Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Do you find that other people...

This is the attitude that irritates me - especially from other secondary teachers. I was also the type of kid who loved workbooks and learning (still am that type of kid). They all want their children to get A's just to stay in sports, but do not want them to be nerds (or geeks).

Really, if I had to divide classes or schools, it would be by attitude and many of the so-called "good students" would not be in it. I get really tired of this.

This is what I really love about magnet schools is that the populations thinks it is cool to be smart.

I came across this on Hoagies, but I couldn't find the Silverman article anywhere:

8. If one child in the family is highly gifted, is it possible that the other children are gifted also?
Yes. Recent research indicated that in many cases siblings are within ten IQ points of each other (Silverman, 1987, November). If one child is highly gifted, it is quite possible that the other children are gifted, too. In many circumstances, it is beneficial for families to have all of the children evaluated.

Silverman, L K. (1987, November). Exploding the myth of the non-gifted sibling. Paper presented at the 34th Annual Convention of the Nationa1 Association for Gifted Children, New Orleans, LA.

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/10_highly_gifted.htm

Thanks, SPG. At least I know there's some expert behind it.

It does seem a bit more wishy-washy than I have heard it. "quite possible" and "in many cases" are less powerful than I had understood things to be.

Hmmm...

The psychologist that saw DS at 2, said that there is a train of thought among Psychs that PG children really are a "freak of nature" and it doesn't have to do with genetics.

I don't really buy that. My take is purely anecdotal and deductive, but I see too many families with HG+ people on every branch of the family tree, and we KNOW that intelligence in general has a genetic component to it. So how could HG+ not have a genetic component?

I would agree that intelligence is too complex to boil down to *just* genetics. But it seems VERY clear that there is some sort of genetic component. How could there not be?

I say that DD3 is my ND child, but the other day, we sat down with a pre-k workbook, aimed at 4-5 yr olds, and she basically impressed me (read: shocked). While she is much older than DS5, when he did the same workbook pages, I am truly beginning to believe that she may also be GT. Plus, she is child #2, and it IS proven that child #2 doesn't generally develop (to the naked eye) as quickly as #1 b/c #1 is there to answer for #2 (especially when they are so close in age).

Anywho, without any tests done thus far, I would put DS5 in the moderate to highly gifted category with OE. And, if the above holds true, it would not surprise me to find that DD3 is not ND, but mild to moderate!

I also agree on the genetic component.

I have 3 VERY different children but I am betting my money on DD4 and DS2 being at least MG. They don't seem to have the same intesities or strengths as DS6 but they are both meeting academic milestones at the same rapid pace.

DS6 seems more mathematical and verbal. He also ready pretty early and has been tested at HG+.

DD4 is more physically and artistically gifted than her brothers. She currently has no interest in learning to read but I have a feeling she knows much more than she lets on.

DS2 seems to be more of a problem solver. His puzzle skills are amazing. He has also been a counting machine lately. I can't do anything without him counting things.

Only time will tell with DD4 and DS2 but statistically I don't think I could accidently have 3 gifted children without a genetic component involved.

That's what I thought at the time as well. He did say that intelligence tend to runs along the genetic tree, but once you get into really high HG+ kids there is a lot of documentation on kids that don't have the genetic support. The way I see it, it really doesn't matter why I got the kid I did.

Hah - late to the party - but particularly identify with CA Mom on the reading a chapter book in Costco - DS6 also looking more like 7 these days!

Oh! Thanks so much, MON! Nice work!!!

It's interesting that of the 50 sibling sets studied, only 8 had one non-GT sibling, and then there were usually extenuating circumstances like chronic ear infections or testing a child too old or young for the testing instrument to offer reliable scores.

Very interesting.