Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Any non-gifted parents?

I do think that is really cool Isa! I would feel pretty good if I were able to solve it.

When DS was not quite 4 he was very interested in Rubik's cube, and we knew DH's friend could solve it...so DS brought his cube (which used to belong to DH as a kid) to the friend to solve. DH's friend kept trying and couldn't figure out how he couldn't get it. It turns out it had been tampered with from DH when he was a kid. He must have either moved the stickers or taken it apart and put it back together. So DS didn't get to see it solved. Not that he really cared, he was onto something else new a minute later.

There's a pattern to solving the Rubix cube, right? A series of steps that, if repeated, solve it? I thought I heard that somewhere.

Anyway, Isa, that's wicked-cool. Rock on, girl.

I hear it is algorithms. I did pay attention to that part ; )

yes that right. First you have to do the white face, then the next row and then the last row and yellow face. The initial solutions where given to me - I hope I do not disappoint you too much - but then (brag again) I learn them very quickly and I ended up inventing a few extra solutions myself.
The funny thing is that I tried to teach the solutions to every body and I did not understand why everybody had so much difficulties with it. After all, both my sister and I have mastered in no time, and our instructions were limited because they were given to us by people who did not speak Spanish (and our English then was extremely limited).

End of brag

A friend of mine also have heard of this, but she could not give me any reference to it. Only that she heard it 'somewhere'.

On the other hand, my sister (biologist) told me that pretty much all the genetic information comes in the X chromosome. Most of the information contained in the Y one is redundant... I can ask her again for more specific information

If I am gifted at all it is certainly not in the way my son and his dad are gifted so I am sure he didn't get it from me although it would be nice to think he got something more from me than hypersensitivity and anxiety. They are both verbally gifted and I am not. My son reminds me of his dad in his gift of gab and the ability to make up jokes to go along with any situation. A few days ago someone told my husband that they really enjoyed his classes and that he should think about becoming a professional speaker when he retires from his current job. Because he is so much like his dad in this way I can easily see my son as a college professor some day. Some of my son's older friends have said the same thing.

That sounds so much like my son at that age.

I've never thought if myself as "gifted" either - bright, yes - gifted, no. Not sure where DD4 got it, as even my own parents admit I wasn't as smart as she is.....the other night, she was dictating a story (which she often does as the mood strikes her) to me about a couple who left some bread in the oven too long and burned the house down. She was using phrases like, "As the fire died down, their crying did too," and my dad (who happened to be visiting from out of state) looked at me and said, "You were smart, but not THAT smart...."

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I just read an article about tracking down the genes for intelligece. Scientists are having a difficult time of it. No one has identified even one definite one yet. Even something as simple as height is influenced by many different genes on many different chromosomes. Imagine how much more complicated intelligence must be!

Believe me, I'm ready to bring my son's school a cheek swab, have them look under a microscope at his DNA and then give him a set of books and assign him classes at his readiness level, but I'm not holding my breath. Worse yet, human beings are so vulnerable to 'seeing what they already believe is true' even in science, that I'll bet you ten dollars that even if such a system were developed it would be carried out in such a way that was racist and discriminated against poor people. We really have to win the battle for the hearts and minds of our neighbors and not wait for science to come to the rescue.

Smiles,
Grinity

amen.