I'm not gifted and I would equate my learning about gifted to be a part time job. It makes me wonder if I would be better off just going to get a degree/certification in gifted? I'm part joking and partially not. This is a lot of work understanding all this and sometimes I'm just spinning my wheels.

The school folks think I'm a little nuts. My house keeping has been let go this past year. I've tried to get my son on the right track while I can still grasp what he is doing at school. I have made some positive changes and realize a little change can make a big difference. It still feels overwhelming. I really need to get a part time job and help out with $. I need to slow down on this and give more attention back to myself and family. Anyone want to share their thoughts?

I don't know what to say about the degree, but I can totally relate to feeling like you need to give this a break and focus on the rest of your life a bit. It can become all-consuming because we care so much about our children. I think I posted at one time on the fact that there comes a time when you almost have too much information.

When I started the whole process, I wanted to know everything I could. I spent a lot of time reading and researching everything. It did take a lot of time and energy. I found that after some time I had to take breaks from the situation and focus some time on me, my other children and husband. The situation is not going to change rapidly and we are all in it together for a long haul. My perceptive dd told me 'Mama's pen has run out of ink'. It was time to take a break and re balance. Best wishes to you-

What do you see yourself doing with the degree? Teaching? Consulting? I wonder about this myself, from time to time. It seems like many of the leading gifted experts came to their area of expertise late in life, as a result of doing research for their own kids and learning about themselves in the process. My biggest problem is, I have way too many degrees already--not that that has led to a good job.

I don't really want to teach gifted. I just wish there was a short cut to helping my kids. Thanks for your thoughts. I'm glad I'm not in this alone.

If I had the money I would be pursuing a Master's from UConn right now such as Zhian will be doing. Of course I am a teacher getting my master's in elementary now but my real interest is in teaching gifted students. All that being said, Massachusetts has no mandates for gifted education and therefore extremely limited employment opportunities. I just can't justify more student loans. It is sooooooooo tempting however.

I'm not sure it would really help, other than maybe introducing new avenues for you to research more thoroughly on your own. My guess would be that a class or even series of classes would necessarily be too general - much like books, webinars, etc. are too general. It takes so much time to piece everything together to suit your kid ... and once you get it figured out the kid has the nerve to change.... I don't see a class being able to address specifics any better than independent research does.

What you (I) really need is to hire a gifted expert for your home staff! LOL!

Could you send one right over? Thank you LOL

Why don't you try looking up the reading lists for some gifted program courses (I know UConn for one puts some of its course syllabi online) and making your way through some of the material yourself? It'd be a heck of a lot cheaper than the degree program, and I think you'd get a lot of information.

Hi, I'm the mom to a DYS kid and have a BA in Psych. I went back to school this fall to get my teaching cert/MA in Ed. I have wanted to teach for a long time and the issues with DS didn't make my decision but there was a thought of - hmm, I am really interested in kids and the different ways they learn. The Ed. classes I'm taking this semester are really interesting for all 3 of my kids & I'm learning a lot about teaching styles, public schools, etc.

It's sad/funny that in 2 classes - there is a lesson on exceptionalities. Gifted is just very briefly glossed over and rest of the time is spent on disabilities. Which definitely deserve discussion but it would have been nice to see a little perspective from both angles.

I guess I'm trying to say that if you are interested in education as a whole, it has really made me think & question a lot more than I knew before I started.

Hi Steph,

I have a BS in Psych and am finishing up my M.Ed. right now. You are right. Gifted education is barely a blip on the radar in my classes. Which translates into most teachers have little or no knowledge on educating gifted children.

If I thought it would lead to a teaching position in my area I would have pursued an M.Ed in gifted education.