Hello. My name is TJ and I live in Portland, OR. I have two gifted children, but I don't know how gifted because I cannot afford to do any kind of IQ testing. My son is ten now and in fifth grade, but he is in Talented and Gifted (TAG) and he is at the top of his class in everything except writing. He seems happy at the level that the school can help him with, but he really struggles with being fearful and having anxiety attacks, feeling overwhelmed by life, etc. I believe this is directly tied in with his giftedness.
My daughter is going on seven and she shows her giftedness in completely different ways. She is in the first grade but she is going to third grade math and third grade excelerated literacy. She is also in a Spanish Immersion program where she does all of the first grade work in Spanish, and is now reading at the level first graders should be at, at the end of the year. She is easy going, very popular and a very happy child.
So my question is, now what do I do? I want to give them every opportunity and I worry that I am holding both of them back. I have been critisized over and over for pushing them too hard by parents and teachers that do not understand, but my children get upset and sad when I encourage them to slow down or focus on TV or just "play". They get really bored and they beg me to allow them to move on, move ahead.
But since I can't get the testing done, how do I know what they really need? Any questions or comments would be incredibly appreciated. Thank you so much for your time. TJ
