Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Advanced vs Creative Thinker

Thanks for the Divergent thinking article CDfox. I really enjoyed it. My daughter is def one of these. Fortunately, her teachers have graded her essays well, even though they are usually against the grain.

She had to develop her own world in response to "The Giver". Her teacher asked why there was no religion and she stated that she felt it caused more trouble than it was worth. She still got a good grade.

Even though she is in a really bad school, this is something I am happy for.

Take heart with a divergent thinker. They're so against the status quo and resist it at every opportunity - and some openly. Eliipses - love your daughter's response to "The Giver." At least she got a good grade, as you say.

I agree that you've got to develop the nonconformity/divergent thinking at home. The vast majority of schools do not tolerate it, even gifted ones. I think art schools are probably more receptive than the norm, but unfortunately these types of schools don't exist until high school or college. Until then, you either muddle through the public or private schools or end up homeschooling/unschooling as a default.

Wonder how someone like Picasso made it through the early grades? Dahl, I know from his biography, really struggled at Repton (English boarding school) and performed somewhat poorly. Dav Pilkey (Capt Underpants author) struggled in school as well. Of course, both Dahl and Pilkey used their experiences with the schools in their writings and drew strength (out of a bad situation) from it.

To me, it seems the kids who are divergent or creative seem to fall by the wayside, especially in the early grades and whether they're gifted or not. Some gifted schools may be more receptive, but there's still levels of conformity and expectations. With a eg/pg child, the outlandish creativity and divergent thinking may be more pronounced -- ie. what planet did they come from? -- so it becomes rather challenging in a formal school setting (and on a daily basis). It really depends on the school, teachers, other students, atmosphere, curriculum, pace, etc. and how they child can still be true to themselves without being swallowed by the sheep, dare I say.

This is one of the reasons why people are homeschool/unschooling. I've come across parents in my area with typically developing children who feared the public schools would quash the creative side and any passions/interests that their child/ren held.

I should add this article about a mother of pg twin boys from Hoagies:
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/my_pg_boys.htm

So if you notice, these kids don't always follow in a linear or sequential manner and can leapfrog in developments/thinking.

Think it's bad - imagine two pg twin boys? Ugh.

cdfox - thanks for sharing this information

My son is younger than yours but sounds similar so I would like to learn from your experience if I can.

What learning situation has worked or not worked for him?

Mine is set for early K at a Montessori in the fall but we are still on the fence a bit as to what is best.

Well, that's a tough question. First, I'll say there's absolutely nothing for gifted kids or options for grade skipping/acceleration in the public schools in my state/area.

We've had mixed results with the gifted schools - which are mainly aimed at mg/hg kids from my experience. Last year, my son lasted 2 1/2 months at a traditional gifted school; he completed the pre-k/k/1st grade curriculum in that time. The school then refused to accelerate him to 2/3rd grade or accommodate the eg/pg part. My son was starting to multiply and the school basically threw up their arms. I then put him in a creative gifted school last March and this year. I'm hoping he can hold out until the end of the year, but it's been a struggle to say the least.

The creative gifted school has been better in some ways. The school has a total of 30 students from pre-k to 8th grade and three teachers. So it's a mixed-aged setting and he's been able to read at 4/5th grade level but been frustrated by the math and held back in addition until he completely masters it with www.xtramath (timed math facts). He's been frustrated that there's not another eg/pg kid like him there or someone he can click with. He's also been frustrated by some of the arty/crafty, which can go overboard, and with some of the rules and teachers, which can be a bit inflexible.

Next year, I'm planning to homeschool/unschool - by default. We've tried the public and private schools to no avail.

With schools, I think it all depends on the child, school, teachers, curriculum/content, other students, etc. I've heard some teachers are very flexible and accommodating. Others less so. Some curriculums or instructional methods (i.e. structure or phonics for reading) work better than others for certain kids. For my son, he needs some structure but not too much.

The vast majority of schools expect the child to fit to the curricula and not the curricula to the child. Yes, you'll find people here on this forum say that they've been able to grade skip with a public or private school or found got accommodations met, but I don't think this is the norm or even an option in some towns/cities or states where giftedness is not mandated.

Keep in mind, it's really hard to know how your child will react or respond until your child is presented and/or exposed. Then, you've got the issue of the other children in the classroom/school. That's potentially a big can of worms with a eg/pg kids. At the traditional gifted school, my son stood out like a sore thumb in the class. At the creative school, he's stood out less so and he's been able to mix with older kids, but it's still not providing what he needs either academically or social/emotionally.

I think with eg/pg kids, like my son, they can suddenly make great leaps or gulps in learning, which can be a challenge for schools. I don't think most teachers know how to deal with a eg/pg kid or their rapid acceleration or insatiable quest for information/learning.

Thanks so much for the great discussion here, sorry I lost track of this thread.

happyreader, I have the same concerns, but actually the article that Bostonian posted really helped me think about how to possibly counteract that pressure to conform. I like the idea of thinking of creativity as making connections between unrelated things/ideas. And so, one way to support our kid's out-of-the box thinking is to make sure they get exposure to lots of different things. Which makes me feel a bit better because, due to his own intensity, I have done this with DS since he was very small. He loves to learn, so we do all kinds of things (and sometimes get frustrated when places put age limits on certain activities!) I guess the best I can do is offer him lots of diverse subjects and experiences and give him the freedom to make those connections when and where he wants to!