There are many children on this board who are extremely driven and achieving extraordinary things. I've met - virtually and in real life - many gifted children with voracious appetites for academics at home, for competitive athletics, for musical achievements. Anyone who meets them can easily see what an extraordinary child they are. I don't have one of those.
DS11 gets mediocre grades, isn't interested in sports, and finds piano practice a chore. He'd love to do high school math in elementary (but alas, acceleration is taboo around here). Once out of school, however, he resents spending time on "homework no one else has to do". He easily took on AoPS Algebra - after getting Bs and Cs in grade 4 math. He has slow processing speed, and significant executive function challenges. Few teachers view him as gifted. He's very far from the stereotypical view of gifted as a high-performing, independent, self-motivated achiever.
But living with him, since the day he was born (literally!) - no moment of it made any sense until I discovered Hoagies (8 years later - I'm a little slow). And if you talk to him, really talk, holy cow. The things happening inside that head blow me away. I find it gets more and more shocking every day, as he's starting to get enough math and science knowledge - his passions - to put together ideas that make my head spin. So yes, this board used to make me feel like a pretender, but I think I'm getting over that
.
