Comments for Grumpy rumblings of the (formerly!) untenured

Comment on Stupid “opinions” on gifted kids by Tinkering Theorist

Tinkering Theorist — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:28:24 +0000

There’s a saying, “if you want to know when your baby is going to learn to walk, ask someone who has only 1 child”.
Where “know” apparently means “get a specific numerical answer to the question”.

Comment on Stupid “opinions” on gifted kids by feMOMhist

feMOMhist — Thu, 23 May 2013 11:45:49 +0000

ha fMhson is the shining star of this. He is “double E” or twice exceptional in that he scores at top for intelligence bottom for behavior (getting better at latter but still has IEP)

Comment on Stupid “opinions” on gifted kids by feMOMhist

feMOMhist — Thu, 23 May 2013 11:44:45 +0000

oops sorry was absent yesterday from interwebz getting work done <<<<< gasp. yes the school district tested fMhson, in fact they repeatedly test him :) So far he confounds most gifted testing He still places in gifted range, but doesn't have a valid IQ test due to differential performance gaps <<

Testing can also get you access to some resources like Davidson gifted program but scores must be very very high (we missed one marker grrrr so will have to do one more test if we want to pursue. we haven't so far. I am tempted by the free access to a gifted education specialist who helps advocate for your kid at school!)

fMhgirl has not been tested by school and we are trying to decide if we should do it in order to get the same acceleration. She is very different child tho and is not motivated by independent work (she "hates" school). School started pulling her out for some gifted specials beginning in K and she seems happy with that.

Comment on Stupid “opinions” on gifted kids by nicoleandmaggie

nicoleandmaggie — Thu, 23 May 2013 01:33:30 +0000

Self-promotion is always welcome here. :)

And definitely on the “one child” example. I love the way that a A Nation Deceived looks at all the “one child”s and finds that on average acceleration has benefits, not drawbacks.

Comment on Stupid “opinions” on gifted kids by Laura Vanderkam (@lvanderkam)

Laura Vanderkam (@lvanderkam) — Thu, 23 May 2013 01:28:42 +0000

The refusal of some schools to even entertain the idea of acceleration, because it didn’t work for “one child” years ago, is just absurd. Acceleration is the easiest way to at least try to challenge a kid, without needing self-contained gifted classes. I like self-contained gifted classes, but if a school isn’t big enough to offer them, then acceleration is the way to go.
By the way (sorry for the self-promotion here) I host a blog called Gifted Exchange on gifted topics if anyone is looking for more on this: http://giftedexchange.blogspot.com. It’s sponsored by the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, which does a lot of work with gifted kids and advocacy.

Comment on Stupid “opinions” on gifted kids by rented life

rented life — Wed, 22 May 2013 23:40:30 +0000

My childhood school district was big on that. Still is according to my dad–who is a coach there. He tried to push students to excel, but doing so means standing out and who needs that when we’re already “special.” I was telling my husband about this post at dinner, and he was surprised at some of the things people have said about gifted kids.

Comment on Stupid “opinions” on gifted kids by nicoleandmaggie

nicoleandmaggie — Wed, 22 May 2013 22:42:48 +0000

So depressing. And the children suffer.

Comment on Stupid “opinions” on gifted kids by nicoleandmaggie

nicoleandmaggie — Wed, 22 May 2013 22:42:23 +0000

Yes, that makes a good #8!

Comment on Stupid “opinions” on gifted kids by darchole

darchole — Wed, 22 May 2013 21:45:38 +0000

This isn’t about just gifted children, but in the public school district I live in and went to school in (I have no children), the attitude of the school board/administration seems to be that there is no need to have separate programs for the gifted OR for children with mental/developmental/physical disabilities, that both can be accommadated in the same classroom (and no aides even to help). Where I live many parents deal with this by private school or moving out of the district entirely, which then conversely drives down the overall quality teaching in the district, because there are no “smart” kids to push the teacher into teaching more/better (not saying this is right). There are some great teachers in the district, but they too are leaving because of the quality of the other teachers at the schools. By not seeing the need for providing programs for gifted (or challenged) children, my school district is just shooting themselves in the foot.

Comment on Stupid “opinions” on gifted kids by chacha1

chacha1 — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:35:28 +0000

Anecdotally, some of the smartest people I know are dyslexic.