Saturday School for Scholars Program at Georgia State (Atlanta: middle school, university)

[LeeLee2008]

For any parents that are looking for programs for gifted kids in Atlanta I would have to say that this program is probably NOT what most of us would consider a good program. We enrolled our son and although everyone is really nice to be honest the material is really dry and the teachers are pretty average. They are not certified to teach gifted children.

We wanted to try it out and did but that being said I think there are other programs in the area that might be a better match.

Once we started they started bugging us each session to enroll in a study that of course the university is conducting. I noticed that many of the kids seemed bored out of their minds.

[Aelita403]

It varies with teachers. We tried several sessions, some were better than others, but there is no way to tell beforehand. We liked a microbiology class with a guy from Emory.
I didn't like the fact that you had to choose three courses, and there was no guarantee you would get your top choice (they might either cancel the course or the class would be full).

[jeoff]

My wife and I taught a science course there for gifted middle schoolers while we were in graduate school. We both enjoyed it, and I think we both did a good job, but I had previous experience teaching children, and my wife had taught several college laboratory classes. I am not sure if others were as experienced, and that was over a decade ago, so things may have changed.
Funny story (in retrospect): my wife was dissecting a pig for the class. All of the kids were gathered around, and then one of the smaller girls started yelling, "I can't see!" So I said, "Okay everyone scoot back a little bit so Suzy can see the pig."
"No, you don't understand. I really can't see." She had gone blind! I guess it was psychosomatic, but it was kind of freaky. Anyway, I took her out in the hall, while my wife finished the lesson. The girl started feeling better and her sight came back pretty quick. Her mother wasn't really upset when we told her what happened; she almost seemed to think it was funny. The girl said she really did not find the dissection scary, but her sight just shut down. Anyway, the girl went to the rest of the classes without a problem, and I think the students really enjoyed the class.

[LeeLee2008]

Yes we heard great things about the program which is why we enrolled but it was all from people who had kids that are in college now. It seems things have changed because it has been very chaotic and unorganized from what we see. Just not what I would expect from a program that touts specific gifted classes. Maybe is was just a bad session that we witnessed but we won't be going back.

[LovelySummer]

LeeLee, this is very interesting to me. It seems that you are saying that the teaching may be different if the teachers are certified to teach gifted children. Have you seen a difference? What is the difference? Really seriously asking. I think that our toddler may be gifted and I am intrigued re how teachers that have this certification may differ from others and the benefit of ascertaining whether teachers that he may have in the future are certified to teach gifted children.

Originally Posted by LeeLee2008

For any parents that are looking for programs for gifted kids in Atlanta I would have to say that this program is probably NOT what most of us would consider a good program. We enrolled our son and although everyone is really nice to be honest the material is really dry and the teachers are pretty average. They are not certified to teach gifted children.

We wanted to try it out and did but that being said I think there are other programs in the area that might be a better match.

Once we started they started bugging us each session to enroll in a study that of course the university is conducting. I noticed that many of the kids seemed bored out of their minds.

[Vlias]

This is really sad news to hear. I remember going to Saturday school at GSU when I was a kid and I *loved it*. I guess this would have been 25 - 30 years ago now. And I've been bugging the heck out of my husband to let me put our oldest in it. Thanks for the heads-up!

[jeoff]

We were not certified to teach gifted children when we were in the program over ten years ago, and I seriously doubt that it would ever be possible to get enough gifted certified teachers to teach in all the different subject areas offered-- on a Saturday for little compensation. I would have guessed that the program would have always been a little bit of hit-and-miss, and may have seemed a little better in the past because there was far less access to enrichment.

And, learning science from an actual scientist (or engineer, or artist, or...) may seem a little dry to some middle-schoolers (even a gifted ones), but learning science from a "real scientist" does offer a type of enrichment that can be difficult to achieve in a child's regular school--learning may not always being entertaining, but that does not make it less worthwhile.