I have seen posters describe their children similiarly and label them HG+ or PG...If I only had the younger child, I might belive the 11 year old was PG based on the numbers and his academic abilities. But I don't only have him. I have his brother. That has changed my outlook.
Why don't I label my older son PG? Because at some of the astrophysics lectures that my son audits at the university there is a boy of about 9 who also attends. The questions that boy asks show a complete understanding of the depth of the material. Putting my son and this child in the same classification doesn't make sense.
Re the "I also have his brother"...this is very helpful to me and confirms some doubts. I realize very often that having an only child is like a double-edged sword (can't think of any other simile at the moment sorry). On the one hand, I don't have another child to compare to to know what's close to normal or HG or PG etc. At the same time, I fall into the trap of thinking he could be HG/ PG too for the same reason too.
We haven't IQ tested but plan to soon because one, we now have an opportunity to do so for very cheap, and two, each year is becoming more and more challenging for me to quench his thirst for advanced math and some areas of science. I am honestly not sure how to proceed and am hoping for some accommodations at our community college in a couple of years if I can cobble up a portfolio with SAT and any other score that shows an obvious need for the acceleration. DS is 8 and currently accelerated by at least 5 years for math. It's not going to take him much longer to exceed what his father and I can offer within our current means. And he understands most astrophysics concepts presented to adult audiences at talks given to the public albeit we haven't tried a university-lecture style astrophysics course yet. However, as others have posted about drive and LOGs, he isn't as driven as 2 other boys we know who are at a similar level academically. He really isn't driven at all unless it's regarding that one intense passion of the moment. He is happy to just spend the whole day analyzing math patterns and listening to cute songs for kids on the radio or online.
No one who meets him for the first time would ever guess he's working at the level he is. Unless he starts to talk and then they may step back and have this perplexed look on their faces but it's usually me who's at the receiving end of his incessant talking.
