Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion In over her head

I think it shows her teacher doesn't understand the subject matter

I know (hope?) people have started responding to other posts, but as the original poster, I just wanted to state that I couldn't be more thrilled that my daughter's teacher offered this project and didn't limit it. My daughter's class has been full of project-based experiences this year and it has taken my daughter, who spent last year anxious, crying, not wanting to go to school to absolutely LOVING school.

She has been excited and passionate for this project for about a month--which was two weeks longer than it has even been assigned. She has learned an extraordinary amount. I'm watching her--even though she struggles with writing--want to write more and more because she wants to communicate what she's learned. I'm watching a dyspraxic kid put her head down and barrel through writing answers to pages of worksheets so she can get back to the project faster.

My angst, and the reason for my first post, is that I don't want to screw this up in any way. Seeing her come alive like this is absolutely awesome and I want to make sure she finishes (She did.) without ME messing the experience up.

There was a lot of good advice here--and I think what HK and others have mentioned about teaching her to develop her own time management skills is going to be important. But I think things are really working out this time.

We talked about it being too long and she took it to school today to ask the teacher what she thought about the length, and that was her decision, not mine.

I am constantly insecure about pushing because when she has an interest, I provide materials and just the very nature and quantity of checking out some of the books I check out for her...or making a 70 year historical timeline with your kid... sometimes makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong. It's not normal. So I'm here, and I ask these questions.

But the project has been awesome. I hope she gets more.

Amen-- learning early on that you don't have to share ALL that you're learning, though...

I think that this is a skill that I wish I'd emphasized a bit more with my own DD. I was too seduced by wanting her to show her stuff to the outside world, I think, and I definitely liked how turned on she was when in that mode of hoovering everything that she could lay hands upon.

I mean, this is kind of the defining set of circumstances when you talk about high LOG and asynchronous development. It is seriously tempting to jump up and down and point while saying "See?? We ARE NOT either Tiger Parents-- look at 'er go!"

So I wanted ALL of DD's teachers to see it-- because many of them didn't really understand what she was otherwise, since she was so good at blending in most of the time. But in retrospect, being an ambassador for the tail of the distribution wasn't really her job, either.

So it would have been okay for my 9yo to learn about The Righteous of Nations and the Holocaust, type up a five page research paper and give a five minute talk-- without delving into the peer-reviewed literature into the psychology of what altruism is, looking at archived newspaper and film, and studying various case histories in the annals of Yad Vashem.

Yes, she learned a LOT, and it was completely appropriate for her as a personal thing. But it didn't mean that her work product for school needed to be reflective of the full extent of her learning. Not in 6th grade.

In retrospect, in fact, I'm pretty sure that most of her teachers had no idea that she was TRULY doing those things all on her own. I'm pretty sure that they thought that we were doing them "with" her. But we weren't.


Well-- I'd act as a sounding board and ask questions when she was babbling away at me about Wallenberg or something about intrinsic motivation and cultural beliefs, but mostly I had little input into what she turned in.

The ones where she did this in the most extreme fashion, actually, sometimes became the teachers who were most dismissive of her. It's a little bizarre unless I view that through the lens of them seeing a work product that they were SURE wasn't the product of a 5(6, 7,...) year old student. So the greater the cognitive dissonance of that input, I think, the more convinced they became that DD wasn't what she appeared to be (and actually is, to be clear).

So there is definitely reason to exercise a bit of caution with teachers who may be gifted skeptics. DD had a few that were delighted and open to what she turned in, and enjoyed the surprises. But she also had a few that didn't appreciate being tipped off-kilter by out-of-scope/out-of-level student submissions.

In other words, don't do what my DD did. If you're supposed to memorize a poem and make a video recording of yourself, don't go all Langston Hughes on them with a full powerpoint analysis of the social context AND deliver a dramatic reading. Because-- 3rd grade.


(Yeah, not kidding, btw. That really happened. I still have the video file. She was so tiny-- and she still lisped because of her missing front teeth.)

Sounds like you are doing fine. It is a struggle and I get that you want to support not push. Sounds like that is exactly what you are doing and gently raising the issues like length so that you DD can consider that and deal with it. Well done to her for wanting to discuss it with the teacher. Learning is a dialogue!

As she works through more projects you can talk about how research and presenting is a bit like an iceberg....what people end up seeing is but a fraction of the work that is put in. The trick is to ultimately have an image of the final product in your head as you research so that you can focus better and avoid too many wandering a away from what is relevant as you research. Mind you, that can be the absolute fun part and is where we learn a lot. It's just learning to balance and she is starting early. By the time workload is an issue later on in school she will have a good idea of how to juggle everything.

How great is it that you or DD is loving school and learning such wonderful skills so young. Well done to you both.

Well said.

Exactly! If there is not a list of project specifications or a rubric to use as a guide, a person can simply use the common theme of "Top ten amazing facts about XYZ topic". It could be adjusted to three facts, five facts, etc, depending upon what information may be found. As a student is reading/researching, they can update/edit their list to prioritize the information which they believe will resonate with their audience.

Many moons ago, school reports/presentations were commonly titled "All About XYZ topic", and access to source documents may have been rare. With the increase in availability of research resources (thanks, in part, to the internet) students may find more than enough material, therefore paring down may become an important skill.

Enjoying the learning process may be the most important skill and it seems the learning environment is conducive to that... supportive home and school... and it sounds like she is practicing a comfortable level of self-advocacy, in asking the teacher's input on scope, length, time, etc.

Thanks. This is all really good and helpful stuff. I appreciate it.

Love this post, and totally agree!
Project-based learning has been great for our kids, and is probably one of the reasons their placement in regular public school has worked well for them. With the right kid, it can be a fantastic way to get the depth and challenge that gifted kids crave. Agree totally with the comments that if this type of learning is a consistent feature of your school, your DD will learn with time, good teachers, and gentle direction how to manage the volume and expectations; in a good program, these skills become well-developed. Your DD is just at the very beginning.
Sure sounds like she is off to a great start!

Ps- my DD14 is still benefitting from this style of education. Her global history class this year has consisted mainly of preparing for and attending a large model UN conference. The class chose three countries to represent, and kids chose not only which country, but also which subcommittees they wanted to sit on. They did voluminous amounts of research, prepared speeches and had to speak extemporaneously, wrote and voted on resolutions, policy documents, nation briefs, learned protocol, etc. A great experience, and during the whole project, they were expected to learn the traditional global history curriculum primarily at home as homework/independent learning. Ideal, for the right student.

I wanted to say, I agree that project-based learning can be great for gifted kids! We've enjoyed it a lot at DD's school. It's just that it does require a balancing act to make sure they aren't going way overboard. It took me a while to figure this out. DD is pretty good at it now.

DD is seriously considering dropping out of the regular gifted program to attend a Big Picture school, because she really likes the idea of project-based learning. The one in our district has a lottery for entry, and she's probably got about a 50/50 shot of getting in.

All I have to say is this story made me laugh out loud at the cutness of it all. A first grader preparing this much is one of the cutest things I've heard in a while.

When I did biographies, I picked one that I already knew about, chose the shortest book, skimmed through it gathering the facts I thought my teacher wanted and hoped no one noticed that I didn't read it from start to finish.

Gifted children take these tasks so seriously. They truly feel that it is important work and need to be thorough.

That being said, pacing is something our whole family struggles with.