Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums I can't be the only one, can I?

(((She shoots - She scoress - The crowd goes wild!!!)))
I'm really happy to hear that.

My daughter doesn't stick out (She wouldn't like to) because she's been double grade accelerated. She fits in so well socially and academically I don't think the other kids (outside of her class) even know she's only six.[/quote]


Go Laura! Well Done with DD6!

Just because they might LIKE to stick out, doesn't mean that it's good for them.

Smiles,
Grin

After reading all the posts, I am reassured and have also come to a realization. I expected Boo to blend in better because *to me* she does. The the moments where I am gobsmacked by something she does are so much less. I'm just so used to her doing something atypical (compared to her age peers) that it doesn't register with me any more. When she was little everything was new to both of us. Now that she's 4.5 years old, I'm used to it. Even the things her little brother does are just par for the course.

The journey with our DS has uncovered a lot in DW's past.

My DW's Grandmother told us this weekend that DW was crawling to get specific, requested objects at 6 mos, and was reading at 2 1/2. She had also forgotten that she skipped 1st grade or won district-wide awards in middle school.

DW was so beat down by her mother for so long that its just starting to dawn on her how talented she is in relation to others.

We had standard acceleration in my city in the 60s. And many in my neighborhood of professionals -- engineers and doctors, had kids that did. It wasn't uncommon. Everyone playded together and we went through school together.

But one of my friends commented after we were out of college that her mother would always comment about me and say that I was one really smart kid etc.

Now, I have no idea how the difference in standing out, but there must be a difference in some way with HG kids even when with other gifted kids. And not in the test score kind of way, just as Grinity says about observing her son, a kind of interaction that is innate.

Ren

Very obvious for my now DS6 (b-day this weekend) :-) The other day we met at a book store that has one of those Thomas Train tables...a new friend of his who is 8 wanted to meet there for some play time. The 8 year old picked up some dino toys and started to "attack" the thomas trains on the table while my DS went and searched for a new Choose Your Own Adventure book from the shelf. He sat down in the chair in front of the train table and proceeded to get lost in the book....after a few minutes he looked up and told the 8 year old that he was too loud and that DS couldn't concentrate on his book. Needless to say the 8 yr old's mom just looked like my DS had horns growing out of his head for not wanting to play dino attack.

Sad thing is that many of our kids are sensitive enought to chatch those looks from adults, particularly adults that they spend hours and hours a day with (such as teachers) - do you wonder that we grow up internalizing the idea that we are 'weird?'

this story is a good one to keep in mind when school officials are saying not to accelerate because time with agemates offers such a great chance for kids to learn interpersonal skills. I would guess that this totally varies by individual child, and that as many kids learn to condesend to their classmates as learn appropriate interpersonal skills.

Of course, my DS12's beset moments are when he and his 13 your old (HG?) cousin can play 'typical kid games' together. They really enjoy all the usual kid things with each other. I have to assume that they are doing 'Dino Attack' in their own gwishy way.

I'm thinking of all the variety of ways that adults like to play - from painball to knitting. It varies, but having someone to play with is key!

Smiles,
Grinity

I agree also, but point out that ambition comes from successfully completing 'difficult' and 'interesting' projects that they have a right to be proud of. So the unaccomidated giftie is at a disadvantage in finding situations like this at school. Some are great at setting their own goals, and some aren't. The ones that are not good at finding a place to challenge themselves especially need the help of all the adults around them - parents, teachers, friends, but every giftie deserves to be well thought about.

Love and More Love,
Grinity

My DS is 12 and I would say the GT issues are MORE noticeable in certain ways and LESS In others. For example, all kids have this burst of new academic abilities that is developmental at around this age. DS's burst was so much more than his peers that what was a bit out of sync is now painfully out of sync academically. The kids who were almost able to keep up with him are now light years behind. His thinking did this quantum leap and theirs made a nice solid increase in complexity and ability. They are now able to work on some of the complex concepts that he loves, but he is now able to conceptualize a whole new world of abstraction that will likely always be closed to them.

But on the social dimensions, school has so many more aspects now. In 3rd grade in his school ALL The kids wanted to do well academically and please their parents and teachers, and there was a lot of stress for kids who struggled with academics. Now in 6th grade, the kids are more self-reflective and trying to decide what they are good at and what they want to be good at. Some of the talented drama kids are deciding the Bs in math are ok based on the effort they are willing to put into it. So, diverging priorities make it less evident that my son is GT. The other kids see he dedicates a lot of time to schoolwork and they dedicate a lot of time to other things and everyone is ok about that. (He is in a very nurturing private school, I should add, so the level of acceptance of individual differences is high).

So, while the differences in ability are even more pronounced now than they were in the middle elementary years, it doesn't seem to be so stressful all around.