If I believed my boy was less gifted I would be teaching him to rise to a challenge and persevere through a difficult task. �I believe he is super gifted so instead I teach him consistency, routine, following steps slowly rather than efficiently.
I'm not sure I agree with you. I think, as you said later in your post, that you teach the kid you have. But I also think that unless your kid already knows how to rise to a challenge and persevere through a difficult task, that you still need to teach that. It's a huge problem in our house. For DS6, most everything has come easily for him. When something becomes a little more challenging, he balks. I'm not so sure that teaching consistency and routine is the opposite of teaching perseverance - they are both useful in different situations. My hope in school is that through advocacy, we will not have to worry so much about learning to go through plodding tasks, but will have to worry more about how to deal with appropriate challenges.
�If I was raising a child I believed was less gifted I would try harder to teach him to think critically about right and wrong and justice and how not to let people manipulate you. �Because I believe he is super gifted I am instead focused on teaching him supreme self-control �because smart people are held to higher standards. �
I don't think these concepts should exclude each other either. Teaching critical thinking is extremely important. Gifted children will catch on earlier and need bigger challenges in this area, but why wouldn't you want to teach it? You can also teach self-control, but deal with issues like being held up to higher standards when you come to them.
I keep seeing this posted too, "you raise the kids you have, not the ones you've dreamed about".
This I totally agree with. But I do still think that you raise your gifted child the same way that you raise any child. The difference is in the timing - gifted kids will catch on to some things earlier -- and the depth -- gifted kids will want to understand more of many concepts. If you follow the lead of ANY child, I believe things will fall into place without worrying about avoiding or focusing more on certain topics because your child is gifted.
