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Let's share stories about gifted children. No need to worry about it, share away! Good and bad, cute and the ugly! Let's here it!! School experiences, social experiences, all of it.
I've read that other thread and while I agree with some of what's been said, for instance the term is often misused, I have to say there is a place for it and many places of education do use it appropriately.
My 10 yr old is in a Gifted/Talented pull out program at her school and it completely meets the standard of what it should be. The kids in it are outside the box thinkers, whether or not they scored high academically. They are held to high standards of behavior. Most importantly they particpate in various activities that stretch their thinking skills, use their creativity well and it values their individual contributions.
Back in Kindergarten when they were making recommendations for the program one of the things that stuck out in my mind about my daughter that fit into their criteria was something she had done at 3 1/2.
She was very much into cutting paper and making things with it. Cutting was a skill she had become quite adept at so she would cut out pieces then tape them together to make her end goal. For example, a long rectangle(body), two shorter ones(neck and head) and 5 skinny ones(legs and tail) became a dog which she promptly named 'barky' written on the side.
So, we already knew she could read and spell. We knew she was skilled with scissors. However, we didn't realize her attention to detail was so advanced, until we looked at these things much more closely. Her 3 headed dragon had scales. Her dog glued on paper had marks to indicate it was running along with proper placement of legs. And the best was her cow had split hooves! She'd never seen a cow in real life and really wasn't all that familiar with livestock...so for her to somehow know they had that and how to portray it, was way above and beyond normal details. This was at 3 1/2.
She still sees things that most people either don't see, don't realize are there or take it for granted. How she produces those things are just more age appropriate now, but still very similar. She's done some animation on the computer that shows her abitility in this regard that is just fascinating to see at 10 yrs of age!
Everyone thinks their kids are gifted. But the reality is that most are not. Just a bunch of mouthbreathing rugrats with parents responsible for their over-inflated egos. So, do them a favor and stop filling their impressionable heads with nonsense that will only hurt them later in life.
Instead instill self discipline, hard work ethic and respect for others. They'll thank you for it later.
Everyone thinks their kids are gifted. But the reality is that most are not. Just a bunch of mouthbreathing rugrats with parents responsible for their over-inflated egos. So, do them a favor and stop filling their impressionable heads with nonsense that will only hurt them later in life.
Instead instill self discipline, hard work ethic and respect for others. They'll thank you for it later.
I have to disagree. WE (hubby and I) think our kids are average, but have a strength in one particular area. The school(s) think they are gifted, extend an invitation to them to enroll in the gifted program, which they could choose to accept or decline and prepare a separate, usually more advanced for grade curriculum. Because we believe that our children are just average, we don't put pressure on them to continue to want to remain in the program for the following year. They know they have an out. They're in it right now so they know the demands. Fortunately, we don't live in an area where people brandish this label all over the place, but if they did, it has no effect on us whatsoever. They're just being proud parents I guess. Hearing other people call their children gifted/talented really does not get a rise out of us...c'est la vie. Whatever floats their boat is fine...such a minutiae to get warped over anyhow.
i have many many stories to share about my son who scored as a gifted kid when tested in first grade. honestly, most of them with regard to his public school experience are not good. i disagree with the above poster (cbags). when your child suddenly starts writing before they've actually been "taught" (around age 3 for my son)and memorizes story books before they can read, (again around age 3)repeating the story verbatum, is scored on standardized tests in 5th grade to be reading at a college reading level, creates buildings with legos with verticle sliding doors before legos came out with this, (these are some of the obvious things) you'll realize your child is not the "norm".
Everyone thinks their kids are gifted. But the reality is that most are not. Just a bunch of mouthbreathing rugrats with parents responsible for their over-inflated egos. So, do them a favor and stop filling their impressionable heads with nonsense that will only hurt them later in life.
Instead instill self discipline, hard work ethic and respect for others. They'll thank you for it later.
Everybody may think their child is gifted but that doesn't mean there aren't any gifted children. Some kids really are gifted.
Everyone thinks their kids are gifted. But the reality is that most are not. Just a bunch of mouthbreathing rugrats with parents responsible for their over-inflated egos. So, do them a favor and stop filling their impressionable heads with nonsense that will only hurt them later in life.
Instead instill self discipline, hard work ethic and respect for others. They'll thank you for it later.
moderator edit: uncalled for comment I am not stage parent. I have three kids, one gifted. He's skipped a grade and still makes straight As. His IQ is 151. He's in the sixth grade and reads at the 12th Grade level and does math at the 9th grade level. He also plays baseball, draws his own comic strips, hikes, canoes, and anything else you care to name. He's about as well-rounded as they get.
What's more, I refuse to tell him that he's a gifted child. He already has self-discipline, a strong work ethic, and respect for others. It's pretty arrogant of you to assume that he doesn't.
I think that there are some truly "gifted" students. then, there are those that excel academically. Since the school chooses to put them into a gifted category, I think it is a good thing. Some kids just get the school thing better than others. By breaking these "gifted" kids out and grouping them together, it gives teachers the chance to teach at a different pace. These students are just as special as the special needs kids, but when funding cuts come along, the "gifted" students get the shaft while the special needs students get the attention.
Hey Twiggy, I saw your comments on the other thread about gifted kids. Don't worry and don't let those others get you down. I'm a mother of two girls that are both "gifted" in their own way. My oldest is the academically "gifted" child. I never really got it but friends that teach kept telling me even before she started kindergarten. We are VERY LUCKY in that our district has seperate magnet schools for the "gifted and talented" so I did get her tested and she got in for kindergarten. My youngest is more of the social person and LOVES school, LOVES EVERYONE, wants to please her teachers, etc but learning on the same level as her sister is NOT in her. We have NEVER treated them differently as parents but made sure we gave each of them exactly what THEY NEEDED in order to be the best they could be. My oldest is finishing the 7th grade (still in a gifted magnet school) and the youngest in a regular elem school. The oldest even today tells us she is SOOOOOOO THANKFUL that she has been in the schools she has after hearing what goes on at her sisters school. Otherwise my oldest would have been the total reject kid in school because of her level of learning and just her ways of thinking and acting. Being around the schools for both it is a NIGHT AND DAY DIFFERENCE!!!! I say if you can put your son in a gifted program then DO IT!!! DO IT FOR HIM and for him to feel "normal". In the "gifted" program if they are totally seperated w/ others just like them they come to think of themselves as NORMAL!!! There is STILL competition amoung the kids and parents in the normal schools but in different areas and only in academics if it is something pretty weak in my opinion. I've seen it all and trust me. The whole pee-wee football cheerleader thing is just one area and it is killing me as I'm NOT the cheer mom type as it should be for FUN!
Anyway, there is a totally different atmosphere when it comes to ALL things be it academic, fun, extra-curriculiar, artistic, athletic, etc when it comes to the gifted kids. The more he can be with those same type kids and most importantly THEIR PARENTS the better your son will be. The parents do not go around throwing around the "gifted" tag on their kids either. Why when they are around kids that are in the same school and classes. It is only when you step out of that realm and I've had it to my face with parents at my youngest childs school. They think she is my only child since I did not have an older sibling go thru their school. I get the, "Oh, your a first time parent. This is how we do it." WTH!?!?!?!?!? I always say something in a very subdued tone like, "No, I have an older daughter that is in the _ grade". Of course then they ask where she goes to school so when I do answer w/ the name of the academy I do get the cold shoulder. I'm always then thinking, "honey, you were the one putting ME DOWN because you had what you THOUGHT was an older child than mine and YOU falsely THOUGHT you had MORE EXPERIENCE with the school thing. I nailed you when I revealed I had an even OLDER child and now you can't take it". LOL!!! Cracks me up everytime. Then they always come up w/ crap about the school being in a bad part of town. Whenever I ask if they have visited the school on most accounts they have not.
Anyway, my oldest would tell ANYONE that has a child that would qualify to attend a "gifted" magnet to DO IT! She even tells us she wishes her sister could just to get away from the bratty crap of the regular schools. At the magnets the cheerleaders don't wear their uniform to school or even go on about who is better at this or that. Neither of my kids think one is smarter than the other. Heck, my oldest is lacking in common sense and sense of direction. The direction thing I believe from always reading a book everywhere she goes. Oh, and at the magnets they even call themselves "nerds" and learn to accept themselves for what they are.
I've also heard some parents at the regular school say stuff about having them at seperate schools and how they might compare each other or it would make one feel inferior. That has not happened w/ our girls and it is how the PARENTS treat each one. Heck, if you have a kid that is a great soccer player and another hates it and can't kick the ball at all then it is no different. I put my kids in the schools that best suited them. Them being in two different schools was a VERY SMALL inconvience for a little while of my life (whoop-de-doo a whole 2 years of different schools at the same times) to make sure THEY were EACH being given the education they needed to thrive.
Keep your chin up, don't be ashamed of your son. He sounds like he has done some of the same things my daughter has that age. She asks why we don't have her glow worm from when she was a baby like we do her sisters. Umm, sweetie, you took yours apart and put it back together so many times it was worn out.
[quote=momof2dfw;3775797]Hey Twiggy, I saw your comments on the other thread about gifted kids. Don't worry and don't let those others get you down.
I enjoyed your post and thanks for the stories. Yeah, I wish we had a magnet school around here. The charter school he is going to has 3 levels of kinder and it goes up to 12th grade so all my children can go to it. They seem to cater to academic's so we will see. Wish me luck on sifting through all the rude people on here. I guess they feel a lack of attention, so I will happily give them some of what they crave. he he
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Cracks me up everytime. Then they always come up w/ crap about the school being in a bad part of town. Whenever I ask if they have visited the school on most accounts they have not. 
Wish me luck on sifting through all the rude people on here. I guess they feel a lack of attention, so I will happily give them some of what they crave. he he
