Gifted Bulletin Board

Welcome to the Gifted Issues Discussion Forum.

We invite you to share your experiences and to post information about advocacy, research and other gifted education issues on this free public discussion forum.
CLICK HERE to Log In. Click here for the Board Rules.

Links


Learn about Davidson Academy Online - for profoundly gifted students living anywhere in the U.S. & Canada.

The Davidson Institute is a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting profoundly gifted students through the following programs:

  • Fellows Scholarship
  • Young Scholars
  • Davidson Academy
  • THINK Summer Institute

  • Subscribe to the Davidson Institute's eNews-Update Newsletter >

    Free Gifted Resources & Guides >

    Who's Online Now
    0 members (), 233 guests, and 137 robots.
    Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
    Newest Members
    MarcellaSchneide, ElisabethTurner, Thareck, Matilda, sleuthsnow
    11,734 Registered Users
    August
    S M T W T F S
    1 2
    3 4 5 6 7 8 9
    10 11 12 13 14 15 16
    17 18 19 20 21 22 23
    24 25 26 27 28 29 30
    31
    Previous Thread
    Next Thread
    Print Thread
    Joined: May 2024
    Posts: 2
    J
    JPH Offline OP
    Junior Member
    OP Offline
    Junior Member
    J
    Joined: May 2024
    Posts: 2
    I’m the parent of a newly identified 2e gifted 7-year-old who is profoundly curious, emotionally sensitive, and deeply creative. We’re navigating some difficult school-related trauma after a poor educational fit led to ongoing stress, under-stimulation, and misunderstanding of his needs.

    We’re currently exploring options for acceleration, more supportive environments, and long-term fit — both academically and emotionally. I’d be so grateful to connect with others who have faced similar challenges, especially in advocating for their child after a mismatch with the school system. I’m feeling a sense or urgency with school starting back in a month. He goes to a private school who we’ve contacted regarding his gifted status and are trying to see if they can accommodate us. We have not heard back yet as it’s summer wanted some help to advocate for him and see what should we be asking for?


    “Everything you can imagine…is real!”
    Joined: Feb 2020
    Posts: 224
    Likes: 9
    E
    Member
    Offline
    Member
    E
    Joined: Feb 2020
    Posts: 224
    Likes: 9
    I’m so sorry that your young son has experienced school trauma. I’m not sure my advice is going to be useful as we haven’t experienced the same, but I thought I’d at least reply and maybe something might be relevant. Please note that I am in Australia, so there may be differences in the education systems between countries.

    In our experience, in the early years, the home is the primary source of learning, through informal chats about every and any thing, access to books and other learning resources (including in our household, unlimited access to the internet) and excursions.

    I hope this won’t be discouraging, but we seldom found it useful to approach teachers to ask for our kids to be accelerated/extended. In our experience, teachers prefer to make their own assessments of the level of each child’s capabilities. To do so, some of them have said they gauge kids by raised hands when they ask questions, so even if seldom picked, encourage your child to raise their hands whenever they believe they have a correct answer. I was incredulous when my eldest’s eighth grade maths teacher, despite my daughter having been first in every single exam and test (with perfect or near perfect scores), commented that she never knew if my daughter understood the content taught in class because she never had her hand up.

    Whilst we quickly learnt to stop making demands of teachers and the school, we also supported our kids not to have to do ‘busy work’ that provided no learning value or stimulation. I politely and firmly stated this at parent-teacher interviews. This resulted in positive negotiations whereby my kids were engaged in the same activities, but we were able to substitute the content - for example, my son who mastered the multiplication tables early in kindergarten, was given the same multiplication sheets as his classmates, but he completed his exercises in Roman numerals, binary and in different number bases. For spelling, he could choose his own twenty words each week to complete the same set of activities - master the spelling, learn the definition, use in a complete sentence. He chose the most obscure words from the dictionary. The teachers were happy with these arrangements since they did not need to put in any extra effort for lesson preps and the whole class was engaged in harmonised activities.

    Best wishes for your son.


    Moderated by  M-Moderator 

    Link Copied to Clipboard
    Recent Posts
    New! Help Needed for 2e gifted 7 yo w School Traum
    by Eagle Mum - 08/04/25 02:44 AM
    Advice for profoundly gifted and imaginative 7yo?
    by Eagle Mum - 08/01/25 05:33 PM
    What is online courseware?
    by Gi6ruquaeR - 07/31/25 01:47 AM
    Help! Gifted Son w school trauma
    by JPH - 07/22/25 01:57 PM
    NGAT vs NNAT
    by Lydia519 - 07/21/25 10:11 AM
    Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5