Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Staffing for the "Other Child"

I've been focusing recently on DS7 bored in 1st grade . . . now I just got a call from the school that they've scheduled the gifted staffing meeting for DD5 in kindergarten, and I'm not sure what to do.

Let me say that DS is a "typical" HG/PG child -- several grades ahead in most subject areas; requires constant mental stimulation; endless questions; learns topics of interest in astounding depth, etc.

DD5 is a kind of typical easygoing, happy kid; makes friends easily; doesn't seem to have any special talents or area of interest; doesn't care to learn anything in much depth, nor grasp concepts readily. Her specialty is "silly" rather than "smart." Until her WPPSI this spring, I assumed she was a little above average and wouldn't qualify for the gifted program at all.

So imagine my surprise when she scored a 148 on the WPPSI at age 4 and 10 mos. Her milestones are significant for 1st word at 8 months; wrote her name without any teaching before she was 3; sounding out words before she was 4 -- though still reads only at a K level.

She complains of boredom in K, though I suspect that some of that is imitation of her older brother. She doesn't seem to find the homework especially easy (nor is it especially hard).

So I'm not sure what to ask for with her educational plan. Any thoughts? Does anyone else here have a "stealth gifted" child?

No advice on what to ask for, but I sympathize. At our house we call it "flying under the radar." My youngest DD is gifted but is perfectly content being the social butterfly, and is all smiles and giggles. We only had her tested on a WISC since her sisters are AIG, and we weren't sure at all where her scores would fall. She underachieves her siblings, yet has higher WISC scores. She also seems like she could care less whether she is challenged, as long as she is with her friends.

I have a "stealth gifted child" I have 2 children. Ever since my dd was in preschool, I was told how smart she was and that she was ready for kindergarten a year early and how it was too bad the school district here does not grade skip. She talked early, walked early, and was reading simple Dr. Seuss books before she started kindergarten. On the other hand DD6, walked a bit late, didn't really talk until he was nearly 4. The only thing others commented at preschool was how well he could build using blocks. He also learned how to ride a 2 wheel bike over a weekend just after he turned 4. I was shocked when the school sent me back his WISC scores and he had scored in the 98th percentile overall and the 99th in PRI. My daughter hadn't even made it to taking the WISC. (The school district here uses Naglieri as a screening test) DS6 barely reads at grade level, but LOVES math and is capable of math that is several grade levels ahead.

The Naglieri only measures non-verbal reasoning abilities. It will completely miss children with verbal strengths who are not gifted in non-verbal domains or who have non-verbal learning disabilities. It is popular with school districts because it is 'free of cultural bias', since it is not language-loaded. Too bad that it completely ignores the verbal domain...

Doc: It's not uncommon for siblings to carve out their own specialty areas as a way to avoid senseless competition for their parents' affection. Her older brother had "the smart one" pretty much locked up, because if you look at it from her perspective, he's so far ahead of her she'll never catch up, and he just blows her away with how much he knows.

So, with "the smart one" taken, she's gone with "the silly one." After all, there's an instant reward when she can make you laugh.

If she was already writing her name at 3, it sounds like the signs were there all along... but what with the older boy as your reference, they might have been easy to miss.

I'd bet she can read a good deal better than she's letting on.

which child is your stealth gifted child and which is your regular gifted child?

It is popular with school districts that are determined to meet racial quotas in their gifted programs. Traditional IQ tests give politically incorrect results.

DS6 is the "stealth" gifted child. He went under the radar for so long. We used to joke that he would need to go to college on an athletic scholarship. He seemed to meet milestones either right on target or a little slower than most. I was shocked when I got his WISC scores back from school, which showed 99th% on PRI, and 126 composite but due to the scatter they used his GAI of 130 (98th percentile) to get him into the gifted program. My "smart" one (DD7) didn't make it into the school's gifted program, because she didn't qualify on the Naglieri which they use as a screening test.

Knowing what you know about the Naglieri, she may be your true stealth giftie.

I probably have one of those, as well. DD5 just likes to play, and be silly, and thankfully she hasn't started on the boredom thing yet, but I have a feeling it will get here. She just does what she's asked to do, gets it all right, and moves on, with no worries for what else there might be to do. I think I was like that as a kid -- just do the work, then read a book.