Happy Thanksgiving! The Gifted Children's Committee Young Mensan Group (Ages 2-18) suddenly has a cornucopia of programs to be thankful for! Thanks to much support from the parents and officers, we have grown from a group of 7 members at our nadir, to a robust 19 members. 13 of these children are aged 7-14. As we grow, our parent volunteers are creating more opportunities through SIGS for the Young Mensan group. Look down for the SIG or information relating to your age group, and then skip to the end for the exciting opportunities for families at the San Diego RG in May 2007.

First, thanks our webmaster Dave Bowles, and all the other officers, we are processing the web page for Gifted Children on the San Diego Web Site. Thanks also to Dr. Ruf, the Chairperson of the Gifted Children's Committee and Kathie Oliver, we are receiving monthly articles of interest which I am forwarding for inclusion in The Mensan and also on our web site. Look for the current month's article on Toys, just in time for shopping tips.

Creating SIGs for our group is complicated by the confidentiality of emails and addresses for our Young Mensans, because we have to protect the identity of minors. Consequently, forming groups has had to overcome high but necessary hurdles to communicate. If any of the parents of the Young Mensans wish to share their own email addresses with me and the rest of the parents, that will help make everything happen more rapidly. In the meantime, do check in on the SIGs below and on the online calendar. (Note: Historic accidents happen, and long ago a group of Mensans at San Diego created a SIG for Gen X and Y , calling it the Young Mensan SIG because there was no active gifted children's group at that time. These are adults so don't be confused.)

Rebecca Shue of Curious Kids, (gifted children aged 2-5), reports - Do the families of the two little ones [Young Mensans] know about Curious Kids? We would love to have them. Curious Kids is on a bit of a hiatus at this point. We have found that people get too busy during November and December to do much of anything. We will start up again in January with a planning meeting and a drama day. That will be a day aimed at the little drama kings and queens. We will have dress-up clothes and puppets and I will be leading some storytelling activities. We may also make some puppets. Exactly how it goes will totally depend on the kids that we get. If we get a few hams it could be a blast. Many other ideas have been batted about but nothing else is definitive yet. I personally would like to get more of the home school families involved. At this point we keep losing our 4-5 year olds to preschool. I am planning on home schooling my little ones. Jeremiah is reading at 2.5 so any hope I had of him fitting in is pretty well gone. We do have two other families that are home schooling preschool right now. Long range, since I will have my son with me beyond school age, I expect that this group will age up but I would like to keep the activities available for the little ones as well. I still have a 1 year old so I should be able to cover this age group for a while. What are they doing at the RG for young gifted kids? How are they defining young? Do you have to be a Mensan to attend? If there are only 19 young Mensans it is going to be a small group or will it be open to gifted kids in San Diego who may not be Mensans yet? Activities? I think we just do the basics. I try to follow my little guy's interests so we spend a lot of time doing anything train related and right now we watch trash trucks and school buses a lot.

Answer: The GCC Young Mensans is open to Mensa Members, that's why we encourage parents such as Rebecca to form SIGs connected to Mensa. In the SIGs, everyone is welcome, at the discretion of the group leader. All gifted kids and families are invited to the RG-Read below!

Aaron Bledsoe and his dad, Robert Bledsoe, are forming a school club and SIG at Standley Middle School in San Diego. This group is in the process of organization. However, the school administration are very receptive to the idea. The school student club, tentatively named MindQuest, has as its proposed goals to create a Positive learning environment, and be open to all, with opportunities for new friendships and networking among peers.

MindQuest Activities could include games, a Book Club, Cultural activities, Mentoring, Speakers Bureau, Opportunities for students to meet in a designated space to meet and make friends. Aaron would like to form The Standley SIG of Mensa to recruit other students, connect to our local Mensa Chapter and provide a Mensa presence on Campus. As they develop programs, students at other Middle Schools will be encouraged to participate. One third of Standley are GATE students, so this has great potential. Speakers for the GATE families can include Richard Lederer, Andie Harvey or me as well as other Mensa volunteers. I am summarizing Robert's proposal as it is still in process. Students and Parents at other Middle Schools can contact Robert Bledsoe at windinsea@hotmail.com for on-going details.

High School Students and Parents! Check out www.CSUmentor.edu for clear answers to all your questions. What a resource, even if you don't plan to go to a state college, this is the greatest. I surveyed all 50 states' web sites for the University and the State University of..(state name). CSU was the best, by a long shot. CAL is complete, but you need to be a very smart rat to run that maze and have your ideas and goals clearly set before you attack it! But then, if you are reading this....you are very smart, aren't you!?! The Community Colleges are www.ccco.edu for a list them all and their offerings. Some have specialized programs and even dormitories up in the Sierras! Others are near the surfing in San Diego. Remember, as you plan your choices, the public colleges and universities of California are the best in the world. The private colleges are great too. Be sure to watch the deadlines to take your required tests, application forms and letters of recommendation on time.

Parents, for a first, simple orientation on financial aid, check out the www.CSUmentor.edu for a form to estimate your financial contribution. Plan for it, You have until Dec. 31 to create income tax deductions to qualify your student (June graduate) for financial aid! Then, study the FAFSA and PROFILE forms as you need them. Be sure to attend the Financial Aid programs your student's high school will offer in January. Never assume that you should not apply. More affluent parents often have greater expenses, and you never know when circumstances change. It is always good to apply. The most expensive colleges have over 50% on scholarship. Persevere!