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 (), 210 guests, and 14 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 1 of 3 1 2 3
    Joined: Feb 2009
    Posts: 128
    G
    Member
    OP Offline
    Member
    G
    Joined: Feb 2009
    Posts: 128
    What do you think is the percentage of gifted kids who tolerate boredom v those that don't?

    I had an interesting talk yesterday with a child psychologist specializing in ADHD who said that kids have different tolerance levels for boredom. She said that not handling boredom was a sign of ADHD and a sign of immaturity. She then said that it was this immaturity that made early ADHD diagnosis shaky because many kids just grow up and out of their inability to tolerate boredom.

    Thoughts?

    Joined: Aug 2006
    Posts: 58
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Aug 2006
    Posts: 58
    giftedticcyhyper -
    I have no idea on the percentage, but I will ditto the sentiment. DS saw a psychologist - he said that there would be no way to tell if DS was ADHD or just gifted because a bored gifted kid will act like a bored gifted kid with ADHD! He said that if we could get DS in a challenging environment and he still had the same signs, then ADHD would be more likely.

    Supposedly, you could always do a drug test (I don't think this is a good idea). A truly ADHD person is supposed to be depressed (read: calmed) by stimulants while others would be stimulated.


    For me, GT means Georgia Tech.
    Joined: Jul 2008
    Posts: 174
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Jul 2008
    Posts: 174
    I think there's a difference between boredom from not being able to focus on something and boredom from not having new or engaging tasks for kids to get their hands on. I say this because DD has always had the propensity to be bored even as an infant. But give her a new toy, game or website and she'll play forever. Before I started looking into all this GT research, I wondered if DD was ADHD -- she sure bounced around the room a lot. Yet her ability to focus on new tasks can be quite impressive. I don't think DD has an ability or inability to handle boredom that makes her bounce off the walls -- she just needs something to stimulate her brain or senses to keep her occupied.

    Joined: Dec 2005
    Posts: 7,207
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Dec 2005
    Posts: 7,207
    Originally Posted by momofgtboys
    giftedticcyhyper -
    I have no idea on the percentage, but I will ditto the sentiment. DS saw a psychologist - he said that there would be no way to tell if DS was ADHD or just gifted because a bored gifted kid will act like a bored gifted kid with ADHD! He said that if we could get DS in a challenging environment and he still had the same signs, then ADHD would be more likely.
    This seems totally reasonable to me, particularly in a kid who doesn't seem 'ADHD' at home.

    Quote
    Supposedly, you could always do a drug test (I don't think this is a good idea). A truly ADHD person is supposed to be depressed (read: calmed) by stimulants while others would be stimulated.

    This has been suggested to us, and I find it of great concern. After all - Stimulants are said to be a popular 'recreational drug' amoung driven high school students and college students. This suggests to me that a stimulant could help anyone 'settle in and hyperfocus' on a topic that they have no emotional connection to.


    One more thing to consider is 'Linear' v.'NonLinear' learning style. Although most schools teach to children with a 'linear' learnging style, slowly building up to complicated task by first teaching the simple tasks, many Gifties find it 'easier' to learn complicated systems, and are described as having a 'wholistic' learning style, or needing an emotional connection to a subject to really perform at their top level.

    HTH
    Grinity



    Coaching available, at SchoolSuccessSolutions.com
    Joined: Dec 2005
    Posts: 7,207
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Dec 2005
    Posts: 7,207
    Originally Posted by giftedticcyhyper
    I had an interesting talk yesterday with a child psychologist specializing in ADHD who said that kids have different tolerance levels for boredom.
    Thoughts?

    Kids are also asked to handle different quantities of boredom, based on their LOG and which readiness level is being taught to in that child's particular classroom. In 2nd grade everyone in the school was 'sure' that my DS had 'severe ADHD.' In 3rd grade he was a model student. the significant thing that changed was the teacher - both were wonderful, experienced teachers, but one differentiated in ways that stressed his weaknesses: handwriting, speed at looking up words in a dictionary, and providing detail in writing assignments, while the other differentiated to his strenghts: curiosity and abstract thought. Are you suprised that the children in the classrooms reacted to the ways that the two teachers felt about DS and that in 2nd grade there were a great many complaints about social problems and in 3rd grade he was quite popular?

    the scary moral here is that DH and I were so very close to accepting the school's version of 'blame the kid' by the end of 2nd grade, and DS had totally accepted that teacher's veiw of himself. Do you wonder why I keep hanging around here and telling my story over and over and over again? That is how convinsing the school was back then, and I had almost no one around who understood.

    Sweet Dreams,
    Grinity


    Coaching available, at SchoolSuccessSolutions.com
    Joined: Sep 2008
    Posts: 199
    J
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    J
    Joined: Sep 2008
    Posts: 199
    Thought I would also pop into this conversation - hope it's not too much of a tangent, but Grinity's story about ADHD in year 2/model student in year 3 is really interesting to me...

    We're into week 2 at school where Miss 7 has grade-skipped. Already the teacher is talking to me about that ol' chestnut - focus, focus, focus. I immediately went into Drill Sergeant mode. I set up rewards and consequences if Miss 7 got a time-out at school (the day before she got somewhere between 3-5, but the exact details are a bit fuzzy). Then I had a coffee with an acquaintance who has 3 gifted daughters and a pile of research papers under her wings. And boy, did I feel some good mumma guilt!

    The main lessons that came out of the conversation for me were:

    * don't buy into the school's mindset that your child's learning style is bad, undesirable, problematic...

    * talk with your child constantly so as to combat any thoughts that they're coming away with from school feeling like THEY are bad, undesirable and problematic...

    * teach your child how to survive, operate and hopefully even thrive within the school system - but accept that thriving may be an outcome that's just not achievable. Operating in a structured classroom is not easy for highly gifted kids. Sitting, listening, focusing, working in a classroom with uncomfortable chairs, kids making noises, the air-con hissing, scratchy carpet, a spider web blowing in the breeze, doing worksheets that appear meaningless...

    * teach your own child to love learning, coz this may not happen at school.

    Part of our settling in to school phase is acknowledging that we did a real sales job on Miss 7 to grade skip into year 4. But her reality hasn't changed. The work is still boring. She's sitting next to 2 kids who are working light years below her. We promised that it would be exciting and new and interesting and challenging. And it's not. School work can be very mundane, repetitive and boring.

    And when you find out that the teacher is giving her a time-out because she got "lost in her book" - and was 3 minutes late for class after lunch - accept that the place she escaped to was most probably the most engaging thing she had done all day.

    This has really opened up a can of worms for me - discipline vs punishment. Hmm....

    I love to read stories like yours Grinity because it gives me hope that finding a good school fit will resolve lots of our issues. But the conversation yesterday has motivated me to re-think a very likely scenario - that I just don't find a good school fit. What then? How do I teach the girls to operate within the system we've got?

    *sigh* Anyway, thanks for asking the question giftedticcyhyper. When I start thinking that my girls have ADD/ADHD/problems... I know it's time for me to have a time-out!!!!!

    jojo






    Joined: Feb 2009
    Posts: 63
    F
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    F
    Joined: Feb 2009
    Posts: 63
    Grinity,
    You give me some hope. I just met with our principal today and was told that the school does not feel my son is gifted & he's not entitled to differentiated instruction. My son was tested & identified as gifted by a neuro-psychologist when he was four. Yet the school is relying on a single subjective checklist completed by his kindergarten teacher. In NJ they don't have to accept an outside provider's test results & our district does not test till 2nd grade. (And that's only for placement in a lousy one day a week pull-out program). I had my son's IQ retested at age 6 and it went up 11 points so it's not a fluke or my imagination.
    Now my son in 1st grade & bored. He's been saying he's bored. He says he feels stupid when the teacher makes him do stuff he already knows - like coloring, cutting and pasting vowel sounds onto a worksheet (when he reads fluently). To her credit his teacher is finally giving him some harder work and he's loving it. The harder work boosted his self-esteem, etc... Of course the school did not want to acknowledge this. According to the principal a gifted bored student does all of their assignments quickly and then just sits in class looking bored. And of course, my child is apparently unorganized, lacking social skills, unfocused, etc... At home he's fine. He's organized, does his homework without issue, can focus for hours on something of interest & can focus on less preferred things with the right motivation. In any case, they are dancing around the suggestion that he has ADHD or as his teacher put it "there's something wrong with him and it's not that he's gifted". Nice.
    Anyway, I did see the neuro-psychologist who tested my son just the other day and he said that a gifted child cannot be diagnosed with ADHD until they are placed in the proper learning environment & that symptoms must be present across settings. He went a step further to say that stimulant medication is not a good idea. He mentioned recent research that found at one time kids who were not medicated would outgrow their ADHD symptoms & with medication they were symptomatic into adulthood. On the bright side, the doctor is going to contact the school to see what he can accomplish for my son. I'm not overly optimistic and legally I have no recourse. So I'm now considering home-schooling as I will not medicate my son so he can sit in circle time and count to 100! I only hope we can make it till June without doing any damage to my son's self-esteem.
    Thanks for letting me vent.

    Joined: Feb 2009
    Posts: 63
    F
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    F
    Joined: Feb 2009
    Posts: 63
    Oh my jojo - you sound just like me! I do the same thing. Right now my poor son is earning the right to watch his favorite TV show on Friday night. What does he have to do? He has to complete all the meaningless worksheets they put in front of him at school. I feel completely conflicted about this. I'm ready to just give up on the whole trying to motivate him to do well in an environment that clearly does not meet his academic needs.
    Just tonight he was crying that he's been "bad". He feels terrible and I feel awful. It's just not right.
    I too have a briefcase full of wonderful articles detailing the needs of kids like ours. My problem is I can't get the school to read any of the information I have.
    I have researched private schools in our area and am pretty sure I will be faced with the same dilemma as they tend to focus on pacing the kids within the grade level curriculum. Grade skipping around here is unheard of - can't even go there. There are some alternative private school models - Sudbury, Waldorf & of course a true Montessori but we have NOTHING in our area. Home-schooling seems better & better all the time.

    Joined: Feb 2009
    Posts: 128
    G
    Member
    OP Offline
    Member
    G
    Joined: Feb 2009
    Posts: 128
    You know, this might be getting into some deep water but I'm beginning to realize that it's not about our kids operating in the system. It's about the system operating on our kids. Public school is an institution. It is designed to program our kids into functioning productively in our society. In that regard, it's just like prison or a mental health institution. That's what the pledge of allegiance is all about. That's why they break the child down by having them do what amounts to mental ditch digging. It almost seems as if it's designed to make the kids crack so they can weed out anyone who can think for themselves and order them drugged or out.

    Sadly, functioning productively in our society is defined as spending a lot of money on consumer goods! If that's not your cup of tea, you probably won't be digging the public school system.

    So, what I'm thinking is that being gifted isn't really about the child's IQ. It's about the parents' reticence to allow their kids to be another brick in the wall. There are parents out there who have high IQ kids but they don't see anything wrong with the handouts and the coloring. They just do what they're told. It's interesting that DS6's psychologist told me that half my son's behavior problems were the fact that I allowed him to "develop a personality." She said that letting him go see ducks, visit train stores and whatever else that he wanted to learn about was good for him as a person but that it worked against him learning to function in a public school.

    I hope this post doesn't make me seem like a raving lunatic

    Last edited by giftedticcyhyper; 02/11/09 08:52 PM.
    Joined: Sep 2008
    Posts: 325
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Sep 2008
    Posts: 325
    mmmm..... both my husband DH43 and my son DS7 have adhd, and both do not tolerate boredom. I was trying tonight to sit on the couch and turn my brain into mush watching TV and they sat an rough housed, talked and played back and forth all night.

    I was like sitting with a pair of monkeys...... I don't think maturity has that much to do with it in there case... they just are very active.... always on the go, always moving.

    Joined: Feb 2009
    Posts: 63
    F
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    F
    Joined: Feb 2009
    Posts: 63
    giftedticcyhyper,
    Well said...
    I had a school psychologist tell me that my mistake was allowing my son to work on accelerated material when he was 3. We should have ignored all his questions on volcanos, weather systems, science, etc... Letting him read books that early was a bad thing. Now who sounds like a raving lunatic? ;-)

    Joined: Nov 2007
    Posts: 864
    Q
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Q
    Joined: Nov 2007
    Posts: 864
    FrustratedNJMOM, take a look at the links here (thanks to MsFriz on another topic for posting to the Davidson state policies list): http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/StatePolicy.aspx Maybe you're close to one of the weekend programs.

    Joined: Aug 2006
    Posts: 58
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Aug 2006
    Posts: 58
    Oh, goodness. I just want to hug everyone.

    Grinity - I agree about the "drug test;" I got this one as a suggestion from a psychologist, and I also thought it a really horrible idea.

    JoJo - You sound like me - here I am trying to find a way to get DS to just do the blasted work, but really I want him to enjoy school and learn something in class.

    ...and FrustratedNJMom and giftedticcyhyper might just be describing my DS - if only we all lived closer and our kids could benefit from this network the same way that we do (directly).

    [Aside coming: I was diagnosed ADD (as an adult), but I figured I didn't need meds because I had lived so long without them. Of course, I was MG (er, am), so I can't be sure if the diagnosis is wrong. I did however, get in trouble in school for standing up in class and not paying attention...and not following directions. I remember that in one class, the teacher just took my chair away for the rest of the year saying, "If you aren't going to sit in the chair, you don't get one." I wonder if she thought I was going to want to sit - crazy lady.]


    For me, GT means Georgia Tech.
    Joined: Nov 2008
    Posts: 227
    A
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    A
    Joined: Nov 2008
    Posts: 227
    I deal with all this with my children all the time. I'm not sure where to draw the lines for them. I tell the school that you cannot assume that all bad behavior is because of a child's bad attitude and that if a child is challenged to his/her appropriate level then you can really tell what the issues are. So I told them that I will accept behavior plans and motivations (because my DS7 does need to learn how to verbalize better when he's mad), but they have to do pre-testing, work on challenging him and try to make sure that he is working to his level. Like I said though, the main focus of elementary school seems to be writing out everything in a repetitive, boring manner and using lots of materials to create crafts. My son dislikes both things.


    BTW: On the ADHD thing...stimulants relax ADHD kids, they do not get them to hypefocus. That's the big difference. To a normal person, a stimulant will actually stimulate them, making them feel more alert and ready to take on the world. To a true ADHD person, a stimulant will relax them because to be ADHD is to be understimulated. So the stimulant will allow them to focus, which allows them to rest a bit.

    I'm not sure I believe in ADHD as a general diagnosis, but I do know that the stimulant thing is true, because I have this issue. If I drink coffee slowly, it helps me relax just enough to be able to do mindless boring work. If I drink a coffee quickly, I will be unable to stay awake.

    Lya

    Last edited by Artana; 02/12/09 05:58 AM. Reason: mispelled a word,
    Joined: Apr 2008
    Posts: 1,815
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Apr 2008
    Posts: 1,815
    Quote
    It's interesting that DS6's psychologist told me that half my son's behavior problems were the fact that I allowed him to "develop a personality." She said that letting him go see ducks, visit train stores and whatever else that he wanted to learn about was good for him as a person but that it worked against him learning to function in a public school.

    Ah my MIL said something similar to me. I take DS to museums, we do science (chemistry and physics) at home, we watch lots of science shows....how could he not find school boring? K almost killed him w/ all the worksheets, cutting, pasting. Some kids love it, it was a noose for my poor kid.

    Joined: Apr 2008
    Posts: 1,815
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Apr 2008
    Posts: 1,815
    FrustratedNJMom:

    Quote
    So I'm now considering home-schooling as I will not medicate my son so he can sit in circle time and count to 100!

    A friend is now HSing her son. His behavior was constantly harped on by the teachers. I think b/c of his giftedness, they expected him to behave better while the other students, with much more poor behavior, got off w/ no reprimand. He really was damaging to his self-esteem. Now with HSing, he has jumped ahead several grade levels in every subject, his behavior is outstanding, adults comment on the change in him. I say if you can HS (financially and emotionally) than definitely try it!!! I'm HSing my son, and while it is difficult (he's difficult and I have a toddler and a 5yr old in PS), he's much happier than when in PS. He complains about HSing being too hard --- this is the first time he's really had to work and it was a blow to his self-esteem....but I know he'll grow from it and be better off.

    Joined: Feb 2009
    Posts: 63
    F
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    F
    Joined: Feb 2009
    Posts: 63
    Thanks for the link on NJ's policy. I know our district is not meeting the 2005 mandate on gifted education. I've spoken with the NJDOE Director G&T, who basically told me there's not enough time to monitor all school districts for compliance. Districts know this. I work for another public school and they are blatantly out of compliance and do not care.
    Here's one of many problems in NJ -- I could call Trenton and report my district & they would eventually investigate. Trenton might even make my district correct it's assessment methods & actually offer appropriate instruction starting in kindergarten as per the mandate. Here's the catch -- the state does not specifically require IQ testing so the district can rely entirely on subjective measures like teacher recommendations. (I read recently that teachers are correct in identifying gifted kids 4.3% of the time.) Under NJ law a district does not have to honor outside testing or assessments. Add to that a kid who presents like or actually has ADHD and they are most likely not going to be identified as gifted under these circumstances. Especially if the district has an ax to grind with the parents who reported them to the state for being out of compliance.
    I've been tempted on more than one occasion to report our district. I stop because I think in the long run more harm than good will come to my son.
    I need to move...
    Momofgtboys - I hear you!
    By the way, being new here I've noticed a lot text I'm not familiar with - what do things like DD7 & DD stand for? I figure it's a reference for someone's child.
    Thanks.

    Joined: Sep 2008
    Posts: 354
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Sep 2008
    Posts: 354
    http://www.incrediblehorizons.com/mimic-adhd.htm

    50 conditions that can mimic ADD/HD are listed at the above link. Unfortunately, ADD is often a first thought rather than a possibility.

    Joined: Feb 2009
    Posts: 63
    F
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    F
    Joined: Feb 2009
    Posts: 63
    Dazed&Confuzed,
    Thanks. It's so nice to hear that someone understands and has found a solution. Any info you have on HS would be appreciated.
    My son who is going to be 7 in March is tall -- no make that down right huge for his age. Off the growth chart. He's bigger than many 4th graders at his school. Given his verbal skills he's always been thought of as older. Add the whole gifted thing to the mix and even I have fallen for having higher behavioral expectations than he's capable of right now. When your watching a PBS special on the brain and he's talking about & understanding theories on brain function it can be easy to forget that he's 6.
    Thanks again everyone. This forum has really helped me feel a bit better. It's so nice to be able to share without being judged. Everyone thinks you have a personal ego to stroke when you have a gifted kid. I find I can't talk to many people about any of this. Which makes me the frustrated Mom that I am. ;-)

    Joined: Feb 2009
    Posts: 63
    F
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    F
    Joined: Feb 2009
    Posts: 63
    Mamabear -- awesome article! Thanks!

    Joined: Sep 2008
    Posts: 354
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Sep 2008
    Posts: 354
    You're very welcome.

    I hope that it is helpful. I gave it to all the team members at dd's school and told them that we were going to check off every last one of the 50 before we would consider medication!

    It was very helpful! I hope it is for you as well!

    Joined: Jan 2009
    Posts: 312
    H
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    H
    Joined: Jan 2009
    Posts: 312
    Hi NJmom. My son is the exact same way. He was in 1st grade in PS and teacher agreed he was very advanced in math so they put a computer in the back of the room for him to work on during math. My son was still very sensitive to all the classroom stimulation (OE). It wasn't enough for him. She then started to focus on his "weaknesses" i.e. handwriting, disorganization, etc. They started a behavior plan which sent me fuming. smile He was starting to have meltdowns everyday. Once they refused to grade skip him or test him, I pulled him out. I know this is not an option for everyone. I reread "Losing our Minds" by Dr. Deborah Ruf and researched the personality profiles she talks about (MBTI&Myers-Briggs). Here is a link http://www.personalitypathways.com/MBTI_intro.html
    It breaks it down why some GT kids sit there and tolerate mindless learning and why some do not. My son is in the "Do NOT" category. They also tried the ADHD label but our psychologist agree with me that he did not show it across the board. Yes he is high-energy but it runs in our families (DH and mine). HTH

    Joined: Apr 2008
    Posts: 1,815
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Apr 2008
    Posts: 1,815
    Yes my son was one that can't sit there and tolerate mindless learning. Getting him to do a repetitive worksheet for homework on stuff he already knew was torture.

    FrustratedNJMOM: under the Learning Environments forum we have a discussion on HSing. Feel free to start a new thread on HSing if you have specific questions.

    Also, check out this blog http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gifted/2007/11/a_gifted_childs_bill_of_rights.html, one of the things gifted kids want is permission to be their age!!!!

    Last edited by Dazed&Confuzed; 02/12/09 09:53 AM.
    Joined: Feb 2009
    Posts: 63
    F
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    F
    Joined: Feb 2009
    Posts: 63
    Everyone - thank you so much for your support and great information.

    Joined: Nov 2007
    Posts: 864
    Q
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Q
    Joined: Nov 2007
    Posts: 864
    Hi, FrustratedNJMOM - I sent you more info in a pm. Click on the flashing envelope and you'll see it.

    Joined: Jun 2008
    Posts: 28
    T
    Junior Member
    Offline
    Junior Member
    T
    Joined: Jun 2008
    Posts: 28

    This topic is close to my heart. DS was flagged in pre-k for possible adhd. The teacher would complain about him acting out and disrupting the other kids. It was a daily battle and a year that I would like to forget. In hindsight, I would have realized that the setting was not suitable for DS. The teacher had centers of 12-24 piece puzzles and simple board books. DS was already reading, could easily do 100+ piece puzzles and had addition/subtraction fact down. In kindergarten the teacher understood DS better and she tailored a curriculum to suite his educational needs. She was a special teacher. He thrived with her. This year the teacher understands, but is unwilling to differentiate as much as the kindergarten teacher. DS has to do the assigned work first and when that is complete he can work on more advanced material. Needless to say, we have complaints of him being off-task, rushing his work and occasionally acting out.

    I have learned when teachers tell me that DS is exhibiting ADHD symptoms to ask what was being discussed when the problem occurred. Not surprising there seems to be a correlation between behavior and math time(his strongest subject). He doesn't have as many issues in subjects he is less familiar with, such as social studies.

    I did spend the money and seek a neuropsych's opinion. We never experienced any of these issues with my gt DD and began questioning if there wasn't something to all the comments of adhd. The long and short of it, is that DS personality has a "low threshold for boredom" but no adhd "at this time". The Dr. actually made the recommendation for us to work on teaching DS boredom coping skills such as "day dreaming" and doing mental math. I actually laughed when she made this suggestion. I will change his educational setting before telling him that he has to "check-out" to get through his day. Like the other postings, she said that adhd is hard to diagnosis in bright kids and that him being 6yrs old makes it even harder (the reason for the "at-this-time" diagnosis). In the end I learned that my son will have to accept being bored if he stays in most public school classrooms; or I will have to learn to hear negative comments from teachers if he doesn�t comply.

    Each year I learn to advocate a little more for my son. I struggle on how hard to push him into conforming to the norm/or what is expected in a public school setting. I just pray that we are doing enough at home to support his creative and curious personality. I come on this board hoping to gain some wisdom from those who have been-there-done-that. I wish you the best of luck. Trust your gut.

    Joined: Apr 2008
    Posts: 1,815
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    Joined: Apr 2008
    Posts: 1,815
    TxMOM - your post really hit home for me. My son sounds similar to your son but not as advanced. His 1st grade teacher kept hinting at inattention. His 2nd grade teacher made a point of saying "It's not that he's inattentive, I think he really needs more challenge." So she really got him. I know his 1st grade teacher wrote into his record about the inattention but I wasn't sure if the 2nd grade teacher got those records. Our system is K-1, 2-5 so there was a school change for 2nd.

    Anyhow, I had him tested and the psych gave lots of advice about teaching him coping skills in dealing w/ the boredom....deep breathing exercises, meditation etc. Well we're HSing now. When he came home, I was truly worried about him. His attention span was only about 5-10min of focused effort, then he would say he was tired and needed a break. But after a few months, he can now work for an hour before needing a short break. Even the psych said that DS fatigues mentally easily and he would have scored even higher on the WISCIV had he broken it up into 2days. I think it was DS tuning out in class and not being challenged which was creating the inattention and lack of mental stamina. When I sent him to K, he could sit and watch a NOVA science show for an hour, then we could read together for another hour and discuss what we were reading and then do math. Why would his attention be decreasing as he got older?

    But I got from EVERYONE, he has to learn to be bored. Now when he's at home, and says he's bored b/c I won't let him play on the computer, I let him be bored so he can learn to find things to occupy himself. But if he's spending most of his day bored in school, something is wrong and needs to change. Kids are bored for many reasons..too much challenge, not enough challenge, disinterest in the topic etc but after talking to several friends of ND kids, they never complain of boredom in the classroom on a day to day basis like my son did, to the point of stomach aches daily, headaches, and really becoming gloomy.

    Page 1 of 3 1 2 3

    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