Is this forum only for those involved with Davidson? I am feeling a little lost!
Welcome Dace - this is a public forum, everyone is welcome. I think that we all felt lost in the begining, as there is a lot to say here, and almost no 'hitchhiker's guide' to giftedness.
If you haven't checked out Hoagiesgifted.org, take a look. It makes us feel like the kiddie pool.
One very reasonable way to procede is to find a psychoeducational evaluator and get the kids all tested by someone who can give you some guidance.
Some people read a few books on giftedness. What have you read so far? We could point you towards a few of our favorites.
Another approach is to talk about your youngest, who she is, what her experince is like, try to identify your 'top 3' concerns, and we'll try to give some examples of how other people solved similar concerns.
Not that you asked, but I had a thought about your assessment of your local school.
I don't live in your neighborhood, so I can't say for sure if your school really are terrible (hey, 50% have to be below average, right?) but I can say that:
a) a lot of gifted children have parents who were once gifted children
b) a lot of gifted children have a strong, negative judgement of school
c) a lot of parents, who were once gifted children, still have a lot of emotions about their strong, negative judgements of school
d) a lot of schools that really are meeting the needs of their middle 80% of students pretty well, look like terrible schools to the gifted children and the parents of gifted children because ((drumroll))
Gifted children have special educational needs that are unlikely to be met in regular classrooms That's my core definition of what 'gifted' really means. Smart enough that the regular educational channels, and sometimes even the gifted pull out, just aren't going to do much for them. I honestly believe that if there were some mythical town were 30% of the kids were taking calculus in 7th grade, that those children wouldn't be gifted (unless they moved - LOL!) and if you asked those kids, they would say that they are 'just a bit above average' and they would be right! Those kids would still be really smart ((wink))
I mean, isn't it possible that we are just one fabulous video game away from a situation where kids routienly are teaching themselves Math right through Calculus at really young ages?
Anyway - W-E-L-C-O-M-E! Sorry about the spelling - that's all I have!
Grinity
