Anyway, it sounds like you’re doing everything right. In the end I’m not sure how much difference it makes, but I’m sure it’s hard to watch him be disappointed in not getting where he wants to be.
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Yeah, looking back I think my school did an above average job of identifying gifted kids. The valedictorian of our high school was definitely one of those smart but not gifted kids. She worked harder than anyone else so she certainly deserved it, but she struggled in certain areas, like original proofs in geometry. That requires critical thinking and creativity and she was a memorizer.
She’s now a physician who makes double what I make, but I was the gifted one.
Society places a lot of value on intelligence.
A few gifted people who become entrepreneurs can do very well for themselves but a lot of them end up bored, I think.
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first, be careful what you wish for, I would hate for him to be placed into Gifted and not get the grades he is used to.
second, I would be curious what the tests are asking. I am (was) mathematically very gifted. I literally race people on calculators, I did squares and fractions on what felt like instinct. But, when the math questions weren’t actually mathematics - terms, definitions - I did terribly. I remember as a kid failing a math test because I never bothered to learn terms like Ordinal and Cardinal. Also, because math was so instinctual for me, I was terrible at showing my work. I didn’t need to do all the steps, some things I just knew and couldn’t explain.
I understand him wanting to be in the Gifted group, as so much of my ego and pride was tied to my math ability. But, some tests just didn’t fully suit what came naturally to me.
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Ouch. I don’t know, tell him that life is all about being disappointed that you are X and not X+1.
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My kid is gifted. And frankly it doesn’t seem like a great way to live.
It basically just means she is bored all the time and learns nothing all day.
At least for her.
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Both my sons are very young for their grade (born in August and September, and the cutoff is September 30), and they really struggled with some things in the early years of elementary school. They both seemed to hit their stride right around 3rd/4th grade.
We almost held my older son back a year after kindergarten, but I’m glad we didn’t (although I bet some of the social and emotional stuff we are dealing with in middle school would be a little more manageable if we had, as all of his friends now are 1-2 years older than him despite being in the same grade, since so many people around here hold off on kindergarten even when their kid isn’t close to the cut off).
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My older son has a pre algebra test on Tuesday, so he’s studying now. My younger son asked for some math homework to do, too, because it’s fun. I gave him some challenging multiplication drills that are above his current education level, and he’s nailing them.
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Do you know the game “24”? You pick 4 numbers at random from 1 to 10 (or 12). Repeats allowed. You then have to manipulate them to come up with the answer of 24, using all four numbers. For example, if your 4 random numbers are 5, 3, 7, 10 then you could say (5+3)x(10-7). You can come up with your own points scoring system. Fun way for them to learn some mental arithmetic. My one kid liked the game and my other kid loved it (still does in fact and she’s a junior in college.)
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Oh yes, I have played a lot of 24! Uses to play it with some actuary friends at work every morning.
I bought two sets of the game, one for at home and one for him to donate to his school. It’s probably pretty advanced for most 4th graders, but I bet some gifted kids would really enjoy it.
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The little one decided to dress up as Rachel Carson (American marine biologist) for school in relation to a scientist that she most admires.
Budding bio-scientist here for sure (loves nature snd animal protection).
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Kid (Proud): I dunked my head underwater! Twice!
Mom: Wow, that’s great!
Kid: But the second time it hurt my nose, mouth, and eyes!
Me: Did it get up your nose the second time?
Kid: No, it just hurt a lot. Uhg!
Me: Sorry to hear that.
Kid (Whiney): Why did it hurt the second time, but not the first time??
Me: Did you go under water different times? Maybe the amount of soap was different?
Kid: It was soapy both times! The same soapiness!
Mom: How did you go underwater each time? Maybe there was a difference?
Kid: It was the same both times! I put my head underwater and then UHHGG!!
Mom: But tell us what happened, what did you do first.
Me: (not really expecting this to go anywhere) Be detailed…
Kid: Well the first time I laid on my back, and closed my eyes, and held my breath and put my head underwater.
And then the second time I did the exact same thing, I closed my eyes and held my breath and put my head underwater, and I saw a dark ghost and then my mouth and eyes and nose hurt!
Us: What?
Kid: I saw a dark ghost, and then it hurt.
Us: Oh that was probably the difference.
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9yo: 12yo just kicked me out of his room.
Me: That’s his right; were you being annoying?
9yo: No! I just farted in his room.
Me: Well, everyone has to do that, but you don’t necessarily have to do it in his space when you could go to the bathroom.
9yo: What? I HAD to let it rip!!
Kids are gross.
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9 yo “And I was sitting on his pillow. Just natural I guess.”
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Hahaha!
Last night this was the conversation at Casa de twig:
Mini Me: I want to give you a hug Mama!
Me: Great! I love hugs!
Mini Me: [throwing her arms around me] HUUGGGGIIIIIEEEEEE!!!
Me: Oh! Thank you! What a great hug! You and [BF] are my favorite people to get hugs from!
Mini Me: Well whose hugs do you like more? Mine or [BF]’s?
Me: Yours of course!
Mini Me: [farts very loudly while still hugging me and won’t let go]
Me: Did you just fart? I take it back! [BF] doesn’t fart when he hugs me. I think I like his hugs better!
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Our little one also thinks that farting is hilarious.
Does it all the time with her friends.
I can’t remember at what age it went from “funny” to “a bit embarrasing” for us (like 10 or so?).
Was going through the pics and videos we made during our road trip in Brazil and our little one seems to love singing:
Heal the World
Frozen (theme song)
Jingle Bell Rock
My wife and I got a bit tired of jingle bell rock (must have listened to that song like 100+ times in Lapland as the little one liked it a lot) but heal the world is a nice song for kids (they were singing it at school which is why she wanted to sing it out loud during the trip)
Oh you’ll be more than a little bit tired before you’re done lol :).
We are going through our second round of Barney now with our granddaughter. I’m listening to it in the background and hey that’s not Barney! I guess they got a new person to do the voice. Someone we will call ‘not Barney’.
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The Artist Previously Known As Not Barney
[or]
The Artist Previously Not Known As Barney
[or]
The Artist Not Previously Known As Barney
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We forced our kid to watch/listen/sing palatable things.
Our definition of palatable includes a lot of Disney, but not Barney, and nothing repeating x10000.
…The man I inherited it from is not the real Dread Pirate Roberts either…