Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Straight from the teacher's mouth!!

Wow - and we sometimes wonder why it is all so hard (from a teacher on another forum).......

"xxxxx has given her teacher point of view and I would like to give mine....

First I think it is too young to know yet.

Second there are money grabbing professionals just waiting for parents whose children are "gifted" and they will be more than happy to support it while you hand over HUNDREDS of dollars to prove it

Third ...as a teacher and this drives me to distraction, there are parents that focus on the "gifted" side and want extension and push and whinge and carry on and are general PITA (sorry- I have been teaching a LONG time) yet their child can't catch a ball or make a friend or write a sentence that is legible - which gets ignored

Fourth ...and lastly let your child be a child.... don't single them out as better than other children- they are going to want to be like everyone else...not different. When you are going to have to do something is when there is trouble at school- when they do start getting bored and causing trouble, when they are reading newspapers and the rest of the class is reading run spot run, when they choose to watch documentaries instead of Thomas the tank engine etc etc.

OK I can't stop... Fifth.. there are extension classes like the Opportunity classes that start in Year 5 and 6 FOR A REASON. Selective schools start at high school FOR A REASON. And that is let them be children for as long as possible. I have seen SOOOO many anxiety ridden children at the age of 6!!!!!!! because mummy wants to extend their giftedness and they just want a tickle fight

Now I am not accusing anyone here of any of this but I have seen too many UNHAPPY children because of the way the parents handled it"
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not all teachers are like that, honest! Unfortunately there are quite a few...

I would really think that all of her complaints are relevant to parents who are seeing something in their children that is not there or who are pushing their children well beyond their children's own desires. That isn't the case for many parents of gifted kids.

While a gifted child might "want to be like everyone else... not different," the reality is that he is different even if we ignore it and pretend that he isn't until he starts to have problems or reaches the magic age of year 5 or high school. Once he is having problems, you have more work to do to fix things than if you had done things right from earlier on.

Sounds like the teacher has had a lot of bad experiences.

Bet we have alot those here! LOL

Are you telling me that there are kids who would rather watch Thomas the Tank Engine than Nova Science Now???

The only rational comment.



We give public schools billions and you still don't have a clue. What is a few dollars more?


Ever hear of 2e? Lack of true peers?

And for the record, a lot of us play on Tier 1 sports teams, too.


I walked out of your class because you could not let me read my books - I had to read spot books - and walked home. And when my mom called to pick me up, you could not find me. Who caused that problem? Did you enjoy almost getting fired for that?


So many PG kids are HS for a REASON!


And there are so many unhappy kids because of you.

We only do Netflix for Nova

If everyone agreed with this teacher there would be no mathematicians or classical musicians. Standard school curriculum (in the U.S. anyway) is incapable of instilling these skills (without supplementation).

Actually, I don't know this to be true. I just suspect it. Can anyone provide an example that refutes me? A brilliant individual who went through a regular HS and then got a PhD in math at MIT without the parents enrolling him/her in math camps or volunteering to help with math competition prep or otherwise pushing for more challenge. In other words, WITHOUT parents who "focus on the "gifted" side and want extension and push and whinge and carry on and are general PITA"?

Just for the record - my kids are really happy kids and a pleasure to be around. ALthough I must admit - they aren't as smart as many of the children I read about here!

Here is a list of largely self-taught, highly successful people. I think there are many examples of people who have succeeded despite little or no involvement on the part of their parents. Of course it's not ideal, but it certainly is possible.

When I read this post, I got a little upset so I was glad to see the other posts below it....if my child was in this poster's class, he would have probably missed getting his needs met....

and "Third ...as a teacher and this drives me to distraction, there are parents that focus on the "gifted" side and want extension and push and whinge and carry on and are general PITA (sorry- I have been teaching a LONG time) yet their child can't catch a ball or make a friend or write a sentence that is legible - which gets ignored"....

...this comment just bothers me....it has been studied and found that you need to FOCUS on a child's strengths all while building up their low points- not the other way around...you don't go in and focus on their flaws and build those up all in the event of ignoring their strengths. My DS7 has dyspraxia and can't throw a ball very well or write very well either and we have been told by his OT that he probably never will do either very well and he has been getting OT for YEARS...so because he can't throw a ball, has trouble with handwriting and will need to type most of his work and reads at a 5th grade level, does that mean we shouldn't be advocating for the teacher to allow him to work at his academic level all because he can't throw a ball and write?