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 (), 239 guests, and 35 robots.
    Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
    Newest Members
    streble, DeliciousPizza, prominentdigitiz, parentologyco, Smartlady60
    11,413 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
    Page 2 of 2 1 2
    Joined: Feb 2016
    Posts: 278
    R
    RRD Offline OP
    Member
    OP Offline
    Member
    R
    Joined: Feb 2016
    Posts: 278
    Originally Posted by fjzh
    Well now that the testing is done, have any idea how you'll present the results? We've procrastinated for weeks now in sharing anything with our daughter after only telling her that it was to "learn how she learns." I'd love to hijack this thread for advice on what to say after smile
    Hmm, tried to post in response to this but my post somehow disappeared.

    We're planning on being pretty straightforward with him (glad aeh thinks this is a good idea, as I've quickly learned to trust her advice), including about any possible LDs. I would think it would be helpful to explain to him that X is the reason handwriting is so hard for him, and we can do Y to help him with it. On the other hand, we may temper the truth if there is something dramatic about the results.

    Oh, and as an update - he is really enjoying the testing. Apparently he interrupted some instructions to tell Dr. A that she's really nice and that "this is really fun". He also talked my ear off about it the whole way back. Mind you, I figured out that he must have gotten a whole section wrong - it was to do with the relative weight of objects and he didn't catch on (given that it was in pictures, I guess) that different sized objects can weigh the same thing. Sigh. George C, I may not have to eat my hat after all!

    Can't believe we have to wait until July for the results (I don't do well with waiting)! And who knows, I may have to leave this forum if it turns out he's not actually gifted! blush

    Joined: Feb 2016
    Posts: 63
    F
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    F
    Joined: Feb 2016
    Posts: 63
    I'm still struggling with how exactly to present the info to my daughter. "So, you did great at your evaluation, you were cooperative and friendly which was very helpful. And we learned that you are 'gifted.' Do you know what that means?" (No.) "Well, your brain works different. Not different-bad. Sort of different-good. Not different-better." And I'm tripping over my words in my imaginary conversation in my head already so I just keep not saying anything.

    Joined: Feb 2016
    Posts: 278
    R
    RRD Offline OP
    Member
    OP Offline
    Member
    R
    Joined: Feb 2016
    Posts: 278
    Originally Posted by fjzh
    I'm still struggling with how exactly to present the info to my daughter. "So, you did great at your evaluation, you were cooperative and friendly which was very helpful. And we learned that you are 'gifted.' Do you know what that means?" (No.) "Well, your brain works different. Not different-bad. Sort of different-good. Not different-better." And I'm tripping over my words in my imaginary conversation in my head already so I just keep not saying anything.
    Why were you having her tested in the first place? You could use that as your starting point. So for instance, maybe you can explain that it's because you want to make sure that how things are taught at school is a good fit for how her brain works. Maybe you can explain that with the information you have, you can do more to help her flourish. Or whatever the case may be. I think it can be more about the way forward than about the actual numbers. Personally, I wouldn't emphasize those too much. Especially if they are particularly high, she may worry about having to keep up with that standard! I'd also tell her that this is just one piece of the equation and that it's not a huge deal.

    Joined: Feb 2014
    Posts: 337
    I
    Ivy Offline
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    I
    Joined: Feb 2014
    Posts: 337
    This is how I explained it to my daughter (7.5):

    Before: An evaluation where they will ask you a bunch of questions and the goal is to help figure out how you learn best so that we can figure out how to make school better (it was horrible that year, so this was the right explanation). The questions get harder and harder so don't worry or feel bad if you get to one that you don't know. That's the way it works and they are supposed to get harder than just about anyone will know. It doesn't mean you did badly. (Setting expectations around her perfectionism, though she did point out that on a bunch of stuff, they never did get harder and they ran out of questions -- lol, that was unexpected).

    Afterward, she was with us when the tester went over the results, standard deviation and normal ranges and all. So she knew her number and seemed happy that she did 'well'.

    The way I explained it to her later though was like this:

    When a baby is born, their brain is like a cup. And when you are tiny, there are only a few drops of knowledge in your cup (like mama and papa love you). Over the years, you work to fill your cup up. And with hard work, you can even stretch your cup a little bit, but not forever. Your evaluation showed that you are lucky to have a very large cup. This means that it can be easier to fill sometimes and that it will hold more. But it doesn't mean you know everything yet... you still have to work to fill your cup up as much as you can by learning all kinds of new things. And having a different sized cup isn't something you can help, just like you can't help your hair color or how tall you are, so you don't want to make other people feel badly about themselves, just like you don't have to feel badly about how you are.

    My DD is now 13, and she mentioned just the other day that she shared this metaphor with a group of kids who were wondering about her skipping a grade. And they all thought it was a great explanation.

    Joined: Oct 2013
    Posts: 279
    H
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    H
    Joined: Oct 2013
    Posts: 279
    Ivy, the cup metaphor is a really great way to explain this! I may start using that myself!

    Joined: Feb 2016
    Posts: 63
    F
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    F
    Joined: Feb 2016
    Posts: 63
    Ivy, I love that explanation! Absolutely the perfect metaphor!

    Joined: Apr 2013
    Posts: 5,244
    Likes: 1
    I
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    I
    Joined: Apr 2013
    Posts: 5,244
    Likes: 1
    Originally Posted by Ivy
    When a baby is born, their brain is like a cup. And when you are tiny, there are only a few drops of knowledge in your cup (like mama and papa love you). Over the years, you work to fill your cup up. And with hard work, you can even stretch your cup a little bit, but not forever. Your evaluation showed that you are lucky to have a very large cup. This means that it can be easier to fill sometimes and that it will hold more. But it doesn't mean you know everything yet... you still have to work to fill your cup up as much as you can by learning all kinds of new things. And having a different sized cup isn't something you can help, just like you can't help your hair color or how tall you are, so you don't want to make other people feel badly about themselves, just like you don't have to feel badly about how you are.

    My DD is now 13, and she mentioned just the other day that she shared this metaphor with a group of kids who were wondering about her skipping a grade. And they all thought it was a great explanation.
    Add me to the list of fans - I also love this cup simile or analogy! Great explanation for age 7.5... and also age 13. smile

    Page 2 of 2 1 2

    Moderated by  M-Moderator, Mark D. 

    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
    New, and you'd think I'd have a clue...
    by astronomama - 03/24/24 06:01 AM
    For those interested in astronomy, eclipses...
    by indigo - 03/23/24 06:11 PM
    Son 2e, wide discrepancy between CogAT-Terranova
    by astronomama - 03/23/24 07:21 AM
    Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5