Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment New Here - Need Help w/ 8 Year Old Girl!

My daughter is 8 years old and in third grade. She has always been an �overachiever�, excelling at everything put in front of her. In first grade she was reading at a ninth grade level, according to standardized tests at her private school. I am not very mechanical, so if something was broken I would give it to my daughter to fix for me when she was only three. She has always seemed wise beyond her years.

Now she is in public school, primarily due to some other issues in her private school (school was too religious for us). Since she went to public school everything has changed. She is clearly not challenged enough even though she now gets pulled out of class once a week for the �Superstars� program, which is supposed to be harder work for high-achieving children. Her teacher decided to put her in that program because she is getting 4�s on her report card and shows great potential. However, at the moment she cares more about socializing than anything else.

My husband does not believe she is gifted because she does not get 100�s on all her homework, does not seem to care that much about her homework and did not do all that well on her AIG assessment. I think she is bored and has �tuned out�; I actually think she didn�t do well on the AIG test on purpose because she doesn't want harder work (my husband does agree with that). A retired schoolteacher who has worked with my daughter said she is incredibly smart but needs to be brought to a higher standard by the school. The teachers are so focused on lower-performing children they ignore the higher-level students.

What should I do? Does it sound like she is a �gifted underachiever� ? I don�t know what to do, what resources to use. Should I place her in another private school? My husband doesn't want to treat her special if she isn't going to try in school.

Thanks for your help!

We have always homeschooled so I can't offer much in the way of direct experience. But gifted kids can absolutely tune out and go underground if they are under challenged. Gifts doesn't necessarily mean high achiever! If you can swing the expense, I would consider private IQ testing.

Meg,

Your DD is a 3rd grader and soon to be 4th grader. There are talent serach programs such as John Hopkiins CTY (starts at 3rd grade) and Duke (starts at 4th grade)or NUMATS talent serach (3rd grade) testing.

Being in those programs and utilizing their resources (like going to the camp, learning the same things as her intellect peers) will keep her motivated.

Check your school and district policy on gifted education. NCLB (no child left behind) policy and budget problems putting gifted education on the wayside. And you need excellent IQ test, and achievement test results to successfully advocate (if you want them to do more than what they are doing now) for your kid.

Good Luck!

I like this Small Poppies article for framing up some of the concepts: http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10124.aspx
If you search for "gifted underachiever" you can find reams of articles.

People are motivated to get rewards in tune with their efforts. If there is no challenge, then a reward or accolade becomes meaningless. She can't exactly rise to a challenge if there is no challenge. And then when does one learn to try (grinding is not trying.)

I agree with this.

It's very possible that your daughter is bored and has checked out. Also, my son is in the AIG program and he doesn't get 100s on everything. I don't think that would a fair expectation. Trust your instinct. You know she's more than her recent grades and school work are showing. Again, I would consider having her take an above-level test. My DS found it rewarding and fun.