Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Please help.

Hi and thanks again.

I am practically homeschooling him at home in the afternoons now, but this is because he demands this insistently. This is not going well. He is ferociously strong willed and wants to follow his own agenda. He can read and write, but is left handed and writes in circles around the page. He can read it so will not try to write in lines.

Also I would not describe myself as particularly academic and am unable to keep up with his aggresive quetioning. He has recently started to discover negative numbers but I am not maths minded and cannot explain things to him. He then loses his temper and stomps off. I am convinced that I am not the right temperament to teach him. He often comes out with stuff that he has worked out by himself and when asked says, "I just know it"

I have charted his behaviour with the abc method for a long time and his out of bounds behaviour always occurs when he perceives he is not the centre of attention or is understimulated. His ideal level of stimulation and activity is up at five am and question and follow me round till school until eight thirty. Sometimes play with lego for up to two hours, but still talking. Then off to school, park for lunch, out in the afternoon and then back at home for "activities", even whilst eating. Then constantly on the go until he literaly passes out at ten pm. If any of this is not forth coming he acts out and is impossible to ignore.


He has his trial day at reception today. Time will tell. They appear to be more concerned that he is on the 0.04 percentile for height and 50th percentile for head!

My situation is different, though I can relate to the child that needs a lot of interaction. And the bossy. She is only 3, but when she learns facts, she likes to pass them on when useful in an authoritarian manner.

I try and work with her on what can be mean and bossy and "princess manners" and being thoughtful of other people's feelings. Although she is very social, some of these behaviors could get very annoying and cause problems. I think for young gifted children who understand and absorb info, it can be really hard not to have an outlet.

Although she goes to preschool 5 days a week 9-3:30, a Montessori where she does her "work" alone or with one other, it helps. During the summer I have her going to various activities, mostly sports camps in the morning and then we do the beach thing in the afternoon. There are many kids her age on the beach and she has to learn good social skills since many are siblings and they can shut her out. Also at tennis camp the kids were at least a year older and she really has to work since she is a little small for her age and she wasn't nearly as good as they. She didn't care for it and she has one more week of tennis camp between swim camps. I thought maybe I would cancel but I think the social aspect and her need to be the least skilled in the group is a good exercise.

Ren