Quandary
My daughter recently completed her testing for admittance into Kindergarten. I must confess I was shocked by her scores. Don’t get me wrong, I knew she was smart, but hadn’t realized how smart.
After getting these scores and talking with the admissions officials at the school, my husband suggested we consider joining her in MENSA. I had seen MENSA before, but it was on those mind game books at Barnes & Noble. So I went out to their website and read up on the organization.
Evidently the only requirement for membership is an intelligence test score within the top 2% of the population. There’s also the willingness to pony up the yearly dues – but that’s a whole ‘nother topic. Anyway, her scores were listed at the top 1% so I guess she’d qualify.
The dilemma comes from wondering if this is the best thing for a five year old little girl. I’m focused on education and learning all that they can. Both of the kids are reading and can even do some basic math. My daughter knows more about animals than I can begin to expound upon here, but their life right now isn’t all about education. I want them to be kids and enjoy being kids. They should have the opportunities to play just for the sake of playing (like video games and Barbies).
I don’t want to “enroll” her in MENSA just to have her then pressured to achieve more and go further. There’s nothing wrong with not skipping any grades in school and enjoying her childhood in its entirety. That’s not to say that if she wanted to move further along, she certainly could, but that’s her free choice, not a pressured one from the adults around her.
But then there are also the benefits of joining a group such as MENSA. Resources can be available to her that may not be available otherwise. Support and encouragement from other children experiencing some of the same things is another great advantage.
So, being the over-protective, uber-worrying mother that I am, I’m torn about what the best path is for her.
12:15:41 PM 
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