Gifted Bulletin Board

Welcome to the Gifted Issues Discussion Forum.

We invite you to share your experiences and to post information about advocacy, research and other gifted education issues on this free public discussion forum.
CLICK HERE to Log In. Click here for the Board Rules.

Links


Learn about Davidson Academy Online - for profoundly gifted students living anywhere in the U.S. & Canada.

The Davidson Institute is a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting profoundly gifted students through the following programs:

  • Fellows Scholarship
  • Young Scholars
  • Davidson Academy
  • THINK Summer Institute

  • Subscribe to the Davidson Institute's eNews-Update Newsletter >

    Free Gifted Resources & Guides >

    Who's Online Now
    0 members (), 600 guests, and 19 robots.
    Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
    Newest Members
    parentologyco, Smartlady60, petercgeelan, eterpstra, Valib90
    11,410 Registered Users
    March
    S M T W T F S
    1 2
    3 4 5 6 7 8 9
    10 11 12 13 14 15 16
    17 18 19 20 21 22 23
    24 25 26 27 28 29 30
    31
    Previous Thread
    Next Thread
    Print Thread
    Joined: Jun 2012
    Posts: 393
    M
    Melessa Offline OP
    Member
    OP Offline
    Member
    M
    Joined: Jun 2012
    Posts: 393
    Besides telling your dc that he/ she thinks and learns differently, how did you cover the concept of giftedness? Or did you cover it? Did you offer a book to read? Just curious what other people's approaches are.

    Joined: Oct 2011
    Posts: 2,856
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Oct 2011
    Posts: 2,856
    DD attends school every day with two pull-outs called "gifted," so not covering it was not an option.

    We've had a number of conversations about it, and I believe DW provided DD with age-appropriate literature. Don't ask me which book/s.

    Joined: Apr 2012
    Posts: 78
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Apr 2012
    Posts: 78
    I recently got my son a book called "101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids"--too soon to provide a review, but I think he likes it. I haven't had a chance to read it through.

    Like Dude, I found it unavoidable; he finally learned that Ms. X is the gifted specialist.

    Joined: Feb 2011
    Posts: 5,181
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Feb 2011
    Posts: 5,181
    DD has never really NOT known, as far as I can tell. She's always known that she was different, and she has always been able to identify that difference as one of being MORE able than agemates-- and sometimes even than those many years older than herself.

    It's garnered her comments/attention since she was quite small. We don't really use the term "gifted" since it strikes us as a euphemistic and rather artificial construct. There's no magic "yes/no" point on the cognitive ability continuum.

    We have discussed developmental arcs, normal distributions, and approximately what percentile she (and other family members, if we know) seem to be at, and let her ask questions on that basis.

    This has been helpful, since it is all too easy to interpret being "ahead" of agemates as meaning that they will eventually reach where DD is now, and that's not true in holistic terms-- they may acquire SKILLS that she possesses now, certainly, but that isn't the same thing as the sum of how she learns and processes information in the world around her.

    Shared experience has been the best and most healthy means of supporting DD. It's lovely to have one's home be a GT safehouse.

    smile


    Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.
    Joined: Jun 2012
    Posts: 393
    M
    Melessa Offline OP
    Member
    OP Offline
    Member
    M
    Joined: Jun 2012
    Posts: 393
    Right now ds thinks teacher X works with "kids who are good at math/ ELA". Part of the problem is ds struggles with math but is 2+ years ahead (which I know is not huge), so he gets pull out for that. Somehow, he is 5+ years ahead in reading, vocab and comprehension, but doesn't get pull out for that. (Stupid public school criteria). Also, next year, he is going to go to hg school. I and the head of schools at the new school have told ds that he thinks and learns differently, and will have peers at the new school.

    As he has no friends now, but knows he's different (has for 1+ years); I'm wondering if more explanation would help him feel better. He also wants to speak to the head of the new school again to get more info about how the school is different from his current school. I'm wondering if he's looking for more answers/ info about giftedness.

    Joined: Apr 2013
    Posts: 202
    A
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    A
    Joined: Apr 2013
    Posts: 202
    I'd been waiting til DD asked/noticed and she did just the other week, when she wondered why she was first to finish a course she was attending for 9-12 year olds (she's 7). It was actually very interesting to see the 'aha' moment when I explained smile
    I did use the 'smart' word, but mostly 'thinks differently', 'has interesting ideas' and 'learns fast'. And said the term for all that is 'gifted', and that's what her pullout day is for. She'd been thinking it was just a fun break from school, which is also true smile
    We haven't discussed actual IQ yet

    Joined: Sep 2011
    Posts: 3,363
    P
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    P
    Joined: Sep 2011
    Posts: 3,363
    We never directly referred to "it" as being "gifted" (in those words) when ds was young. He did notice - and honestly I remember being very aware of feeling smarter than most of the other kids at school most of my childhood. I used to worry what would happen when I grew up, if I couldn't find other smart people to hang out with and get married too... which didn't turn out to be such an issue once I was in college, but it was something that was on my mind a lot when I was younger.

    We first talked about being intellectually gifted when ds was around 5-4 years old, and he was frustrated trying to explain something to one of his friends. That brought out a torrent of frustration and confusion he'd been holding inside, not really understanding why other kids didn't catch on to concepts as quickly as he did, or didn't understand what he was talking about at times. So we explained being intellectually gifted in terms of the bell curve, and showed him roughly where he fell on the curve. That really worked for ds.

    When he was older (just in the past few years, in middle school and moving on into high school), he's begun to ask to see his actual psych reports etc. For him, a big part of it is being 2e - I don't know that he'd have asked to see the reports if they'd only been testing for IQ - but being 2e, he's now old enough to be involved in advocating for himself, as well as he's reached an age where he wants to intellectually understand what makes up his second "e".

    The other thing that happened as he got older was programs he was involved in started being labelled "gifted" or "talented" so we added those words into the mix, but also with a caveat - that gifts and talents come in many different forms.

    Originally Posted by Melessa
    Somehow, he is 5+ years ahead in reading, vocab and comprehension, but doesn't get pull out for that. (Stupid public school criteria).

    I know it doesn't make sense - but I think it happens a lot. It certainly happened with my kids in our local schools. Don't know if it helps, but fwiw, I wouldn't worry too much about this - in the long run, it didn't seem to make any difference at all for my kids, other than my dd who actually struggled with reading.

    Quote
    As he has no friends now, but knows he's different (has for 1+ years); I'm wondering if more explanation would help him feel better.

    More of an explanation will probably help - it helped my ds. OTOH, I wouldn't just stop with more of an explanation or assume that moving schools is going to solve this (although it might!). I'd try to look for activities outside of school that are interesting for your ds - we often found that is was easier to find HG/+ kids at things outside of school, and even if you don't find friends there, it will at least (hopefully) be fun and intellectually stimulating.

    Quote
    He also wants to speak to the head of the new school again to get more info about how the school is different from his current school. I'm wondering if he's looking for more answers/ info about giftedness.

    Whether he's looking for more info about giftedness or just wanting to learn more about the new school, I think it's a good idea to let him talk to the principal - I hope the principal is willing to talk to him!

    Best wishes,

    polarbear

    Joined: Jun 2012
    Posts: 393
    M
    Melessa Offline OP
    Member
    OP Offline
    Member
    M
    Joined: Jun 2012
    Posts: 393
    Thanks everyone for your thoughts! Btw, I would never use the term "gifted" unless he asked that in specific.

    Polarbear- thanks for your thoughtful response. The head of the new school gave ds her business card to be able to contact her for questions- pretty cool. Not so surprising when the "interview" consisted of her playing legos with him.

    Funny thing about the reading pull out, I've heard they're reading Charolette's Web. That would drive him crazy. Ds read that 2 years ago before K.

    I will admit we are hoping this school will help. (He has already started to "hide" to attempt to fit in at school.) The neuropsych recommended it and ds seemed to love it. I've kind of been at a loss for outside activities, but this summer will be better. There's a camp at a nearby college for g kids and camp at his new school. Both he is VERY excited about. I'm hoping via these avenues, he may meet someone even if its 1 person. Then, we can go from there.

    Also, new school has chess club (which he loves, but stopped playing at current school because he doesn't have any good opponents. The other kids don't want to lose.).

    Ultimately, I just want him to feel good in his skin, and have A friend (even if the friend isn't a perfect match. Someone can show his true self to.)


    Moderated by  M-Moderator 

    Link Copied to Clipboard
    Recent Posts
    Testing with accommodations
    by aeh - 03/27/24 01:58 PM
    Quotations that resonate with gifted people
    by indigo - 03/27/24 12:38 PM
    For those interested in astronomy, eclipses...
    by indigo - 03/23/24 06:11 PM
    California Tries to Close the Gap in Math
    by thx1138 - 03/22/24 03:43 AM
    Gifted kids in Illinois. Recommendations?
    by indigo - 03/20/24 05:41 AM
    Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5