Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources I'm new to this and looking for advice/resources

I have two goals for the weekend:

One is to go to the library to check out a book about train parts. My son keeps asking what all the little parts of each train are and I have NO idea! He will comprehend and remember the real thing, so I figure I am better off teaching him the right things to begin with.

Second, we have all sorts of boxes from lights and ceiling fans from our latest project at our house. I think I am going to link them all together with rope and cut out the bottom of the front one so my son can crawl in and pull the train! Perhaps I can even turn it into something of a arts and crafts project and let him decorate the boxes.

Oh - your DS sounds just like mine at 2! When DS was just 3 we moved from a house with a furnace to a house with a boiler. Whenever anyone asked how he liked his new house he'd say "I miss my furnace". He loved to watch it cycle and would run down to the basement when the vents came on. But on the other hand our "new" old house has this antique toliet that DS would pull the top off of and explain the works to every person he could drag in there. You son sounds very sweet! I miss those days. My DD3 is so not that way. But she cracks us up in other ways.

Kriston - I like the Omnivore/Obsessive classification. I think I'm a closet Obsessive type and so is DH. DS seems more Omnivore right now though but has Obsessive streaks! DD is TBD. Seems obsessive on all things girl to me.

And Mamabird - I live in St. Paul MN just a couple miles from the free zoo! I initially was afraid of divulging my location but what the heck. I know there is no teacher or administrator from our school lurking.

Feed that current passion (trains). I had trouble with fighter jets because all the specs and artillery didn't interest me. Luckily DH had some interest/knowledge. I saw an amazing train museum out near Amish country in Pennsylvania. It was so cool. I've taken the old-fashioned, coal train from Durango, CO to Silverton (really neat). People come to the middle of absolutely nowhere NM (90 miles from here--practically nowhere) to watch trains, because evidently it's cross roads for ATSF & several others. I met an older gentleman once who was describing his upcoming vacation--taking a train cross-county, then back (no anticipated de-training, just the ride--isn't that strange?). Passions are funny, and safe to say, some come and go. DS13 who knew every single thing about dinosaurs at 2 doesn't remember any of it.

Just to clarify, so no one thinks that *I think* these are rigid categories, each type of GT person has some of the other aspect.

I'm a serial Obsessive, but I'm curious about everything. (So is DS6, BTW.)

In conversation, I often ask lots of questions, so the person I'm talking to thinks I want to pursue the subject "for real" and begins giving me lists of resources, contacts, etc. Then I have to either pretend to have a lasting interest that I never intended, or I must confess, shamefacedly, that no, I don't want to actually go back to school to become a _______; I'm just a curious person.

In the field of English--my obsession--I wanted to be a generalist because I couldn't pick one major field of study over the others. Asking me to choose between Romantic lit and Modernism was like asking me to choose my favorite child! Unfair! So there I felt like an Omnivore, though in a very limited arena.

As I say, totally unscientific...but still potentially useful, I think.

Oh, and mamabird, if I had a dollar for every library book we checked out to figure out the terminology for some obsession, I could probably buy the library!

Oooo Kriston - I totally do that conversationally as well.

And point taken about being unscientific, but I do think it is useful! I like it a lot.

Thanks.

It's at least another way to think about these kids, and it's never bad to have another tool in the old toolbox.

Mamabird - I am sort of in the Twin Cities area too. The children's museum is perfect for your 2 1/2 year old. Also, check out the jackson street roundhouse. You can see all the old real trains, and even ride on the switch track sometimes. They have Thomas tables there and other stuff for little ones too.

Kimck - our sons should get together and discuss toilets! We have an old-fashioned one, with the tank overhead and a pull cord for flushing, which has always been of great interest to DS4!

LOL!

I wonder if you ever see a post like this on other forums...

I am wondering if someone can help me. I am looking at homeschooling my son due to alot of things going on with him. He is ADHD/ODD/Bipolar and now I found out that he has Aspergers Syndrome. He can't make it in the school system and has been sent to 6 different schools in 5 years. He does have an IEP but no one will talk to me about his problems. His teacher said he has one more time to get out of controll and then the police will pick him up and take him to JDC then once they have him there they will call me not before they take him. PLEASE HELP ME I don't know what to do.

Thanks,
Kimberly

Kim:
Welcome, tell us more about your S.
How old, what are his passions, what is his behavior like, etc..
Ania