Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion When they grow up

Too funny. I would have loved to have been one of Indy's students!

DS5-- Plans to be an Engineer and build a spaceship for
DS3-- who wants to be Astronaut.

My son who used to be very interested in neuropsychology says he now wants to be an actor/voice actor or teacher. He has been reading about people who are teaching English in Japan and he would like to do that for a few years. He says he can see himself teaching anything but math.

We have homeschooled since he finished kindergarten but it always seemed like he taught me more than I taught him. We have been doing a mix of unschooling and co-learning for years. This year he was very interested in political science and taught me a lot about that. He always managed to find really good educational videos for me to watch and Wikipedia articles and books. He teaches by having me read and watch really good educational videos that he finds online. He also asks me questions to make sure I was paying attention and understood the material, but my favorite thing is that he sometimes uses humorous scenarios (making use of his improv acting and sound effects) to make a point. He just has so much passion for the things he learns and shares with me. He reminds me of a community college Business Law teacher I had years ago that I liked because he made something that I might have found kind of boring much more interesting. I used to wonder if that guy was a part time actor or comedian.

Reading this thread reminded me of some of ds11's past interests


One of his first "professions" was to be a water fountain designer. There was excitement every time he saw a new fountain. When he was 2 we stayed in DC for part of the summer and we could not leave the building without first going to the courtyard to see the fountain there. One time I tried just leaving the building without looking at the fountain first and ds was not happy. He made this outrage apparent to anyone who was in the area. The guy at the front desk asked me "What were you thinking, leaving the building without looking at the fountain first!. This actually lasted for a few years in different forms. He would build fountain contraptions in the back yard using hoses, empty pipes etc, and an old plastic playground slide.
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The lifeguard era came next (actually overlapping with the fountains). I had to buy two lifeguard shirts one summer so he would have one to wear while the other one was in the wash.

Then came the beginning of his computer programming interest. He first liked Microsoft paint and some other graphics software (the name escapes at the moment). He started designing water park "blue prints". Of course they were complete with water fountains and the lifeguard stations.

Now he is programming web browsers for the new HTML5 and getting my old computer to work with some of the new features of HTML5. He is trying to figure out what he can do with programming for work. Of course he wants to be in control running his own business involving programming in some way. Oh yea, I almost forgot he wants to teach. He is always trying to get people to be students in his "basement" school, with real homework, this does not go over well with DS8.


I really enjoyed reading everyone’s responses to this thread. The kids have so many unique interests, and such strong passions and intensities for their interests, It makes feel so not alone for DS11.

DS9 wants to figure out how to stop the polar ice caps from melting.

He wants to start this year by growing sweet corn and watermelons, selling them to get some money to get started.

He is all over the board.

DS7 - Chemist
DS5 - Entomologist

DD6. First asnwer. "invisble"
Second Answer "masage tharapist"
Third answer "gymnastics teacher"

DD 10. First answer. A Ballet Dancer
Second answer: an orthadontist

When my DD was three, she asked me, Does a teacher go to college?, Yes. What about dentists, do they go to college? Yes. Mommy, do pirates go to college? I got a quizzical look when I said Yes, but it is called an MBA ;-)

Not sure what she wants these days. She is 11 now and talks about sociology. We have discussed various health and medical professions too. She would be a great teacher, but I worry about the level of disrespect I see toward teachers these days and don't encourage that much

DS8 is all about math, engineering and physics. My husband and I own a business and he also talks about taking that over someday, which is sweet and adorable.

It's funny and a bit disturbing when cashier at Walmart is higher up the economic ladder than ballerina.

DS 6 wants to be a marine biologist but wants to do research in the Amazon Rain Forest. His BFF pointed out his research would have to be in the Amazon River.