I am wondering if Ruf's LOG and their emphasis on early reading (what I personally view as overemphasis) has started to create unnecessary angst and perhaps hothousing of reading skills among the toddler/pre-school parent set. Cat
I don't think Ruf's LOG is causing the unnecessary angst, but it isn't helping. For whatever reason, when I read that section, it made sense to me this way: It isn't that reading is the only qualifier for giftedness, it's that reading is a very complicated skill, and a child who figures it out on their own at age 2 or 3 or 4 didn't just learn 'by accident.'
My son is PG by Davidson standards, but not an early reader. I think some kid's just don't have the physical coordination to get their eye muscles tracking that early. But my son was a 'deep thinker' and the Ruf book got me to believe that it wasn't just 'by accident.'
A friend of mine told me at the time, 'well, you like to talk, so it's to be expected that DS5 likes to talk too.' It didn't even occur to the friend that what was remarkable was the level of abstract though in what my child was saying. To her, it was all just 'baby babble.'
Ruf's perspective was much more valuable that that. When I first read her book, I had been thinking 'well, my child is ahead at talking, but other kids will catch up later while he is consentrating on developing in other ways.' Even in first grade, the teacher was saying he had an 'attitude problem' (not those exact words, but that's what it boiled down to) and when I asked if just possibly it was because the academic fit wasn't right for him, she rolled her eyes at me and assured me that that wasn't the problem.
So as long as teachers are willing to tell parents of 6 year olds that their child has an 'attitude problem' I think it's great that there is a hand-dandy book availible with checklists for parents to read while they are waiting for those testing dates to get nearby.
Do I agree that parent's should try to resist the temptation to loose perspective about it - yup! I'd love a big stamp for the book that says - if you recognize your child in any of these levels, then you are probably correct. If this book doesn't fit your kid - disregard it!
Love and More Love,
Grinity
