Fernbank presents bird watching, chemistry and more
In clicking around the Fernbank Science Center web site for my previous post, I found a variety of programs coming up this fall:
- A bird watching tour in Fernbank Forest the morning of Oct. 16
- National Fossil Day activities from 1-5 p.m. on Oct. 16. Kids can do a fossil dig and create a fossil cast, and it’s all free.
- Chemistry Night In, an evening of hands-on chemistry and physics activities for kids in 4th-6th grades. The first session will be held Oct. 22 and will look at how chemistry is used to create special effects for movies. Registration fee of $15 per child ($10 per additional sibling) is due by Oct. 15.
- Exploring Nature with Your Child. Taught by an ecologist, this program encourages children to bring in natural items they find (e.g., unusual bugs, feathers, leaves) to learn more about what animals and plants are in our local habitats. The ecologist also discusses a nature topic and takes the kids out for a walk in the forest. This free program will be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Oct. 7, Oct. 21 and Nov. 4. No registration is necessary.
No school Friday makes Thursday night perfect for stargazing at Fernbank
This Friday, all DeKalb County schools will be closed for one of our furlough days. That means Thursday night isn’t a school night, making it a great time to watch the stars at Fernbank Science Center.
At 8 p.m., you can see the featured planetarium show about the Hubble Space Telescope, then hang around to watch the night sky in the observatory, which is open until 10:30 p.m.
Does your child qualify for Duke TIP?
Many moons ago, when I was a DeKalb County Schools student, my Discovery teacher informed us about Duke TIP (Talent Identification Program), which was still in its nascent stages. Today, Duke TIP has grown into one of the premier enrichment programs in the Southeast for gifted youngsters.
Yet when I posted an item recently about an upcoming TIP Scholars weekend at the University of Georgia, I wondered whether our schools are still actively promoting the program to parents.
If you have a 7th grade student and no one has mentioned Duke TIP Talent Search to you yet, you should take steps on your own to enroll in the talent search. To qualify for the search, your child must have scored in the 95th percentile or above on a standardized achievement test (such as CogAT, CRCT or ITBS) in their 5th or 6th grade year. If they meet this requirement, you’ll pay a $70 fee and sign them up to take the SAT or ACT and have their scores sent to TIP.
All students who participate will receive some benefits from the TIP program; those with exceptional scores on the college entrance exams can earn special recognition and the privilege of attending summer programs on the Duke University campus.
Application deadlines are Oct. 12 (by mail) or Oct. 19 (online) if you want your child to take the SAT or ACT in December. If you’re not quite ready, there are later deadlines for taking the SAT or ACT in the winter.
Complete information is available at the TIP web site.
Update: SENG parent group changes schedule
As previously posted, a parent discussion group is forming using the model developed by Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG). The group’s leaders have changed the meeting dates. The first meeting now will be on Wednesday, Sept. 29. The group will meet for six weeks, ending on Nov. 3.
Because the class was shortened, the price has dropped to $120 for up to two people.
Meetings will take place from 7-9 p.m. in the upstairs meeting room of the Kroger on Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell.
For more information or to sign up, contact Muriel Knope at knope-at-mindspring-dot-com (address modified here to protect her from spam). You can also visit SENG’s web site to learn more about the objectives and methods of SENG parenting groups.
Visit the High Museum free this Saturday
Eleven museums in metro Atlanta, including the High Museum, will offer free admission this Saturday, Sept. 25, as part of the annual Smithsonian Museum Day.
To take advantage of this offer, download the free pass from the Smithsonian, then present it at the door of a participating museum for free admission for two people.
The High’s featured exhibits are “Salvador Dali: The Late Work,” and “Signs of Life: Photographs by Peter Sekaer.”
Other participating Atlanta-area museums are:
- Archibald Smith Plantation Home
- Art On 5
- Barrington Hall
- Bulloch Hall
- CDC’s Global Health Odyssey Museum
- Center for Puppetry Arts
- Hammonds House Museum
- Marietta Museum of History
- The Hudgens Center for the Arts
- The National Museum of Patriotism
Duke TIP Scholar Weekend at UGA
The Duke TIP (Talent Identification Program) will offer a residential weekend for high-school students at the University of Georgia, Nov. 13-14.
The UGA weekend is open to students in grades 8-11 who have either participated in a Duke-TIP Talent Search or who have been identified as talented / gifted through their school.
The registration deadline is Oct. 29, although classes may fill up even before that — one is already full.
(Thank you to Dr. Spomenka Newman for sharing this information.)
TV show looks at challenges of raising high-intelligence kids
A friend tipped me off to a program airing on Discovery Health called “My Kid’s Smarter Than Me.” It will be shown several times this weekend, beginning tonight. The official description of the program is:
Walker will soon have his IQ tested. His obsession with cars has produced an amazing talent: At just 3 years old he can identify the make and model of any car by sight alone. MY KID’S SMARTER THAN ME explores the joys and hardships faced by ordinary families raising off-the-chart kids. In this special we meet child geniuses ranging in age from 3 to 15, who have never gone public with their talents: Pranav, a 7-year-old from Ohio who has an IQ 16 points higher than Einstein’s, and Autumn, an 8-year-old art prodigy whose works sell for thousands of dollars. With “in the moment” interviews with the children, their parents, siblings and experts, MY KID’S SMARTER THAN ME enters the world of parenting extraordinary children.
Sign up now for K.I.D.S. Club at Georgia Tech
Students in grades 2-7 can register now for the K.I.D.S. Club at Georgia Tech. The program, held on Saturday mornings, focuses on activities that encourage interest in science, engineering, math and technology.
Kids in grades 2-5 can choose one of two fall dates offered and/or one of two spring dates. Each session runs from 9 a.m. to noon, with students rotating among three different, one-hour activities.
For 6th and 7th graders, K.I.D.S. Club will offer classes in LEGO Mindstorm robotics.
All classes are held on the Georgia Tech campus and are led by university faculty, Tech students, or math and science teachers from local schools.
GSU's Saturday School posts "Fall B" classes
Saturday School for Scholars and Leaders has opened registration for its “Fall B” session, which will run for five weeks, beginning on Oct. 30. The program, hosted and run by Georgia State University, is open to gifted students in kindergarten through 8th grade.
Classes are offered in the mornings and afternoons. As a bonus, during morning sessions, the program provides parent seminars on topics related to the education and development of gifted children.
From the AJC opinion page: A challenge to schools
In a guest opinion piece in Monday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution, national and state leaders in gifted education speak to why it’s so important for schools to challenge and support our brightest students.
The headline of the article is a bit gloomy, but the authors say Georgia actually does comparatively well when it comes to gifted education programs. Still, there is more to be done, and when you find yourself in a position to lobby for greater gifted support, the arguments presented here can help answer the question of why we should pay attention to gifted students.
Gifted Atlanta 