Right - quite a lot, given time and place, 70s-80s in rural towns of moderate size.
-Chose their house based on the school district offering art and music
-Insisted that the principal figure out how to accommodate me, then homeschooled when the prinicipal admitted that was impossible
-kids' college, library, huge engineering projects covering our entire suburban lot
-Did their best to include neighborhood kids in our enrichment, so that even though we were different, we weren't completely isolated by experience; demonstrated equal respect to all our neighbors while acknowledging ability differences
-Explained my testing to me, to the best of their ability (age-equivalents, but not rarities)
-Treated their kids as individuals, and gave each of us different resources according to interests and needs
Wrong- nothing intentional, but hindsight reveals problems.
-They didn't understand how different I felt from the kids around me, or that this was important, or that it was a problem that could be solved. I first met my peers in college; I was so far out of the range of even my GT program (district-wide dedicated campus) that I spent all my time trying to figure out why my classmates were being so illogical. I knew that my scores were pretty far above the next highest in my classroom, but I didn't know what that *meant*. Meeting other EG kids in childhood would have changed my life. I think I would have grown up more socially confident, knowing there was a difference between myself and others.
-When I was 8 or 10 they stopped criticizing anything I did. They just looked amazed with a sparkle in their eyes and approved of my achievement. Even if it took a lazy 10 minutes to do. I needed more direction than that; a hint of how my first effort could be improved upon. Some of that library time could have been used to show me what could be done next.
-I never had to argue hard, support my position, defend my choices. This meant that I buckled in college when asked to do these things. I assumed anyone in our homework group who was confident of their answer must have it right and I struggled to understand why my answer was wrong (especially when it wasn't).
-My siblings would give a less rosy picture of their upbringing. One had a second E; none went to the same GT school I did, which was actually really good despite the population being different from me. They stayed longer in homeschool, which was not toxic, but also not directed enough. My parents' expectations scale was too linear: higher or lower, but not just different for each kid.
-Moving and parental separation was much easier on me in middle/high school than on my siblings in elementary. I took it almost in stride and my independence just went up sharply. They were devastated and really struggled with their new living conditions.
