New to the idea of giftedness -- what are the basics I should know?

[Alicia64]

I have 7 year old twins. And I've been aware of it since he was 4.

 

Dh was gifted and was in GATE programs etc. When I ask dh what we should do differently, he just gives simple answers that don't give me anything concrete to go off of.

 

What should I know as a new comer to the idea that my gifted boy might need something different?

 

Btw, I wouldn't call him "highly" gifted. But he's reading at a 3rd grade level and he's a rising 2nd grader. So, without having him tested, I doubt he's "off the charts or anything.

 

But he never had much phonics instruction. He seemed to pick up reading on his own as I was reading aloud to him.

 

Plus he's much quicker in math.

 

Thanks for the help!

 

Alley

[Rebecca VA]

Wait...you have twin boys and one of them is gifted? And the other one isn't? I'm just trying to figure out what you're saying.

[Alicia64]

They're fraternal. I should have added that!

 

Alley

[2smartones]

Statistically speaking, children who both have the same mother and father won't be more than 10-15 points apart in IQ. They may show their giftedness in different ways, one may have a learning disability, one may have a lack of desire, etc., but they're probably equal on the playing field anyway. If one is gifted, you should assume the other is, too.

 

What sort of information are you looking for? Giftedness characteristics? http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/What_is_Gifted/whatis.htm Hover over the "what is giftedness" link on the left to learn more.

[Alicia64]

Yes, my other son is very smart and just shows it differently then the one I'm talking about.

 

I guess I'm just wondering if I should be using different curriculum or doing something different w/ him?

 

I've acknowledged for awhile that he catches onto the curriculum faster then my other boy etc. but is there anything special I should be doing with his homeschooling?

 

Thanks again,

 

Alley

[Windmilldreamer]

I'm "officially" "gifted". And some of my education was in programs designed for gifted kids. Some of that saved my life; some of it was irrelevant.

 

One ds was officially "gifted" according to the public schools, and spent some time in the GATE program. I'm not impressed that they did anything that would not also have been beneficial to the whole class--except that they figured that they gifted kids would not fall behind during the time that they got pulled out.

I also felt like they were doing the kinds of enrichment that are precisely what hs moms usually find a way to do with all of their children.

 

The two things you want to watch out for, IMHO, with gifted kids are boredom and coasting. Boredom becomes a crucial problem in the school system, because if you keep a kid at grade level and they are working way beyond grade level, then they may stop functioning completely.

 

It was at the 8-12 grade level that a program for gifted children probably saved me. I was beginning to shut down and slump. Shifting to a school with teachers who didn't care what process I used, and who were absolutely adamant that I had the capacity and had better learn the challenging material they put before me was wonderful. They didn't have special teaching techniques, in fact they may have been less than ideal teachers--they just threw challenging stuff at us.

 

In the homeschool environment, boredom is not so much of a problem because you are not going to keep reteaching your child something he already knows, and refuse to let him do something else. You can keep prodding him to learn something more/deeper/broader/better.

 

Coasting, however, could be a problem with twins. How do you deal with the fact that the standards are ultimately going to be different for the two of them? If you reach a point where child 1 reads twice as fast as child 2, you need child 1 to understand that this does not just mean he spends half as much time reading as child 2. And you need both of them to understand that they ability to do scholastic work (and quite possibly a range of different sorts of mental work) faster and better does not make you a better person. And child 1 does need to learn to work hard at some point, because it seems to be the ability to persevere that makes the difference as to whether high IQ has any major results in a person's life.

 

Anyway, people who are closer to the issues of hsing a gifted child than I am will have more useful information, but this is what my experience suggests.

 

Have fun!

[Alicia64]

Windmill ~

 

I pm'd you -- thank you so much for posting. VERY helpful!

 

Alley

[2smartones]

The curriculum ITSELF doesn't matter as long as it fits the child's learning style... gifted or not. If you have a hands-on learner, you'll drive him crazy if all he ever gets to do is read about something. The important thing is to not be afraid of taking a sharp turn when you think the road should be straight. If you're talking about the civil war, and the child asks you about body decomposition out in the field, you may have to switch to anatomy/physiology or birds of prey and come back to the specifics of the war later. Otherwise, you'll have a daydreamer on your hands who doesn't learn anything about the war because they're too busy watching the bodies in their minds. LOL!

[Tracy]

Read Creative Home Schooling: A Resource Guide for Smart Families. A wonderful resource to get you started.