Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Need to explore subjects in depth

I'm writing a DYS application for my DD10 right now, and am struggling to come up with an example of her 'need to explore subjects in surprising depth.' She's got SO many interests but she isn't as driven by one topic (the opposite of my DS12 who is super into all things science -- I could come up with dozens of examples for him, so I do know it when I see it to a certain extent!).

I'd love to hear some of your examples from your DC, both bc I'm hoping it will trigger a memory for me of a time when DD really explored something, and also bc I'm sure it will be fun and interesting!

Also - for those of you with math loving kids, what would you think qualifies as exploring something in surprising depth?

Thanks!

For math, it might be the underling meta-nature of certain mathematical concepts.

Distribution of prime numbers maybe? Something like that.

Mathematical issues in astrophysics, black hole modeling, etc?

Just throwing a couple of ideas out there.

Not quite math, but maybe a visual-spatial next door neighbor--
how about obsessively constructing minecraft models of places we've visited.

Hours on Scratch creating and tinkering with projects.

Does your DC engage in serial depth, like a favorite topic of the week that she wears out before moving on to the next new toy?

So the only things I can think of that DD has really been engaged with for a length of time are sheep (her favorite animal since around 13 months) and the color orange :-) But those don't really count (since its not like she researches sheep or anything or reads about them more than about anything else, or like she 'plays' with shades of orange or something).

She loves Minecraft, and watches videos about it - perhaps more than the average bear, but not more than really is pretty common.

She is a kid who has a ton of interests (her issue this winter wasn't deciding what to take part in, it was limiting which things she was interested in and having to choose between things that happened on the same day/time) but nothing that she pursues really above and beyond. And most of her interests are non-academic, but also not an area of extreme talent (if she was a 'super amazing' artist for her age, I'd list that, but she's just a 'good' artist for her age... kwim?). And she doesn't spend hours and hours working on perfecting her art, either.

She loves math, but not theory, at least not that I know of - her older brother is, so I think I'd know if she was too. She can hold her own in conversations with him about it, but she doesn't seek it out at all, and glazes over if he goes on too long (but he tends to pontificate sometimes, so we all do!). She's the kind of kid who when I landed on 31 as a volume level on the tv said 'ugh, I hate it when the volume is a prime number!' but doesn't spend a ton of time studying prime numbers. Nor does she spend an excessive amount of time figuring out how to do a certain kind of math that she hasn't learned yet (again, not that I know of... she does upper level math as her IXL homework, and it takes her longer than her grade level practice math would, certainly, but I don't think of it as being really exploring something in depth).

None of this means I think she isn't HG, I think its just she hasn't found her 'thing' yet. She's really social, and she tends to be more interested in practical things or things that further her social life....

Now, here's one I've overlooked... she has gone in depth on character and backstory research on certain tv shows. Dr. Who was really big in our house for a long time. Maybe the fact that she (and her brother, along with their older cousins) all obsessed about that show, and she held her own with her much older cousins counts? Not *quite* what I'm guessing is they'd be expecting, but maybe it would work? LOL!

Hmm. Perhaps she's not so much a depth as a breadth kid? Meaning: one interest leads to a related one then to another and so on?

I put down DS' love of US and the world maps, countries and flags for this question. He was 5 when he got really interested in geography and would spend a lot of time playing the map puzzle game on an APP and even did research to find out the flags for the countries. Then I summarized at the end that he would do the same thing when he's interested in any subject, whether it was math, drawing, magic or cooking.

I don't think it has to be academic. I would think anything that she showed interest and spent time researching or get more familiar with, that you can think of, can be used to help answer this question.

I wouldn't worry too much about having one weak answer if the overall application is strong. I

Great, thanks everyone. Maybe I will use art, even though she's not a stand-out amazing artist, she certainly loves to make stuff and tinker. She's probably more 'gifted' in engineering, as she excels in that whenever she really gets a chance (looks like maybe I should be making more opportunities for her to get that chance!), and I think all her art/tinkering/creating is likely why!

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