Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion New member saying "howdy".

Hello, just wanted to start by introducing myself and saying "hi" to all. My name is Melissa and I am a SAHM to two awesome kiddos, a 4 year old daughter and my first-born son who is just beginning his journey, as we all are actually. He is 5 and in Kindergarten. My husband and I always knew/felt he was "special", but sometimes as a parent you wonder if your just wanting to see your child that way. Fortunately, our city has mandatory G/T testing in place (NNAT2 & NWEA)to identify these children early. He passed his series of tests with one of the highest scores in his district. The district has invited him to attend the special G/T public school next year. The school appears to be very good and offers a free-form IB curriculum.

We are very excited about the changes and the new school next year, especially since he has NOT flourished in his class. As is often typical, he has minor behavior issues due to his lack of challenging work. An even bigger challenge has been convincing his teacher of his advanced ability to learn. From the beginning, when I would approach her with questions/concerns about him maybe needing more, she would brush me off and say comments like "we need to focus more on his maturity level. Right now he is so far behind, maturity wise, then the other kids that that needs to be our main focus". She has described him as "spacing out" in class, which just confirms to me more his obvious boredom. My lack of ability to communicate effectively with his teacher has led me to all but give-up on Kindergarten being anything worthwhile for him. But, all this was BEFORE his test scores came in. Now, his teacher can't deny (though she is reluctant to admit) his potential for advanced learning. She hasn't made too much effort to hide her surprise at this results. So, luckly he will get a fresh new start in 1st grade at a school that is specifically for G/T students. It will be a big and exciting change for all of us! My husband and I are so new to all of this and have so much to learn. We have a long way to go! Thanks for reading and happy to "meet" you all!

That sounds really nice! How wonderful your district is providing services. Welcome, you're bound to still need plenty of resources

Hello Margaret! Yes, we consider ourselves very fortunate that our district offers the program for GT children in a public school setting. And yes, we are very much in need of a little education ourselves on this subject and general parenting of a "gifted" child", that is why I have joined here. BTW, I'm really on the fence about the term "gifted". I will not be using that term with him right now. I might be something he catches onto later though.

Gifted is a bit of a problem isn't it? But then it should be academically gifted. There would be no problem saying musically gifted, artistically gifted, athletically gifted would there?

Very true Puffin. I think my concern is, honestly, is that I believe my son is only slightly or mildly "gifted". If he was EG or PG I would probably have an easier time using the term when referring to him.

By the way, when I said I had issues with the term "gifted" I only meant in respect to my DS. It is a very legitimate term when used for others I believe.

Thanks for your input.

"Slightly" or "mildly" gifted kids make the cut-off to get gifted services in most areas where they're offered, but they don't get the highest scores in the district, unless the district is very small. You might be underestimating your DS. It might be worth your time to review his test scores and see where they really place him.

Yes.

Your absolutely right, I very well might be underestimating him. Only time will tell. I always knew he was bright and honestly it wasn't a huge surprise when he passed his G/T testing with very high marks. His scores on the NWEA reading and math were a 99 and 98 and I was told one of the highest in his age level. But I'm guessing he's only mildly gifted due to what I read that most children of higher level giftedness perform. But yes, he actually met the districts standards of "gifted" near the top of the charts and has been invited to attend the G/T public school. I just hope he likes it and doesn't feel too pressured by the workload.