My 6 y o DS is in the 99+ percentile of IQ according to an IQ test. That labels him as gifted. But, he is unmotivated, unfocused, not intense, gives up easily because of perfectionism and generally does not grab the tons of opportunities that we throw his way to find an interest or an object of his focus. We try to provide him with all kinds of inputs and enroll him in various classes and camps to expose him to different fields/activities. We play games with him, take him to museums, engage him in socaratic discussions, read aloud to him (both non-fiction and fiction), send him to different activities and classes, afterschool him using multiple interesting curricula but he just goes through life with no focus. For e.g. he went to an art tutor for weekly art classes for 6 months and came back with scribbled drawings. He went to chess classes and spent the whole time socializing with other kids. He goes to the museums with me and spends time pushing buttons to activate the display panel on exhibits instead of focusing on what I am talking to him about the exhibits. Basically, it is all fun and games to him. Now, isn't a gifted child supposed to be intense and focused to the point of obsession in an area of interest (like photography, science, math, geography, art, animals, languages or whatever)? How can a so called "gifted" child not be motivated about anything? He is extremely capable though - academically, he is above grade level in all the core subjects and is never resistant to any new curriculum that I introduce and never complains about work load and can cheerfully complete all the afterschool work I require of him. Though he will only do what I ask him to do ... and then move on to spend time working on Legos (which is what interests him most, but he is not so good at that either!)
