Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums GT Research NutureShock-The damage we cause by over-praising

My thoughts exactly!!!

Thanks for sharing this link rdr.
I've known that many times gifted kids sleep more than average, but I've always heard it was because thinking and focusing burns calories. I've also heard that when learning another language you know you're getting it when you start dreaming in it.
That is fascinating that kids spend 1/4 of the time they sleep processing what they've learned from short term to long term memory, and adults only 1/10th of the night. No wonder when I study something too much I start to dream about it.

This is something I've been mulling over that pertains to the Nurtureshock book.

DS7 started doing algebra last year at age 6. He was good with it (at least the first several chapters of Ed Zacarro), but because we did very little formal math (he hated drills), he had gaps which were not addressed. I started to see a pattern of resistance when we had to go backwards to clarify earlier concepts because in his mind, he had moved on. I've always been careful how I speak to him and realized that perhaps, I had unwittingly made a subtle distinction and he had latched on to it.

I wonder how common this is with gifted kids. They have terrific conceptual ability especially at the higher level, and they're masters at reading parental nuances. So subconsciously, they latch on to the fact that "higher is better". Yes I was impressed by him and I wanted to encourage him with praise. But certainly, the outcome was not what I had in mind! He actually resisted learning what he needed. I ended up looking for tough questions at the early middle school level (there are so many Singapore Math challenging books to choose from, and some early Math Olympiad style ones). Luckily, that has succeeded in refocusing him from being grade (and frankly ego) focused to enjoying the thinking process again.

Thanks for the article, Inky.

I'm curious what you guys see at home - do your kids have a great attention span for every area, or is it only for areas of special interest?

I sure would like DS to develop a good attention span across the board, but it's tough because his attention is extremely task specific. He can sit for hours building Lego and recently, Lego Robotics, doing math (particular workbooks only), and reading his science mags; that's about it. If something doesn't catch him, he doesn't bother and has zero bandwidth. I can't ever make him listen to me read books he has no interest in. His eyes will glaze over and in an instant, he's happily in his own world. I can imagine that's what he does at school when the teacher starts to speak!

Perhaps he's still young because I really hope his self regulation can spill over to other areas as he gets older. (I've received a few complaints from his teachers, so this issue is constantly at the back of my mind.)