Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy am i a failure as a parent?

I felt the same way, until I was kinda forced into exploring fiction. Relying on the slim pickings of the elementary school library as your only source of reading material will do that, because the nonfiction is terrible. The library might have 30 books on astronomy, for instance, but you only have to get through four of them before you notice they're not going to talk about anything new. Yes, Jupiter is really big, and it has that storm... moving on.

Fiction is like vegetables. Keep introducing it, and eventually they'll take to it.

My DS1S isn't a huge fiction fan either. Particularly when he was younger but it's grown on him and he now appreciates it as long as he doesn't have to analyze it.

If your son likes historical fiction has he read any Richard Peck? Most of the books are a 4th-6th grade level, but many of them are historical fiction about new technology. My son did a 2nd grade report on one of his books. The project was to do a report based of a historical fiction but he was reading 2-3 grade levels above most of the kids. Most of the kids were doing American Girls or Magic Tree House. My DS read The Teacher's Funeral as a good compromise between too easy vs too hard/long and a subject matter than interested my son.

So my husband went and sat in class with our son today. The atmosphere was the complete opposite of what I witnessed and according to the teacher and my husband our son was attentive and respectful. Even the teacher made the comment my husband should do that more often. That doesn't sound like add to me...but it does sound like he's been playing the "its too hard and distracting card" with us so now I look a fool for blaming the teacher. Granted she had 36 kids today and he didn't change teachers like they usually do but still...my son has been playing the sympathy card on me. So now I'm faced with a whole new slew of issues to address :-(

Okay-- well, I have a book recommendation for you, in that case.

But even before I do that-- which parent is "dialed in" to your child? It sounds like maybe it's Dad? By that I mean the parent that your child basically can't pull ANYTHING over on-- the one that knows what is happening in that head of his most of the time-- or at least well enough that the parent just KNOWS when the child is lying, etc. THAT parent just became the gut-checker for all parenting decisions and any stories that seem even remotely out of the ordinary and expected. And probably just for the routine stuff, too-- my daughter can easily convince her dad that all vegetables make her teeth hurt, but she certainly won't try it with me. I just give her "the look" and she kind of trails off into incoherently muttering under her breath. A single Spock-like raised eyebrow is particularly effective as a tool for quelling the worst of that sort of thing. Your mileage may vary, of course. LOL.

Book time.


The Manipulative Child.

Horrible title-- but a transformative tool for parents of kids like this-- and the brighter they are, the more badly we need the help and insights. My dd was/is an extreme case. You have my sympathies.

Thank you for the information I will most definitely check it out! And yes for some reason my husband is the one they listen to and don't try stuff with lol. I'm too much of a softie when it comes to my kids.