I think one of the main things that has held back the endeavor of getting things right for gifted kids, is that they have been all lumped together! I more I see, the more I realise that part of what is bewildering is that we have no guide to our own children based on similar-enough other children. An other main difficulty is Adult Denial (in the Freudian sense) but this can also be overcome more easily when the big lump is sorted out into smaller lumps. For example, I delayed applying to Davidson Young Scholar's Program for 6 months because I read about an two year old who ate cheese squares into the shapes of states. I "knew" that that wasn't my kid. Opps! I was wrong.
I'll go farther. Part of what makes America Weak, is that our culture encourages us to lump ourselves into one of two catagories "Smart" and "Stupid." And then feel badly if we can't comfortably squeeze ourselves into either catagory. I can be an excellent listener, but because I am a poor speller, I grew up feeling I was "Stupid," while knowing in my heart that I was "Smart," but never imagining that there was a whole continum of talents and challenges out there in the real world. (I had lots of help from the combination of Elementary School Teachers and my own Perfectionism.)
Anyway - What I meant to post about is:
I just heard a lecture by Dr. Ruf, who's busness card calls her a -High Intelligence Specialist. She does testing SBV and interpretations of tests, school "options" and college counseling. Her website is
www.educationaloptions.com I was very impressed by her perspectives. One of the things she said was: "Work hard to change the system, but don't let your child be a social experiment!"
I think this might be a useful resource.
(((Prayers for all of us)))
