I am not sure if this was mentioned, but I would highly recommend Moscow Saga by Vasily Aksenov. It covers the life of one family from 1920s to I think 1960s. It’s a trilogy, the first book is called The Generation of Winter. Another suggestion is Leningrad under Siege: the first hand account of the ordeal. This book is the documentary of the interviews with the survivors of 900 days siege of Leningrad (St Petersburg) during the WWII. Warning: it is shocking, but definitely gives you a lot of insights into how Russians lived before and during the war and what impact it had on their lives and subsequent generations. Update: forgot one more: And Quiet Flows the Don. The author got Nobel prize for this book in 1965.

Just want to say hang in there :grouphug: My DD is almost 12 and I see the same. She used to be VERY organized, punctual, responsible, observant, quick to clue in and alter action course when required... not anymore. She does not roll her eyes, but she does think we do not understand her "as well as you guys used to...like, not 100% now, more like 95% or 90%..." (her words), We mentioned once, casually, how she used to notice and memorize a million of things around her - she became very emotional and sad, so we no longer compare in her presence. She forgets stuff, she's absent-minded and despite her honest efforts to stick to the plans she's struggling. On a flipside - somehow I see that she feels deeper now, if you understand what I mean. In her "good" moments she's very attuned to our emotions, she's much more caring now. Her childish ego is gone. DH and I try to go easy on her, to diffuse tensions, to help, not to nag. Does not always work, but we try. I recall that in her age, around 12-13 years, I had an avalanche of unfortunate consequences of my absent-mindedness and lack of organization, and I actually remember thinking to myself: "What's wrong with me? This is so NOT me!" It helps me with DD. Actually, if it's any consolation - I am a good planner now, always organized and on top of things, this is part of my occupation and I am good at my job :), so I tell myself there is a light at the end of the tunnel :)

Thank you so much, everyone! Lots to peruse :) Actually, some of the options completely slipped from my memory, like Paddington, or Arnold Lobel - thank you for reminding me! Library and Amazon, here we come :)

Sorry, just realized it is confusing :) the books for him to read independently. He still reads out loud, that’s why i wrote “read aloud†:)

Hello all, Can you please recommend read-alouds for a 5yo with the good reading skills yet the maturity more or less typical for his age? This is what we've tried: Mercy Watson series - can easily read it, gets it and enjoys it. Ricky Ricotta and the Mighty Robot series - the same. Let's read and find out books, Levels 1 and 2 - the same. Magic tree house - can easily read it (as in "read out the words"), but the concepts in many books are still a bit foreign to him, difficult to follow. Any suggestions? He's especially fascinated with the idea of reading chapter books - this motivates him and makes him so proud. I suspect the discussions of this sort are fairly frequent on this forum, I just cannot easily locate them. Thank you!

You did not specify the age and what you've already read / watched... so i'll just offer a couple of random suggestions: Books about George by Lucy and Stephen Hawking (like "George's Secret Key to the Universe" and the others from the series). Documentaries by Brian Cox (e.g. "Wonders of the Universe", "Wonders of the Solar System") "A Black Hole is Not a Hole" by Carolyn DeCristofano.

Sorry, cannot help with finding the thread you're talking about, but I found this book very informative and useful. It was suggested somewhere on this forum - unfortunately I do not remember where or by whom! "Smart but Scattered" by Peg Dawson https://www.amazon.com/Smart-but-Scattered-Revolutionary-Executive-ebook/dp/B005D7D57K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518534078&sr=8-1&keywords=smart+but+scattered

DH and DD were watching the launch from the public beach - they traveled from Canada just for that. The beach was supposed to be closed, but I guess at some point the police gave up and was just monitoring for the safety and chatting with ppl how this is just like the times of Shuttle launches. DH/DD got emotional during the launch. I did, too, while watching spacex live stream. It's not weird and nerdy, is it? What an amazing and beautiful example of what we are capable of as humans. How insignificant and short-term some events and quarrels seem in comparison. Gives me chills.

Thank you for sharing your experience! Yes, she's in school during the day, with a good amt of homework. This is what my inner nagging voice was telling me, I guess I chose to ignore it...

This is so inspiring! Thank you for posting and best of luck to your team!

Would someone be able to share the experience? How bad is it to have AoPS C&P start overlapping with the tail end of Intro to Alg B for 3 weeks? Trying to plan out the workload vs vacations and summer trips and would really like to squeeze C&P before the family vacation. Background info: DD11, Grade 6, a fair bit of homework at school, a bit of extracurricular beside school, has been ok with the pace and complexity of AoPS so far, challenged but not struggling. Am I crazy? Or can it work? TIA!

May I share our experience? Gifted DD (now 11) was in French Immersion in grades 1-3. The best thing is that 2 years after she moved on she's still fluent in French. Apart from that, it was not a good fit for her, as the French was taught at the expense of everything else, including math (not to mention science, social studies etc). In other words, all other subjects were almost viewed as other ways to practice French and increase vocabulary. We ended up afterschooling A LOT. HTH.

Similar experience here! We found the comments and observations of the specialist who administered the test more valuable than knowing the number itself. There were a couple of a-ha! moments during the discussion. I would also caution against taking the chart at face value. Our profoundly gifted daughter does need to work hard sometimes, and it used to be a huge frustration for her and puzzle for us: if she's so talented, shouldn't she breeze through the stuff? Turned out not necessarily. Or she's an excellent memorizer but hates guessing: uncertainty annoys and bothers her.

This looks like a plausible explanation... just not a fair one.. or motivational, for what it's worth. As i mentioned, DD is "inventing" the challenges for herself because she sees very few, what improvement can she show if she's doing this and getting great marks already? :( sorry, rhetorical question, I know.

Just wanted to say - thank you so much everyone for listening in, offering your view and helping me organize my thoughts!

No, this school is JK-Gr8. all public schools and many private schools around here are like that. So for HS she's have to switch regardless. To a certain extent it's a bit easier with HS (or so it seems now...). There are more public options for HS: AP, IB, specialized math, science, computer science, arts schools; whereas for elementary they are fairly limited (fwiw, we're not in the US).

Two years ahead. Her friend in the private school, who's also in grade 5, is working through grade 7 workbook. The math in the current school is a joke for her. Both private and public schools participate in external math competitions. The public does not help to prep. Not sure about private - good question to ask. Private school organizes regular internal math challenges / contests too. Both individual and team. DD currently does two math classes after school. If she goes into private, she'll drop one, but most likely keep AoPS. just because she loves it, on so many levels :)

Thank you for your perspective! May i ask how social your daughter is? does she connect / make friends easily? would this at all influence your decision? No, she's not changing the school, the classes composition may change next year, but the same 40+ gifted kids will remain in the grade, either in the form of two gifted classes or one full class and two splits, as this year. No carpooling options, unfortunately. Public transit - yes, for some, but technically she's considered too young for that and the school will definitely not allow her to leave unsupervised for another year or so. I think the issue may be a bit deeper than logistics. It's also how much family time she and we spend trying to compensate for what she's not getting in school. You know, I spent two years as full-time working mom of a professional athlete. Seriously, I've become a master of logistics and planning. It was very tough. I am hoping there is a better alternative....

I initially thought so, too, but then the teacher in the gifted class said in the interview that she almost never gives 4 and 4+ (that was when she was telling me how strong my daughter is). As i said, I do not understand how the system works...

I think you're practically describing the private school option we consider. Many enrichment activities, more rigorous academic program, time well spent in after-school, either with the class or on athletics or organized activities. Even getting there/back is the same: we'd have to drive her, as opposite to her walking to and from the school bus. Yes, you are correct, she's been with this company for a year and a half, and being a social butterfly as she is I think she probably has higher chances of making new friends in new school.

The report card in November does not have the letter grades - only qualitative assessments. She's marked as average across all subjects, except French, in which she's above average (well... duh, she's fluent), and "independent work", in which she's satisfactory, because she's distracting other kids when she's done with her work and they are not. Does this make any sense? Not to me...

Forgot to add: despite 4 and 4+ grades and very positive feedback from the teacher, her school report card is quite average. This itself does not bother me - rather, the public system looks to me as a game we play with no clear understanding of the objective or the rules. It does bother our daughter though and I'm starting to see the glimpses of "whatever" attitude, which is very not like her. Sorry, i know i sound bitter...

Thank you maize and OneStepAtATime. I know this private school fairly well. She used to go there prior to Grade1 and was begging us to move her back for three years after - until she got to the gifted stream. Unfortunately, we could not at that time. As my husband put it, two years in that school were probably her best studying years - she flourished there. That said, it was kindergarten, not grade school. I spoke with three parents of Grade5 kids from this school and the feedback was raving. That said, none of these kids are as advanced as our child. I had 1.5 hr meeting with the registrar, the questions he could not answer he wrote down and is organizing a separate meeting for me with several teachers after the winter break. This is my fear - that this will still be not challenging enough for her or too much of busywork and she will be uprooted from the company she likes. Hiring the help to drive her around is definitely an option we consider - the problem is it becomes much more difficult to coordinate all these activities time-wise, timeslots conflict and overlap, and it's tiring for the us and her to always be on the run.... Thank you once again!

Hello everyone, I am so confused and conflicted lately, can you please share your thoughts? Apologies in advance for being too verbose. We have a very bright almost 11yo daughter. Very strong academically, former successful competitive athlete, precocious , intellectually curious, very extraverted, easy going, well-liked by teachers and peers etc. This is her second year in gifted program. Last year, probably in comparison with the “old†school, she was ecstatic about everything school-related: she liked new school, teachers, peers, the program, what and how they learn. This year it’s different. While she’s overall still happy-go-lucky, the intellectual challenge and the joy of learning is no longer there. She consistently gets 4 and 4+. She comes up with more difficult tasks to make the assignments more challenging and interesting. The program is too simple for her and it’s admitted by teachers, too. There’s not much else they can do, her program is considered as much enrichment as you can get in the public system. It’s been a while we discussed anything notable she learned at the school. She still loves – no, LOVES - her classmates and clearly feels she’s in the company of like-minded. She attends a variety of extra-curricular activities where she’s challenged more, but the logistics is taking toll on the family (we both work full-time and have no extra help), especially now that our younger one, 4yo, is starting some extra-curr activities, too. There is an option to move her to a private school. Strong academics (1-2 years acceleration in most subjects), many more enrichment activities and possibilities such as contests, a choir and a band, field trips, in-house extra-curriculars such as robotics, science experiments, French club etc., with subject teachers (in contrast with public system, where arts and science and English and PhysEd are taught by the same person), with smaller classes and very close parent-teacher communication (not common in the public system). One of her best friends is in this school. Her little brother will be in this school next year. Attending this school will allow her (and us!) to drop some extra activities. Negatives – it is not formally gifted, and she would have to part with her peers. Please help me access what’s important! I know how precious it is to have an understanding and supportive peer group. At the same time I am just not sure that this should be more important than nurturing her curiosity and help her grow intellectually! ... and at the same time keeping the family sane and still have family dinners at least every other day, as opposite to constantly dropping off and picking up. WWYD?