Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Hothousing- did you, didn't you, will you?

Ah, hot-housing.

First, I'll give my definition of hot-housing. I see hothousing when a parent takes a preschooler (3-4 years old) and starts drilling reading and math facts so that their child will have an "edge" come school time. Hothoused kids are the ones who can perhaps decode CVC material or slightly higher come kindergarten, who have memorized math facts, etc -- all on the parents' instigation, not by following the child's interest. There is no particular love of learning or interest in facts, but just rote memorization. These are the kids who "even out" as all the children are introduced to the coursework.

The lines can get a blurry to ND parents when looking at EG/PG kids. But I think all of us here would know hot-housing if we saw it.

These "hot-housed" kids are the ones that make it so difficult to work with schools, in my (limited) experience -- the school assumes that you are a pushy stage parent who has worked hard to "make her kid smart", and a "control freak" when accommodations aren't given.

As mentioned on the other thread, we are about the farthest thing from hot-housers as they come! The kid could barely write his name when he turned 4. We just bring up topics as they come, if he seems interested. If not, we drop it -- end of story. However, this may change if we can't find a decent education for the kid ...