Were You Part Of The "Mentally Gifted Minds" Program In California Scools back in the 70's?

like I said, I don't remember much. Tell me more about them and maybe it will kickstart my memory.

Yes Nanuke, I remember the image recall, try to move the ball through the hoop, etc. Most vivid though is thinking cool, I get to play with puzzles and build things while the other kids are in class.

My dad wasn't too thrilled with what I was learning but my mom would tell him that it was helping with learning skills.

OMG...that is way too freaky, I'll check this thread later...just really got freaked out.

yes, i was constantly removed from my classes and sent to a special room with special people.
we called it 'detention' back then.
one teacher even put a special little chair out in the hall just for me.
for true

My three children were all in it in Ga. in the 80's. It was called REACH. They went to a different school and class once a week. I don't recall them telling me about watching images and such. They could have and not mentioned it to me.

Maybe if you see one of the tests, it will jar your memory? I remember everything but of course that is an inherited trait for me.

We were also encouraged to read certain books. Do you remember going to the library, scrambling to get THE book before it was checked out? This was an effect that was totally created. I remember checking the same few books out and keeping them over due, just to see the other kids not be able to get them.

Books that were encouraged were: A Wrinkle in Time, The Elephant Man (That was my personal favorite to withhold), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and any of the books from the Choose Your Own Adventure Series.

I was in an experimental class in a demonstration school in Australia. It was called "The Family Group". Gifted kids and dummies weren't allowed in.

There was 70+ kids spanning ages 8 - 11 yrs. Hardly ever were tables to be found in the huge room we occupied, only cushions and bean bags.

No one was compelled to do anything, if you didn't like what was being taught you just walked away to another part of the room. That hardly ever happened though because we were all pretty interested in what was being taught.

During the late sixties here in the uk when i was about 10 years old, some of us were taken out of class and into a room and had to sit on a couch with a strange helmet on our heads.

This helmet had a series of wires that led to a weired looking control panel with a sort of oscilloscope screen on it.

A man would stare at you and ask you to tell him what he was thinking and suddenly weired images would appear in your mind. I remember seeing a strange planet populated by strange humanoids and strange builings. When i told him this he gave me a stern look of disaproval and muttered something to another man.

The next part is blank and all iremember is sitting back in class. Antone else from the uk have that done to them?

Here is another game that was used. The peg puzzle game. This is an image of a simple one but there were many more used that were much more complicated:

[link to www.joenord.com]

Here's a theory. In regular school you are taught 2+2=4, abc, etc. You learn about things...because that's the way they are.

In GATE, we were taught to reason and question everything. Instead of learning that something was a certain way, we were asked why it was the way.

We were taught to question things and look for meaning. Maybe that's why we're at GLP. We're questioning the status quo and looking for deeper meaning.

Just a thought...feel free to expand on or question the theory.

This was my personal specialty. Logic grid elimination puzzles. There are many variations of this and some became quite complicated. This is one from the web:

[link to img.brothersoft.com]

I was in some sort of testing program in the 50s and 60s in California. I was taken from my classes and tested in the 5th, the 8th and the 11th, I think. Given what I know now, these were intelligence tests, but I was never told what they were for or anything about why I was chosen. I do know that I was always in the upper level classes.

On an interesting note, my son was contacted by a well-known university for a DNA swab based on some high scores he made at an early age. He refused even though anonymity was promised.

Same here nan I was pulled aside every second day, given the speed drills by staring into this covered optical viewer and pressing certain buttons for certain patterns.

I was allowed to stay in the library and read all day if I wanted to.. the regular curriculum didn't seem to be as challenging for me as it was for the other students.

I was encouraged to write short stories about the news events I'd seen on television. Sometimes they'd let me watch those duck and cover type documentaries and write short essays on what I felt about those..

I remember laughing at them and telling them that I think they just wanted all the bodies in a nice neat pile.

They didn't have a name for the program here in Northern Ontario all they would say is that it was a pilot project for gifted children.

alls i remember is the when is the 'fucking bell gonna ring lesson'.
dont remember any else.

Everyone will believe so many conspiracy theories but when someone tells you what the real conspiracy was, there is only disbelief.

Think why would they continue testing children's intelligence even after standardized tests had been introduced to do this same thing?

I don't know about those of you that experienced this before standardized tests were introduced but for those of us that were involved after standardized tests it should be obvious.

They were looking for children with abilities outside of the normal spectrum. Abilities that the standardized tests simply could not measure. What type of children would possess those traits?

I already know the answer to this question.

we were also allowed to research whatever we wanted to at the libary. writing was a big focus.

we had selected titles we focused on as well. had to examine: brave new world, 1984, grapes of wrath, of mice and men... all in 4th/5th grade.

Well let's hear it!

I remember the nice kindly uncle-type of man who'd occaisionally call our house in the afternoon and gently urge me towards science classes--I was in like 5th grade in elementary school.

My mother got one of the phone calls and read whoever it was the riot act and that seemed to be the last of the calls.

Didn't read until decades later that the CIA had a program going that was doing exactly that in the 1960's, calling gifted students at home and encouraging interest in science.

Do you remember reading any of the books in my quote above?

we had selected titles we focused on as well. had to examine: brave new world, 1984, grapes of wrath, of mice and men... all in 4th/5th grade.
wow, i'm impressed. 5th grade?
i didnt devour steinbeck till my mid twenties.
never read huxley.

our family giftedness skipped me.
i did read charlottes web in the 5th grade though

I don't know about that program specifically, but traditionally Duke University has been highly involved in psychic research programs.

same here. midwest mid 80s.

yup.

the lion the witch and the wardrobe, charlie and the chocolate factory, charlie and the great glass elevator, the wizard of oz, the hobbit,lord of the rings

these were only some of them.

This is just the tip of the Duke iceburg:

[link to en.wikipedia.org]

"Joseph Banks Rhine (September 29, 1895 – February 20, 1980) (usually known as J. B. Rhine) was a botanist who later developed an interest in parapsychology and psychology. Through the parapsychology lab at Duke he also lectured on mainstream psychological topics.[citation needed] Rhine founded the parapsychology lab at Duke University, the Journal of Parapsychology, and the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man. He also initiated the Parapsychological Association. He coined the term ESP.

It was the Mentally Gifted MINORS program.

It was called GATEWAY in Indiana...and yes I was a part of it.

thnks 728979, this is what i found abiut DUKE TIP

TIP (Talent Identification Program) is a program that identifies gifted children based on standardized test scores and provides resources to assist in nurturing their development. Being part of TIP means that the gifted child has access to programs and services that may not be available at school.

Although not required, a big advantage of being in TIP is the opportunity for fourth and fifth grade students to take seventh grade level standardized tests. When they reach seventh grade, they take college entrance exams like the SAT. What's the point? Gifted kids often score so high on their own grade-level testing that the results are not useful because they fail to measure variation.

Taking above-level tests gives gifted students and their families a better understanding the student's level relative to gifted peers. This is helpful in determining appropriate challenges for that particular student. Above-level testing can pinpoint areas of strength as well as demonstrate to the child (and school administration if necessary) the child's advanced ability. Tangible test scores can be a strong motivator for kids who may not otherwise realize their uniqueness.

When seventh grade kids take the college entrance exams they receive information about university level resources available to them based on their scores. This can be invaluable both academically and financially.

Yes, also reading books by Lois Duncan.

This thread is really odd.

With that first puzzle of geometric shapes, when I clicked the link and saw the image I remembered doing that test, could smell the wax on floors, feel my school uniform, see the classroom and desk. I had completed that puzzle very quickly and the teacher made me redo while she was watching.