Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Challenged - when does it happen?

What I did was give my child a phone at an when when I needed to be in touch with my child. I got my phones on the late side for this area, my DD in 8th grade & DS the summer before 9th grade. I know 2nd graders and younger who have phones and I would say a large percentage of kids in my area have phones by junior high.

I framed it along the lines of do you need a phone to communicate with mom or dad. Phones are expensive , require responsibility and not just toys. They need to be old enough they can take responsibility to not loose the phone, to have it on them when needed and keep it charged. I got My kids phones when it made MY LIFE better because the cell phone works as an electronic leash. My teen can text me, I'll be late home from school because of X. The football game is over now. Or I can text my child that I'm running 30 minutes late. The question then turns more general. Are the 'older' kids given more independence? Are they going to the mall or movies with friends and no adults? Do they walk/bike home from school.

A relative of mine did who didn't want to get their daughter a phone, but whos pre-teen was getting electronic envy looked for a used device that wasn't connected to cell service. This had the advantage it couldn't be use to connect to the internet everywhere, if wasn't a huge deal if it got lost or damaged, and it cost a lot less. I ended up sending her a used iTouch we had lying around.

Challenge may not happen until college, and yet for many students "early college" is a positive experience.

The Acceleration Institute offers a list of Early College Resources.

Personally, I think "challenge" is the wrong word. It's not what I want for anyone. Challenging means too hard. To me, getting through school as a giftie IS challenging! What I'm after is "excited by".
I don't particularly want either of my kids to be challenged - I want them to be excited and interested by what they're learning and to have a sense of achievement.
I guess I just don't feel doing the same boring stuff at a harder level is that fun I dunno what it is about the education system that it sucks all the joy out of learning. Just too prescriptive I guess.
DS was challenged by a couple of papers early on at university which was really just a sign he was doing the wrong papers. A bit of a switch in majors, and he's excited/interested/achieving instead - learning what he wants in the way that he wants - all A's, and honor's degree, and getting published and speaking engagements and looking at a Master's … Totally loving it and doing amazing work but not finding it "a challenge" .
Phone = age 11. Bam

Kudos to your son! He seems to have found his passion, and an area of study which is a good "fit" for him.

Regarding "challenge", the word has a positive connotation in gifted education, for example it is used by the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) which provides this context: emphasis added

Ideally, "challenge" means an opportunity for "stretching" and growth, learning new material rather than repeating what has already been learned and waiting for others to catch up. Appropriate challenge and support would provide an opportunity for being excited and interested by what they're learning and to have a sense of achievement... rather than "treading water" and experiencing underachievement.

Oh I know I know, I don't want them bored or coasting I just get the heebie jeebies from the word "challenged", just like some people don't like the word "gifted".
I think "challenged" to a layperson doesn't mean what it's meant to mean! We've had too many years of teachers giving MOTS in response to the request for a challenge: same old stuff, higher level.
Maybe "engaged" is more the word I'd use.
(Yes if you can tell, I'm a bit bored by school and considering homeschooling. Definitely coloring my view!)

Agreed. Words are important. "Gifted" invokes, for some, a negative sense akin to jealousy, and also myriad myths. In response, much time is spent attempting to define and describe what "gifted" is, and what it is not. Unfortunately, so far attempts to substitute other phrases have resulted in different meanings, and some may say serving other populations, while neglecting the "gifted".

Similarly, words such as "challenge" and "differentiation" benefit from discussion of what is meant by them in the context of educational offerings for our kids. For example, this is not my idea of a positive challenge, rather it is a requirement for a "gifted" child to do more work for the same grade.

A word I've found myself using is "inspire." DD is inspired when she reads some classic poets and it drives her to write at a higher level than when she sees the typical little poetic examples of first and second grade. In other subjects, she doesn't know what she doesn't know but she does frequently know what's being taught. Someone inspiring her by opening the door to the next level of understanding in science etc is all she really needs. She'll soak up the knowledge immediately then.

Of course I use this word as I bemoan the lack of her being inspired the majority of the time, in class.

When I make recommendations to educational teams, I usually invoke Vygotsky and learning theory, and call it placing students at the optimal instructional level, or in the ZPD. My hope is that this will make it more apparent that this kind of instructional planning is exactly the same as the placement decisions that are made on behalf of students who fall below +1.5 SD. So far, I have had fairly positive responses from other school staff.

Exactly! The zone of proximal development.

Whatever we call it, too many gifted kiddos may not be experiencing it in their classrooms, but only during after-schooling, camps, outside classes, homeschooling... or college.