Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School FINALLY found a group of "peers"

DS turned 5 in mid December and grade skipped into K. recently he has been unhappy. he thinks his K friends are babies (even though they are 1-2 years older), and the kids he fits in with academically think he's a baby. I've been feeling like he feels lost lately.

But TODAY he started a weekend camp for gifted children at our nearby university. When we picked him up, he enthusiastically proclaimed, "I had SO much fun!" He had excellent behavior all day after that (which is not entirely typically) and even his siblings noticed his unusually great mood. I think he just felt relieved to be in a place where the kids were around his age but academically around his level at the same time.

I am so thankful that this site encouraged me to find him an opportunity like this! I think it is going to make a real difference in how he feels about himself!

That is AWESOME! The challenge will be to continue to find similar venues and to get together with some of these kids/families outside of the camp. Hope it goes on for a while.
I have in the past really regretted not getting contact info from a parent on the rare occasions that ds connected with someone early on...k and 1st were pretty lonely for him, he didn't really meet anyone besides his cousins that got him at all. (We had moved right before k). It took me a while to realize I needed to WORK on supporting his relationships, overcome my own shyness and sense of 'propriety', etc.