an address for Jadun McCarthy.)
You can also follow the work of the Commission and subcommittee via its dedicated web page on the Department of Education web site.
Zoom in on Saturn at Tellus Museum this Friday
Saturn is one of the most awe-striking and recognizable heavenly bodies. This Friday, children can get a closer look at Saturn as Tellus Museum in Cartersville hosts an astronomy workshop featuring the ringed planet.
The workshop will be held from 9-11:30 p.m. and will include a planetarium show and a viewing in the on-site observatory.
This program is open to children 8 and up. Kids must be accompanied by a paying adult. Call 770-606-5700, ext. 417 to purchase tickets.
Girls Get IT programs give young women insight into technology careers
Girls and young women who love information technology sometimes have a hard time finding mentors and role models who work in the field. The local group Women In Technology (WIT) hopes to change that through its Girls Get IT programs, happening soon.
On select Saturdays this summer and fall, girls can get a behind-the-scenes tour of some of Atlanta’s leading IT companies: IBM, McKesson, Accenture and Cisco. (Ages vary for each of these tours.)
In July, girls can participate in a job shadowing program, spending time with women who work at AutoTrader.com, McKesson, SunTrust or Turner Broadcasting/CNN.
No specific deadline to apply is posted, but organizers ask that girls who are interested submit an application as soon as possible.
How to find summer reading that fits your child’s age and ability
Many gifted kids are advanced readers, presenting parents with a tough challenge: finding books that are challenging enough for our kids’ ability, yet still age appropriate. I mean, your 9-year-old daughter may read on a 7th grade level, but that doesn’t mean you want her reading a Twilight novel.
Thankfully, there’s a tool that can help you search thousands of books to find a good fit: the Accelerated Reader BookFinder. Accelerated Reader — often known simply as “AR” — is a reading program used in some schools. But even if your child’s school doesn’t participate in the AR program, you can still use the BookFinder tool.
Just follow the link above to go into the BookFinder’s Advanced Search mode. Here’s how to use it:
- Leave the top section (Author, Title, ISBN, etc.) blank.
- For “Interest Level,” select your child’s grade level group.
- ATOS Book Level refers to your child’s reading level. The ATOS system expresses the level in a X.Y format, where X is the grade and Y is the month in school. So a child whose ATOS level is 4.3 is reading at a level where the average 4th grader would be 3 months into the school year. The BookFinder asks for a range, so if for example your child reads on a 5th grade level, you could enter 5.3 in the left-hand box and 6.3 in the right-hand box (always good to have them read up a bit to build their skills.)
- Under additional criteria, you can select a specific genre that your child likes, or simply choose fiction or non-fiction. You can skip this step, but you will get more results than you can manage.
- If you want, choose to sort the results by title, author or rating.
- When you’ve entered all the variables you want, click on Go.
When the search engine returns a list of books that meet your criteria, you can click on any book in the list to get more information about it, including the word count. (A tip: If you look at the number labeled as “AR Pts” in the description, you can get some idea of how long the book is. Books worth 0.5 points are usually picture books. Books worth 1 point may be chapter books. Books worth 2 points or more are short novels, and so on.)
Happy reading!
“Creative Kids” magazine seeks literary and artistic kids for its advisory board
Does your child like to express his creative side by writing stories or poems, drawing pictures, or taking photographs? If so, he could become part of the advisory board of Creative Kids, a magazine for kids, by kids, published by Prufrock Press, a well-known publisher of works for gifted children.
Children have until July 1 to apply. Those selected for the advisory board will give the editors feedback about the magazine’s content, review products for the magazine, and contribute original work to be published in the magazine. Although the search information doesn’t specify an age range, the magazine is intended for kids ages 8-16, so I have to assume that’s who they want.
Not ready for this level of commitment? Kids can always submit individual creative works to the magazine. Just follow the instructions in the submission guidelines.
Check out more than books at your local library this summer
I try to look far and wide to find fun, educational activities for kids. But this summer, free fun may be as close as your local library.
Sure, you already know that public libraries offer summer book clubs and reading programs for school-age children. Maybe you even know they have chess clubs and family game nights. But did you know you can build LEGO vehicles, learn Chinese, study mummies and see planetarium shows, all at your local library at no cost?
Here’s just a sampling of activities going on at metro area libraries this summer. Follow the link to your county’s public library system to see the full calendar of events. (You can sneak a peek at other counties, too, but note that some activities will be open only to county residents, so if you’re thinking about traveling across county lines, call to check first.)
- Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System: Starting this Saturday, June 4, teens can take part in a free drama camp that meets Saturday afternoons at the Dogwood branch…. Learn about mummies June 9 at the Northside branch…. A Science Academy at the Alpharetta branch on June 13 will teach kids about biology, paleontology, oceanography and even volcanology.
- Clayton County: A kids’ Scrabble club meets occasionally at the main branch…. Make stained glass on June 14 at the Riverdale branch…. Learn about the polar regions of Earth on August 6 at the main branch.
- Cobb County: The Wheeler High School robotics team will give a presentation this Saturday, June 4 at the East Cobb branch…. Middle-schoolers can get a taste of Chinese language on June 6 at West Cobb…. The East Marietta branch will host an 8-week creative writing workshop for teens, beginning June 7.
- DeKalb County: The mobile planetarium from the Fernbank Science center will be at the Chamblee branch on June 6 and at Clarkston on June 28…. Snakes and other reptiles will be at the Northlake branch on June 14…. On July 9, kids can build and race LEGO vehicles at the Stone Mountain branch.
- Gwinnett County: Reviewing the summer calendar, I see a lot more entertainment and crafts than educational programs. The Five Forks branch presents an introduction to origami for teens on July 28…. The Zoo Atlanta Zoomobile visits Five Forks on August 2.
Registration open for summer session of Saturday School at GSU
Saturday School for Scholars and Leaders, a program of Georgia State University, has opened registration for its summer session of Saturday classes.
Children in grades K-8 can choose from classes in a variety of subjects, from art to public speaking, computers to sharks. The summer session begins on July 9 and will meet for four weeks, ending on July 30. Classes meet in the mornings on the downtown GSU campus.
The Saturday School web site says there are also a few spaces remaining for its one-week summer day camp, to be held next week.
Off topic: “Choking game” robs local family of their gifted son
Forgive me for going off topic, but this is something I felt was too important not to share.
This week, a 5th-grade student at my child’s school died from playing “the choking game.” That’s where kids cut off the air to their brains to get a buzz.
You’d like to think smart kids would know better than to try something like this, but the child our school lost was incredibly bright and gifted. He loved to read, was an outstanding student, and was a talented musician and athlete. He was like any of our kids. Yet as smart as he was, he didn’t see the danger in what he was doing.
This boy’s family is hoping that in the wake of their loss, other parents will educate their children about this “game” that can kill. You can find more information through GASP, a non-profit organization.
Gifted Atlanta 