Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy General support thread

Yes, DS's French teacher said the same - even if she 'knows' he understands everything, she has to mark on the work he's done. But, they are trying, and I now understand a lot better what is happening in class - so that's a positive.

I must admit to a certain naivety when DS was first identified gifted by the school board. I figured - well school should be easy then! So not true!

I think from a previous thread you said you are having your DS tested soon? Hopefully it will give you some answers as to what is going on, and things the teachers can do to make school work better for him.

I actually thought that witnessing giftedness (if he is indeed gifted, since he hasn't been tested yet) would be fun, but it can certainly be a lot of work.

Yes, hopefully we'll get some answers that will help. DS is interesting though - sometimes, just when we're at our wits' end with him, a switch seems to go off and he behaves really well and seems so well adjusted. I wonder if others have had that experience. It's almost like he has "behaviour waves". We're in a good wave right now, fingers crossed that it lasts a while!

DS7 told me this yesterday:

I don't like so-and-so because he doesn't teach me how to be good.

After over a year of reading social stories, he still doesn't "get" how to behave appropriately. Sigh...

DD13 is really having a tough time with girl drama. She doesn't understand it and gets extremely frustrated with the shallow nature of her "friends," particularly when they aren't loyal to each other or to her. Add in her emotional intensity and it's a recipe for some craziness. This too shall pass...

We attended a music concert for kids on the weekend and DS6 kept scowling at and making comments to a little girl sitting behind him who was being pretty disruptive.

It dawned on me that this is probably how he behaves with other kids all the time. If that's the case, he is going to have a tough time with friendships! We've tried to remind him that he can be the disruptive one when he's bored with something, we've also pointed it out to him when it's happening, and we've reminded him that he needs to be more patient with others (because he his being rude to others and his friendships could suffer otherwise). But nothing seems to sink in.

I realize that this is probably related to his intensity and potential/likely OEs, but I'm at a loss as to what to do about it. Any ideas?

My DD5 has a few issues too.

A few weeks ago, a boy at an event was being disruptive. When he and his mother who was clearly upset with her son left during the intermission, my DD had a very snarky expression on her face and I firmly told her that I was disappointed with her and she needed to think about why she did what she did. In retrospect, I overreacted a little bit but I was not happy that she would put another child down behind his back.

My solution has been to get her to spend more time with a friend is a wonderful model for social skills (not competitive, not bossy, asks interesting questions, thoughtful, etc. She really is an amazing 6 year old girl). After each playdate, I talk about how happy I am about their friendship and discuss details. I'm not sure how much of it is sinking in but I'm looking forward to the girls spending more time over summer.

It's so hard not to get frustrated with them sometimes, isn't it?!

This morning, DS6 was devastated and completely messed up the morning routine because a plant had died. Only it wasn't just a regular plant, it was a weed that he'd found at the park and decided to transplant in our garden because he loved it so much.

Here are some of the comments he made: “Fuzzy Junior has died, I’m so sad. I made him a burial chamber. I know daddy says he’s just a weed, but I don’t care.” “Even when he’s dirt, I’ll always remember and love him.” “I don’t want to transplant another fuzzy, because what if she dies too?” “Can we get a seed instead?”

He cried and snuggled me for an extra 20 minutes at drop off. I really do love how caring he can be about all living things, but it can sometimes take a toll on all of us! At least he had the sense to avoid letting the other kids know why he was upset...

DS6 takes his Single subject acceleration math test this week to skip 1st grade. He has to get a perfect score to pass, including showing his work.

I have given him last year's test 5-6 times over this year and he always makes some silly mistake. This weekend he did the whole test right, but when writing the equation that matches the story for one problem he copied 2 + x = 20 (answer was 8) instead of 12 + x = 20 in the show your work part despite getting the right answer of 8 to the problem.

So basically he knows the math but he doesn't have the patience/focus to take tests perfectly yet. And he's 6, so that seems not at all age appropriate anyway!

I kind of hate that I made him spend any time preparing for a dog and pony show that is so rigged he is sure to fail. But one way or another here we are and this week is the week.

This is heinous. Here's an old post discussing this practice. Is there any opportunity to negotiate a different cut score, such as 90%?

Wishing him good luck on his test-taking skills, as his math skills seem to be solidly in place.

DD9 is a super lovely, compliant, law abiding, polite, hard working, diligent student, who does exactly what's expected of her and is great at fitting right in. So I really wish, that just once, she'd look her teacher in the eye and say, "What is this $*&^? Stuff your papier mache and poster-making and fill-in-the-missing-word-even-though-its-right-there-in-the-list-worksheet &#(&%($, I'm going home to invent hovercraft.' I'd be so proud!
*sigh* Because in the meantime, I'm *that* weirdo mother, making up stuff about her daughter :P

(off to brag in the other thread about DD inventing hovercraft!)