Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion New Here - First Post

Hello everyone. First of all, I want to say what an amazing resource this place is and how excited I am to join.

Reason why I'm here is because like some of you, started having suspicions that my child was gifted. He would do this or that and being a first time parent didn't think much of it..thinking it was normal for this age. Then other people would see what he could do. And all of them consistently having the same reaction of "wow that's amazing" followed immediately by "...how old is he again?" made me look further into it.

After getting the same reactions from many different people, strangers, etc he then amazed his daycare teachers. One told us that in her 19 years of teaching she has never seen anybody read so well at his age (he started reading a few months shy of his 2nd birthday).

So mom and I are proud. We enjoyed his abilities and really were quite happy when we found out.

But now..the reality is sinking in..what on earth is he going to do on the first day of kindergarten? what about 1st grade? Then the stress...here in CA we have a state budget crisis and education funding is constantly being cut. Barely any schools here have ANY real gifted programs..we can't afford to take him to a private school his whole life, and we have nobody to talk to about this or any of our questions because nobody we know is facing the same problem with their child.

That is until I found this site. Like I said, what an amazing resource this place is to meet and talk to like-minded parents. I can barely mention anything about my kid's abilities to any of my coworkers or friends. I listen to my coworkers brag to each other about their kids. About how their little one is only 4 and is already starting to read, or how their little one is only 5 and can ALREADY do addition and subtraction. I have to listen to these comments and bite my lip and keep my mouth shut for the fear I'll sound like a total jackass (pardon my language). Needless to say, this will be a great outlet and release for me. jk

Thank you in advance and I can't wait to get involved.

Welcome!

Welcome! I hope that you, too, will find this a place where you can be yourself in regards to your child.

Welcome! Yes, this forum serves as an outlet for parents of gifted to keep our sanity. And letting it out is truly therapeutic :-)

LOL... flashbacks... I was asking DW this same question about once a week since DD was 2-3 years old.

Welcome!

Many parents help their children survive until college with a combination of acceleration, after-schooling and enrichment in areas of the child's interests, summer camps/classes/activities, and possibly even homeschooling.

You may find helpful information on the Davidson database, which has an extensive collection of articles by experts in the field... a combination of research, peer-reviewed, and lived experiences. Basic educational options for gifted students in schools and Types of acceleration and their effectiveness may be of interest.

Hoagie's Gifted Education Page has great information, also HoagiesGifted on facebook.

SENG, an acronym for Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted, has insightful articles and an annual conference.

PG Retreat and/or Gifted Homeschoolers Forum (GHF) may also be of interest.

Children who are "profoundly gifted" (PG) may qualify to join Davidson Young Scholars (DYS) at age 5. Application is based on a combination of IQ test results, Achievement test results, portfolio of child's work products. If your child's IQ and achievement have not been assessed, you may be interested in Hoagies list of testers as a possible starting point.

Welcome. Do remember that not all gifted or even profoundly gifted kids read early and that not all early readers are gifted. If you work in a high tech/high education field some of your work mates will have gifted kids as well.

I don't have any great advice. NZ has no gifted programming either but some schools do a better job than others.

I was using early reading as just one example to illustrate my point and I do not recall stating that all gifted kids read early nor do did I make the statement that none of my co-workers have gifted kids in my post. I apologize if it came out that way but that was not my intent.

Thank you! this is really helpful!

Welcome.


One advantage to knowing early that your child might have educational needs that are outside of the norm is that you have time to do your research.

Just as I was agonizing over school choices for DD4, two new schools popped up that could have worked out for her and one of them was a public charter school.

This forum has been a wonderful source of support for me and I hope it'd be for you as well.