Hey everyone. I've got a few things on my mind, so hopefully over this holiday weekend I'll start getting my thoughts out again.

For I while I've wondered about how much what we're seeing is really due to DS's ability and how much is due to the environment. I know that this has been mentioned before in some threads. I'm just wondering a little bit about our specific case and if we're potentially creating more of a problem by being enthusiastic at home about certain topics.

When we got DS tested on the SB5 the score came back GT, but at the lower end of the spectrum. The evaluator did tell us that this wasn't the right test for our child and that he'd do better with the WISC. Achievement scores were much higher. Some of that was just due to being an early reader (which can skew reading achievement scores). Since our tester wasn't specifically trained with testing gifted kids, we didn't get all of the sub-tests that we would have liked. We just got some generalizations such as "in some vertical pockets of knowledge he's thinking at the 5th grade level" (referring to math; he was pre-K at the time). The achievement scores were much higher than the IQ.

DS entered first grade last year (early entry, skipped K). I'd have to say that it was mixed results at best. The school did not see any of the same ability that we see. The teacher might have put him as "high average" if you will. Some of that is certainly due to the common misperception that high achieve equals high ability. We also has some behavioral issues that were thrown in to the mix for good measure which didn't leave us in a happy place academically. (It's possible to make an argument that this was aggravated by a mismatch with his daily work.) Since school has let out, we've definitely see a return to the kid who loves [insert subject of the month here] to at least 1 or 2 grade levels beyond what is typical.

So this is where we are right now: school is out and DS6 is currently enthralled with math again. Whenever he gets spare time, he's reading Murderous Math books. He does not get absolutely everything (mind you some concepts covered in the books I have to read a couple of times to follow), but generally he's getting the math. I'm tutoring him "unschooling" style... he's a quick learner. Some concepts and math techniques I do have to teach him, but he picks it up very quickly. He's very excited about it, which is why I have no problem tutoring on math and not having it feel anything like hot housing.

But how much of this is innate ability? How much are we bringing this on ourselves? This nags me from time to time. Are we creating more of a problem by teaching him advanced math that he wouldn't see until 5th grade (or higher!).

Opinions definitely appreciated.

We're still thinking about school options for this year and I'm going to be posting about that soon.

Thanks guys.

JB