Re: the term gifted: I appreciate that people are not using the term willy-nilly, but I think it is clear that there is disagreement about what it means, depending on whom you ask, and I don't mean, which neighbor you ask. There's academic debate about whether there is a qualitatively different sort of person who can be called "gifted" and what that would entail.
As she grows you may wish to be aware of "airs" vs "authenticity".
I'm aware of it but she's just like that. I can't change the fact that one of her deep-seated needs is to fit in. She's a social chameleon.
It has also made us think about our own experiences in a slightly different light than I would have otherwise.
See... I have my own scores from childhood. I have my supposedly 99.9th% for math and verbal (though at different times in my life). My mother was acutely aware that I was supposed to be very smart and that I was a pain in the ass. I was in a gifted program--one that is as accelerated as the one my kids would go into, were they accepted.
I have found that the number one thing that matters in life is not intelligence or education, but money and connections. Parents who can help pay for college. Knowing someone who will give you an internship after you graduate. That type of thing. That will get you enough money for a lifestyle that does not require any chemical enhancement. Not being accelerated a year or two in math. So while I want my kids challenged, I doubt that academic challenges will help them avoid substance abuse in the long run. Not in this society, anyway.
