I have an issue with the term gifted for two reasons:
1. How do I describe my "non-gifted" child when discussing both children, especially in front of either or both of them? And how does it make HER feel if I say she's the non-gifted, normal, or less smart one?
2. Also, what happens when my gifted child fails at something? **Oh, he's human. But he's a gifted human! He should be brilliant at everything. Things should come easy. Failure is not an option.** Now granted, we know that gifted children ARE indeed human, and they will fail. They will be better at certain things and horrible at others. But the term gifted tells the general population that this child or person is smart and great at EVERYTHING, which isn't the case. When a child is labeled as gifted, with the general populations' opinion on what the term gifted means, when he/she fails or doesn't do well, the child's reaction to his/her own self will be greater than a "normal" child who fails (depression, low self-esteem, etc). To me the term gifted suggests that the child is not normal. And while the gifted child's abilities are more advanced than the average child, the child is not abnormal in the sense that there is something wrong with him/her. I'm not sure how to get my point across on that one (I'm overly wordy, I know).
With that said, however, I do have many more important things to focus on than the word gifted, like making sure my child understands his abilities, is in a learning environment that supports them, and also understands that while it's really great that his brain is capable of so much, and he should continue to feed it, he is no more important in our household than his "ungifted" sister.
