Thank you, RJED, for putting into words so eloquently what I've been struggling to say since this thread began. I am the parent of a verbally gifted daughter (2 actually, but the youngest is too young to start calling "gifted" yet) who really dislikes math. Her processing for basic arithmetic is pretty slow. While she reads on a 6th grade level, having just turned 7 years old, her math is pretty much on-level or just slightly above in a testing situation. The idea that she isn't gifted, or even further, isn't college material, because she struggles with math, is offensive.

To be honest, I see this a lot on the internet discussions of giftedness. There is a lot of information and support for parents of children who are mathematically gifted, and there are classes, camps, scholarships, and all for the students, but verbal giftedness seems to be a sideline--Oh, if they're reading early, then obviously all you need to do is give them more books. It's almost as if, for many, gifted = gifted-with-math.

Stacey. Former high school teacher, back in the corporate world, mom to 2 bright girls: DD12 & DD7.