Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion You know you're parenting a gifted child when...

Oh, god, Stuart Little. That book traumatized my DD when she was 5 or 6. I never even tried Charlotte's Web after that experience.

...when your 2.25yo eagerly asks, "Can I see a diagram of a lacrimal caruncle? Let's look it up on Google!"

...when your pre-bed settling includes watching videos of how the following instruments are made, at your child's request: pipe organ, piano, harpsichord, and church bells. (Yes, he was inspired at Mass today.)

Much has been written about fairy tales, folklores, and fables but more than I expected, modern children classics are almost equally disturbing. I must be a slow learner since we watched Alice in Wonderland yesterday and DD decided to not read books or watch movies for awhile, at least not the ones I pick. I must sound like the most clueless mother but she's been okay with fairy tales which can be far more gruesome than Alice in Wonderland.

Going back to the topic at hand:

When a three year old gives an accurate lecture about fault lines, earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunami in her own words, pulling information together from various sources.

I don't think I knew what tectonic plates were until middle school.

When your 4.5 yo says on our way back from school," mom, teacher was trying to give me challenging work. But she gave me easy ones like 10+3 and 10+10+10. So I told her this is easy. I can divide. And she said be quiet. Hahaha. Seriously, mom, why can't I go to 2nd grade. Why do I have to do pre-k, then k, then first grade?"

When you find yourself telling your seven-year old that despite his newfound facts about the periodic table (that he came across at bedtime tonight) seeming so amazing, no, he is not allowed to come downstairs five times to share his insights... or he will be losing more computer time...

He wants to make his own flash cards tomorrow to learn them.

When during a checkup, your 7 yr old finds a way to mention the books he's reading, recites his folk hero monologue, and that he's learning division with examples.

If that wasn't enough, my 3.5 yr old pipes up that he know how to add and subtract (also with examples).

...when your 2.25yo insists at 11:30pm--after reading a pile of books the toddler equivalent of K2--that he wants to practice skip counting by 10 before bed. But there's a catch: you have to take turns saying the numbers as fast as humanly possible while jumping on the bed. This went back and forth for 20 minutes with lots of giggle fits and probably hundreds of urges to, "go even faster!"

And some people say gifties don't exhibit overexcitabilities? Yeah, right.

And that pop educator nonsense about young children not having innate number sense? Sure...

...when your heart aches for your child after she tells you, with tears in her eyes, that today her teacher told her to just be quiet and go sit down after she asked the teacher why one of her problems on her worksheet was checked wrong.

I guess self-advocating only works when the adult educator in the situation gives a hoot and I bet DD won't do that again any time soon. Thanks a lot "educator of the year" *sarcasm!*

FWIW - DD did this at the appropriate time (wasn't interrupting the teacher or anything) and I looked at the problem myself and it was a correct answer.

1frugalmom, that's heartbreaking. I'm so sorry your DD wasn't heard, or at least politely deferred until a later time. I don't know why some teachers feel they can run roughshod over the feelings of some children. The teacher shouldn't have done that.

OOO that teacher would be explaining to me, the principal and my child why she didn't have time to give feedback for an incorrect answer so that the child could learn from her mistake. That is a critical factor in assessment. Teach/asses/feedback/reteach.

OH, lookie here, the answer is correct. I think you owe her an apology for not looking at her paper and going over the problem with her.