Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Vision? Or geometry weakness?

There is a lot to respond to here, and I wish I didn't have to do it on a phone.

I'm starting to think that it is just one of those devolpmental stalls. But I will keep my eye on it. We are testing next month, and I believe I've read at some point that a certain discrepancy will point to any vision issues.

There is definitely a component of manipulating the protractor which makes it difficult. Then there is the issue of struggling to see which angle in a figure we are talking about. For example, if the is an image of a cube, he is very confused about what angle we are trying to measure. Any image with multiple angles and not simply two lines, is hard to grasp. Non-Parallel lines that cross far off the page are hard for him to visualize. The first section of Beast Academy 4a was very difficult for him, and I felt I had to walk him through all the problems. Right now hitting Singapore's Geo section, it was much easier, but not as smooth as I'd expect, especially after recently doing Beast. I guess sometimes you get concerned when things run so effortlessly for too long, and then, they don't!

As for vision, I tested him by having him build some 3d block puzzles that we just got. First try was what had me worried. But after getting used to the game, by second day, he had no issues building patterns.

Thanks for all your insights. Will continue to watch for vision, but next time, I will try to remember that developmental stalls happen with these minds, just not frequently enough to habituate me to them!

I second seeing a developmental optometrist. My ds fits the profile here too. He's great visual-spatial ability and is a whiz at math -- until he got to geometry too. He's got some visual spatial deficits and an issue with his visual working memory. I didn't realize how bad and uneven ds was with it until we saw the behavioral optometrist a couple of months ago. Then again, ds had a tbi and a blind spot too with his vision as a baby.

A developmental optometrist should be able to find any visual spatial deficits that otherwise might not be picked up. These things can be subtle and it's often wise to get a second opinion especially since about 80% or more of what we process involves the visual system. The issue is that gifted kids with visual spatial deficits can compensate so well that the deficits can go unnoticed until they hit a brick wall and spiral out of control.

Compensation is iffy. Some days it works; other days it doesn't. Moreover, you're often expending more energy than necessary. Vision therapy can make a difference. Behavioral optometrist told me that it's not uncommon for gifted kids to have their vsl abilities and bodies lag with their brains.

Geometry involves a considerable amount of terms, vocabulary, and abstract reasoning compared to algebra. This can also pose a problem with 2e or gifted kids. Perfectionists can panic and get overwhelmed by it. When things come effortlessly and then a child has to suddenly 'work' at it, they not understand why or what to do.

My suggestion is to make geometry as concrete as possible so it's less intimidating and seems more manageable. I took ds around the house and then outside looking for lines, line segments, rays, points, parallel lines, non-parallel lines; we also made a lot of jokes because humor can help with vsl memory.

There's some catchy songs on Know Watch Learn (http://www.watchknowlearn.org/) which might help. Education portal relates angles to pizza and other food (http://education-portal.com/) - that seems to be more appealing to my ds too.

It seems that common core doesn't introduce protractors until 4th garde. Maybe some of the asynchrony is with the curriculum itself.