Voted. :)

Mean mom: had the boys all do metronome work for music this morning. Had the older two do dishes (was overflowing-eek). Nice mom: taking them all to a festival to drive go-carts and play with their friends this afternoon. Everyone, including Dh, slept late today.

Brunswick kippered herring is a go to snack around here.

Susan, It was a few years back. The presenter may have been a psychologist or neuropsychologist or neurologist. I can look further, but this link has the gist of some of what she talked about- pages 3,4. http://www.corwin.com/upm-data/32712_Sousa_(Gifted_Brain)__Ch1.pdf I just did a quick search. What i recall as take home: MRIs showed developmental differences. The 'golden ages' of childhood for nt kids were more often tumultous years among gt kids, those same gt kids then made for easier teens. I recall being promised that we would have awesome teens. :) I also recall that a high iq due to high working memory was not placed in the same grouping as other profiles of gifted, but seen as closer to nt. There is a continuum with outliers and there are differently developing brains. I am grateful that there are so many education options for the vast variety of learners out there. Age banding is truly disastrous for some kids who can be from either category. I have met a 7 year old with deeper abstract thinking skills than many 15 year olds (not my kid I'm talking about). Brick and mortar schools or cc set restrictions on age. It will more likely result in the outliers and deviants (in a good way here) looking elsewhere. Like I said, cc is huge around here. It just hasn't impressed me or looked like a good fit for my family. Ok, did my best to remember what I could. I'm old and sleep deprived so don't rely on my recollections, but if you have sway with cc and think they might be missing out by having age restrictions I urge you to look into this further.

Hurray! Enjoy the sweet spot. Things can change so quickly. But it sure feels great to have a smooth run. :)

Surf Pinterest for scouting crafts. Also consider cooking decorative cakes or cookies. Metal work and glass cutting/mosaics have that wood carving appeal. Do you already do more than carving, like staining or painting or woodburning after carving?

Do you need a class? My new motto is going to be laziness is the mother of invention. My kids use Kahn academy to self teach programming (as of the last 2-3 months) in Java. They aren't even into minecraft, but there's tons to learn about programming just related to mc. One of my stinkers was too lazy to go to the next room to get his graphing calculator for precalc homework so he instead programmed a trig calculator in Kahn. He said it was easy- probably was. They also like making spin offs and getting votes for their programs, making and playing games. I think they take things much farther and are more creative (even if out of laziness) by not being directed by a class. Plus, I'm cheap.

Thanks for addressing this point. Cc is huge around here- to the extent that there are postings in the paper about kids who do the challenges. There are amazing kids on the AL board and IRL, but I haven't seen them in cc despite the aggressive advertising. I think it is self selecting. A few years ago I did go to a presentation by a neurologist studying brain development in gifted kids. Her data showed very real differences. There are, of course, different definitions and degrees of giftedness. I also think you can kill thinking in kids. We step into and out of school systems as needed so I have no aversion to systems. I'm just not impressed by cc and even less so the more I know about it. It's still great to have choices for all types though.

I hope you recover quickly! The nurse probably meant well, but that's terrible timing and not appropriate.

I looked into meshing the two books earlier in the year. *But* we are an AoPS family- my kids loathe Saxon and only use it because they are getting some official credit by doing so. The books really don't meld at all. It's great that you have something that works. On the other hand I sincerely believe you are shortchanging your kid if you don't at least try going for the depth and understanding offered by AoPS (or SM CWP or JA for ex). The placement test is not at all indicative of the challenge level of the text or class.

Amy, I will echo advice to think very carefully about cc. There are good reasons to go that route with a young child, but there are serious challenges as well. Assuming the pace, homework load, testing style and content are appropriate, keep in mind some very real downsides. There are sex offenders on campus. You and kid will need to go through a process of paperwork and interviews most likely. Mom signatures may not suffice. Liability concerns are huge. Teacher and department support can make or break it. Whatever your comfort level, you may not be allowed to leave your kid based on school policy and may find yourself reading on the floor outside of a classroom or language lab. It is likely as well that policy will prohibit you from bringing your littler one. The cost will be there whether taken for a grade or audited. It is a permanent record. My 9 yo is self teaching a language using Mango for free through the library. Even though we don't have any local classes or resources available for the language study, there are online options including tutors. I see many great resources for French. It is definitely worth looking into what folks have suggested before looking at cc.

Poor kid. Please don't be another adult in this boy's life who gives him the wrong message. Money issue aside, set expectations and boundaries and turn him away if he can't meet them. Letting him be an exception will reinforce his parents' stance. If he loses enough he will eventually rebel against what sounds like unreasonable control and start taking responsibility for his own life. Or maybe his parents will wake up and see that what they are doing is not working.

I use it with my youngest. We have a notebook/art book and use print outs. I don't really use it as science so much as an excuse to get this kid to do something with me. He's a goofball though and I'm not sure he even pays attention to the educational part- more prone to making alien shadow puppets than actually learning anything.

For Oz lovers I would look at TH White first part Sword in the Stone, Barrie's Peter Pan, L'Engle, and some of Mark Twain's short stories. I can ask my oldest- he likes junk books but knows the difference and reads it all. We had the same stopping points at that age as you mention.

Thanks. I took Benadryl and think I'll go back to avoiding the fresh fruit I love. Throat still feels kind of lumpy, but nothing that seems dangerous. Just frustrating and uncomfortable. I never heard of OA before this all started a few years ago. Heels: That is so interesting about pink lady apples. I usually get honeycrisps for the family, which causes the super itchy mouth, but the apple slices I had tonight were a different variety. I'm not going to experiment though. Maybe fun to look up some night when I can't sleep (tonight I have the help of Benadryl).

Within the last 2-3 years I have developed oral allergies to a few fresh fruits. Reaction was generally just mouth itching. It was bad enough though to stop eating raw apples, pears and cherries. Tonight I had three apple slices. The first didn't bother my mouth too much so I ate the other two. Now, a couple of hours later, my throat feels swollen and like there's a lump stuck all the way down. I haven't had anything else to eat since. Does anyone know about oral allergies? Is this an allergic reaction? Would it help to eat something else? Take benadryl? Dh is out of town and it is too late to call anyone so I'd appreciate any voices of experience. Thanks.

I can't look at this thread without having the scene from The Life of Brian pop into my head. "We are all different..."

Well, SOTW has a fun activity for making yak butter tea- shake the cream to butter thing. It comes from Tibet so perhaps this is a modern take on that. At the urging of a mom, I tried bulletproof coffee. The coconut oil made me sick and though creamy, coffee still needs some sugar to take the bitter edge off at least, IMHO. I went back to cream (yum) and tried a much smaller amount of coconut oil, about 1/4 tsp, and added sugar. I was actually quite surprised at the long lasting energy I had from this. It seemed to extend the coffee effect for a couple of hours at least. It cant hurt and i don't shy away from oils or fats so why not. There's another anecdote to add....

This does sound damaging. Gifted kids are set apart more by rate of learning and ability to synthesize and innovate, moreso than by the stuff they know. Would you be able to send your dh, ds, and a more NT friend of your ds off to do something that none have done before? Learn a new skill or tackle a new sport or activity. This would give your dh a chance to have some perspective: to see how his son learns relative to both another kid and himself. The key would be to have it be a learning process from scratch for your dh as well. Sometimes there's no other way to get the point across than experience. Having another kid present can also help diffuse the inclination to be harsh. Alongside this it would be worth spending a few months providing literature on asynchronous behavior and dropping authoritative comments reinforcing the points of the literature. Just be absolute and matter of fact- and have the facts. I tend to forget, given my nonconfrontational and peacemaking nature, that it can take a forceful and authoritative voice to get through to with those used to stricter hierarchy.

I'll third the Kahn Academy suggestion for learning and practicing the basics.

I realize that isn't a lot of information on the interaction to go on, but would it help to separate two issues mentioned: gifted denial and criticism? Since you deal with gifted denial you can understand how hard it can be to have a reasonable measuring stick and how easy it is to find excuses for exceptional behaviors. It sounds like you have grappled with (maybe still do) this and could really use some validation in the household. But maybe if you had more confidence then your dh's denial wouldn't phase you? (Just offering thoughts that may be totally off base) My dh works long hours, is minimally involved in school or running of the household, has minimal exposure to daily life. When he is around we either go about our business or he whisks in for brief fun. He really doesn't care about giftedness, just wants to know the kids are doing school. So I think there's some gifted denial, but not the criticism. On the other hand your post hit a nerve with me because it describes my experience with one of our music teachers. Marvelous artist level, Uni prof teacher is critical. I get upset almost every single lesson at how my boy gets reamed. He plays collegiate level and all he hears is criticism. Truly, I have come home near tears many times. Recently dh took the kid to lesson while I had another obligation and he came back with a *totally* different perspective. He was so pleased at the level of care, depth and attention to minutia. He saw nothing to be offended by. I was stunned and had to take another look at my own reactions. Your post makes me wonder if your dh isn't so much in gifted denial, rather he has higher expectations where he is knowledgable. Is it possible to say directly to him that you would like for him to listen to your ds and find one positive comment to say? I can't do this with teacher, but I have used the direct 'you don't need to know why- just do this' approach with dh. On the other hand I'm curious if this even bothers your ds. Feeling threatened by being passed by the kid is another whole thing. But I think the interactions you describe can have other explanations. Sorry if the above is rambling... Haven't had coffee yet.

I really liked a movie on Netflix called Europa Report. It isn't graphically violent, but can get scary. Maybe preview depending in your 6th grader.

EndOfOrdinary, My issues are different ones (not all actually), but essentially I had and have similar struggles. I have had to self teach so many ordinary social and functional behaviors. This is the first time I have heard of someone else going through this!

Thanks for posting that link. I have some concerns about my youngest, but no idea where to start.

We are not a large family (now), but we are fortunate to have found our dream home. 2800 sqft with a full basement (walk out) almost as large. It needs a lot of work. We're patient and have a 20+yr plan. We could not have picked up this house had someone already come in and updated. The house itself is perfect. The community is not as good of a fit. Now if only we could bring in more like minded neighbors.