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Just a few glasses of wine, that's about it.

I don't think I should have made that a personal question, calizephyr. What I really should have said was, do you think fetal alcohol syndrome is a big enough of a concern for pregnant women to abstain or drink minimumly? If so, why is it a concern?

Lots of colicy babyies are GT - Oh those overexcitabilities! And they are also quick to want new stimuli, and many will complain loudly until they get what they want. DS11 wasn't colicy.

Here's a term for this discussion: "Regression toward the mean" it means that if the parents are unusual, then the child would tend to be 'less unusual' just by chance alone.

Here's another term: Contingency. All the 'Baby Einstien' videos are weird because they can't replace 'Someone taking an interest.' All kinds of creatures who are placed in environment were someone responds to them will thrive more. Even plants grow better when you talk to them, right? So it isn't flashcards, or even Zoo trips - it's 'someone taking an interest.'

Of course I 'would' think that Communication is what it's all about, wouldn't I?

I believe that there isn't actually any kind of important seperation between any living creatures. I think that the more a child spends time with others who are 'in touch' with that perspective, the better chance they have of 'being who they were meant to be.'

I worked part time from 7 weeks. I think of myself as a Feminist who believes that we need to value parenting equal to all the other jobs. The point is for women to have reasonable choices, as each woman is individual and has her own strengths and challenges. I think it was very hard on my DS to be with agemates in daycare, but that's another topic, isn't it?

((Big Smiles))
Grinity

I so agree with everything you said, Grin. 100%!!!

Right on!

I neglected to respond to this, squirt. Sorry. And since I think we're really in total agreement, I thought I should go back and catch up...


Agreed. Wholeheartedly. That's why I made the point that there's good daycare and bad daycare. Good childcare involves all the sorts of positive, healthy interactions that you're talking about here, which are so vital. Bad childcare is often just human warehousing, and it's bad for kids. It's why I think we need to push for more affordable and high-quality childcare in this country--to put an end to the warehouses.

My point is that it's BAD INTERACTIONS that make some daycare bad; it's not ALL daycare that's bad! It is entirely possible to have daycare that is quite good for the child, possibly even exposing the child to experiences and opportunities the child wouldn't have gotten at home.



It's a good horse, so beat away. The part I was taking issue with was the exact correlation stuff. Human interaction and movement (and breastfeeding!) are good for babies. No argument here. But doing these things does not guarantee some certain number of IQ points magically appearing on the child's first IQ test.

Am I being clearer now? I hate to seem to be arguing with people I actually agree with!

I have a PhD in astrophysics and have work several years in research, so I know the environment pretty well. And yes, I would expect giftedness to be high in the children of my former colleagues. I have met several people that would certainly score at level 5+, PG or whatever name you want.
Not everybody in the field is that bright, but the average IQ is certainly high.

On the other hand, I never considerd myself 'gifted'.... Intelligent? yes. Gifted? nope!

sounds like a little case of gifted denial, if you ask me.

Don't be mad!

I was thinking the same thing.

(But I still say that HG+ parents can have ND kids and ND parents can have HG+ kids. No guarantees!)

Miraca Gross's book Exceptionally Gifted Children has a section on education level of parents of the students in the study. Much higher percentage of highly educated parents than general population. Wouldn't you think that most people who pursue PhDs are above average IQ or gifted?

Absolutely.