Being Gifted, Does Not Mean Being Perfect

You know Your Child Is Gifted When

2006-04-18T18:22:00.000-07:00

He walks out side when its foggy and says "This must be what its like to walk in the clouds"

He looks in water puddles for rainbows

He stands guard to protect a mother bird and her eggs that have fallen from the nest.

He takes money from his piggy bank to put in donation jars at the stores.

He figures out what year his great grandfather died by his dad telling him how old his mom was when he died. Going based on the fact that his grandmother was 16 when his dad was born.

You know your child is gifted when you get to the checkout at the grocery store and he has calculated how much your going to spend.

When he reminds his mom to not leave the keys in the car and don't forget to take her purse from the cart at the store.

You know your child is gifted when you have to turn around after getting lost and your child gives you directions to get back to where you started from.

nothing like having your own personal navigator.

Games For Clever Kids

2006-04-15T17:59:00.000-07:00

I found some more internet resourses for clever children I want to share them so I'm putting them here on my blog. I know whenever I'm looking on the web for kids games it would be nice to find them all in one place. I will be adding more as I update my blog. To get the list of all of them you can suscribe to my RSS feed.

Animals of the world
Cool Science for curious kids
Nasa Space Place
Learning center for young Astronomers
Music Games
Clever games for clever people
Math Games
Online Etch A Sketch
Seusville Dr Seuss
Cyber Kids
Crack the code

What's with the grades

2006-04-12T17:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, first of all in no way do I expect any of my kids to be perfect but when I know what they are capable of doing in school I do get a tad upset when they bring home D's. For some reason not sure why DS has decided he hates school, doesn't want to go, says its a waste of 6 hours of the day. Now he's bringing home C's and D's on his papers C's are fine but D's I have a problem with since the work he's making this grade on is stuff he's done before. I think what makes me the most upset is that God has given him a brilliant mind but lacks with motivation, he almost needs a match lit under his butt to get him moving sometimes, unless its something that he wants to do. I am so looking forward to the summer.

Sponsered by: My Mothers Fault

A Mommy's Life

2006-04-10T15:36:00.000-07:00

I'm straying off topic again as I sometimes do. I found a blog that is about a mom,a wife a bread winner. Her blog Revenge of the Couch Potato's is one women's journey through life with her family tailing behind her. She writes about being creative in the kitchen about her children,her husband and her job. I found her blog to be insightful, funny and real Definitely worth a look.

Are you a Gifted Adult

2006-04-10T08:55:00.000-07:00

Since a Gifted childs IQ is very close to there parents and siblings IQ usually within 10 pts, I thought this would be interesting to take a look at. If you are a parent of a gifted child you may want to ask yourself these questions.

1. General Characteristics

Do you have a large vocabulary?
Are you multi-talented?
Do you have so many interests and abilities that it is hard to focus your energies on developing any of them to your satisfaction?
Are you possessed of an unrelenting (and possibly off-the wall) sense of humor?
Can you occupy time usefully without external stimulation?
Are you persistently goal-directed in your behavior?
Is your creativity apparent in all areas of endeavor?
Do you have the need and the energy to develop more capacity?

2. Entelechy

"The forms of `overexcitability' are particularly prominent in the gifted and creative because there we find a higher level of energy and capacity for sustained effort; enhanced differentiation and aliveness of sensual experience; greater avidity for knowledge, discovery, and attitude of questioning and questing; greater vividness of imagery, richness of associations, and capacity for detailed visualization, and greater depth and intensity of emotional life. One may think of these five forms of overexcitability as the substrate of giftedness and creative talent.

A. Psychomotor excitability:

Are you a high energy person?
Do you love intense physical activity and movement?
Do you feel constantly pressured to take action?
Are you impulsive?
Do you have nervous habits?
Are you restless, always on the go, incapable of just relaxing?
Do you talk compulsively?
Are you a workaholic?

B. Sensual excitability:

Are you often moved to tears by music or the visual arts?
Are you prone to eating and drinking excesses because they give you intense pleasure?
Are you adventurous where new sensory experiences are concerned (food, music, erotic experimentation, different environmental settings, for example)?
When you recall an experience, can you also recall the sensory aspects?
Is the touch, smell, taste, and sight of sex as important to you as having an orgasm?

C. Intellectual excitability:

(Not to be confused with high intelligence, since many highly intelligent individuals do not enjoy intellectual activities and pursuits)

Are you always questioning everything?
Do you love to explore a wide variety of theories and ideas?
Are you able to examine ideas outside of the framework of your own opinion?
Do you enjoy research, analysis, and theoretical thinking?
Is problem-solving a source of immense satisfaction?

D. Imaginational excitability:

Do you write, speak, think, or dream in vivid imagery?
Do you embellish the plain truth in ways that make your end of a conversation more impactful or amusing?
Do you express yourself in ways that demonstrate a rich association of images and impressions?
Do you entertain yourself endlessly with private jokes and wacky visual, auditory, or associational images?
Do you creatively reframe events to support your perspective on life?

E. Emotional excitability:

Are you excruciatingly sensitive, with intense emotions?
Can you describe your feelings with great precision?
Do you have intense emotional attachments to others?
Are your emotions sufficiently profound to take you beyond yourself into areas of philosophical consideration?
Do you suffer from extraordinarily high levels of fear and anxiety or suffer attacks of psychological depression?

4. High Intelligence

"Gifted adults differ intellectually from others. They are more sophisticated, more global thinkers. In addition, they have the capacity to generalize... They can grasp difficult concepts and phenomena. Their imagination and creativity are often incomprehensible to the average person... they have the ability to predict consequences... and foresee problems which are likely to occur. Gifted adults are able to see the pattern of development and growth, and therefore will recognize a trend. This allows them to predict and, by certain actions, to influence the trend.

Are you an independent thinker, individualistic, and mentally self-sufficient?
Are you a divergent thinker with unique and interesting perspectives?
Are you highly intuitive, with insight and foresight?
Do you enjoy experimenting with psychic and metaphysical ideas?
Are you relentlessly curious and investigative?
Are you verbally agile?
Do you love intense discussions?
Do you have an exceptional memory?
Do you think things out at an accelerated pace?
Can you work with extraordinary amounts of mental data?
5. The Search for Truth

"Those of us who are contemplative from the heart cannot tolerate the idea that life is accidental, purposeless, directionless. Therefore, we are faced with two alternatives: to erect and inhabit belief systems so as to posit meaning and purpose, or to cultivate the capacity to feel and experience life directly, and allow it to teach us its secrets, in accordance with our level of development
Do you strive to understand the nature and meaning of life?
Have you read extensively on the nature of mind or done any meditation practice designed to help you experience the nature of mind directly?
Are you attracted to, and long for, spiritual or mystical experiences that will provide the basis for a deeper understanding?
Are you preoccupied with death and the possibility of after-death experience?
Are you determined to make a meaningful contribution during your life?
Do you have strong feelings regarding issues of morality and justice?
6. The "Autonomous Factor" (from psychologist Kazimierz Dabrowski)

"... the autonomous factor enables the individual to transcend the limitations of both heredity and environment through self-determination. The autonomous factor is a sense of inner-directedness, an inner drive to make conscious choices in accordance with those principles which are highest in oneself." (Linda Kreger Silverman, Institute for Advanced Development)

Are you driven toward self-actualization and self-perfection?
Are you highly self-aware?
Have you demonstrated the capacity for intrapsychic transformation?
Do you feel a great deal of empathy and compassion for others?
Do you exhibit a high level of moral responsibility and integrity?

7. Perfectionism

"In a world in which emotional health is defined in terms of contentment, ability to relax, satisfaction with self and with life, and lack of inner conflicts, it is no wonder that the perfectionist is perceived as neurotic. Worse, the consistent messages that perfectionists receive throughout life convince them that there is some basic flaw in their personality which must be eradicated. This greatly exacerbates the amount of inner conflict with which they must cope. Not only do they feel shame, guilt and inferiority for not meeting their own standards; in addition, they feel shame, guilt and inferiority for having all this inner conflict. And this is where the tension can mount to the point of paralysis." (Linda Kreger Silverman, 1987)

Are you determined to do your best at all costs?
Do you feel inadequate to measure up to your personal standards?
Are consumed with self-doubt and self-criticism?
Is self-perfection or the perfection of your life's work the central driving force of your existence?
Do you have a sense of your potential destiny and feel responsible to live up it?
Do you have inappropriately high expectations of others?

8. Introversion

"All introverts are perfectionists. All gifted individuals are perfectionists in something (usually not their rooms). The gifted introvert is the perfectionist squared.

Do you prefer depth to breadth, concentrating on one activity at a time?
Are you hard to get to know, more involved with your internal world than you are with others, and have only a few close friends that know you well?
Are you easily humiliated, therefore keeping people at a distance?
In a social situation, do you wait to be approached rather than introducing yourself, and take time to observe others before engaging?
Do you develop skills in private before showing finished products to the world?
Do you need privacy, respect the privacy of others, and resent having your personal space invaded?

9. Idealism

"Advanced development has to do with recognizing and admiring a universal principle such as justice -- and then growing to the point where you do justice. You do justice, not only because it is right but more so because you cannot do otherwise. You don't believe in one thing but find yourself doing another; you become a just person." (Karen C. Nelson, 1989)

"Excellence may be a universal ideal, but it is a personal goal for only a few. The attainment of excellence begins with a vision -- a vision of what is possible. The vision does not visit everyone; it selects the most fertile ground for its development. What criteria does it use? Inherent capability, surely. However, there must also be emotional receptivity, a willingness to embrace the vision and devote oneself to it. If the ability is there, but the receptivity is lacking, the vision will be fleeting. It only remains with those who are willing to work toward its fruition.

Are you driven to achieve "what could be" when you think of "what is?"
Are you solidly connected to an inner vision and aware that that vision will continually evolve?
Do you feel compelled to connect directly with painful social ills, so as to educate others through your compassion and sacrifice?
Do you work tirelessly to make a contribution to better the world, in accordance with your ideals?

(taken from Rocomora schools)

Mothers Day coming soon

2006-04-06T17:22:00.000-07:00

With mothers day around the corner its time for me to start thinking of Mother's day gifts I love this time of the year when my little artist brings me home gifts he's made with this own little hands and of course I love the gifts that my Husband buys as well. This is the one time of the year that moms are actually recognized for all their hard work, I can't wait.

Gifted Siblings

2006-04-02T08:02:00.000-07:00

Looking back at my other children when they were growing up I had to stop an think of all the things that they were going through and what was causing their behavior and the struggles they were having at the time I had never heard the term gifted. My oldest son who is now 25 faced major challenges in school, he was in SLD classes during most of his school years he struggled with written expression and math. Paying attention was his downfall. I found out years later that he was ADD/ Gifted he is twice exceptional but at the time I had no idea since I had never heard the term gifted before I had no idea what that meannt. Today he is doing well and understands himself a lot better and was able to overcome his learning disabilities he still struggles with certain things but has learned to work around these problems.

My oldest daughter who is now 19 was my problem child she always did pretty well in school but was always a challenge for her teachers, by the time she was in 6th grade she was skipping school, getting into trouble and the list goes on. We thought she was just rebelling and we continued to punish her thinking she would get tired of staying in her room. Please remember we still have no clue about gifted children at this point our son still had not been tested. Soon the school intervened and she was skipped a grade and was put into the 7th grade immediately, at this point she settled down the challenge for her was in place and from that time forward she excelled in school and graduated in 2004. She now at age 19 makes a little over 3000.00 a month in income working for State Farm insurance one of her greatest qualities is the need to constantly be challenged and this works good for her in her field of work.

Our 17 year old daughter is much like our son She flies through school with very little effort, never studies and still makes straight A's but she lacks common sense which is vital to making it in the real world. She scored in the top 100 in our county for Fcat which is wonderful but at the same time she's what I would consider and air head. She's academically brilliant but at the same time she doesn't have a clue about how life really works and because of this her future could be a rocky one.

As our kids were growing up we had no idea what a gifted child was. I wish I knew then what I know now. I wonder sometimes how or if I would have done things differently for them.

Kids Resourses

2006-03-26T16:13:00.000-08:00

HistoryChannel Classroom
Nasa For Kids
Discovery School Brainbooster's
Yahooligans
Discovery
School
Higher Order Of Thinking
Extraordinary Mazes
Brain Quest
Quiz Hub

A very serious situation

2006-03-22T20:25:00.000-08:00

I want to change pace for just a bit, We recently discovered that a friend of the family had filed a Vioxx Lawsuits I don't know if anyone reading this is aware of the dangers of Vioxx. I felt that I should share information in order to get the word out of how dangerous this drug is and anyone that had taken it in the past should seek legal council. My husbands friend became very ill after taking Vioxx it almost took his life. He has filed a Vioxx Lawsuit just recently and we are wishing him the best and we hope he prevails to compensate for the suffering and damages that has occurred.

Classroom Connection

2006-03-20T05:15:00.000-08:00

Classroom Connection

Here's a little Trivia from a 9 year old

2006-03-17T11:42:00.000-08:00

Who is the first person you ever met in your life?

If you would like you can post what you think the answer is
I'll post his answer in a few days

I answered it and I felt stupid afterwards, it wasn't his answer trust me.
His answer to me was ME His Mom, He said from the moment his heart was beating it was me that was there. I just about cried. I guess the answer could really be whoever you would consider the first person you ever met. I never really gave it much thought until now.

I just posted his answer in the comments section.

Fears Of The Gifted Child

2006-03-13T16:31:00.000-08:00

I know its normal for all children to be afraid of things but what I find disturbing about my DS is his fears tend to take over. During the summer of 2004 we went through 4 Hurricanes here in East Central Florida. I think for the most part he always had a fear of storms but after this experience he was much worse then ever before. Now just the hint of a storm coming sends him into shut down mode, what I mean by this is that he starts to get that look of fear on his face then looks for a place to curl up and then proceeds to shut down(goes to sleep. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.

The dark and fear of someone killing us is another thing, he turns on all the lights in the house, He cannot stand to not have window coverings up in fear that someone can see us on the inside. I'm hoping he grows out of most of this as he goes. He has always been afraid that something would happen to one of us no matter how much we assure him nothing will. I really think deep down he thinks were lying to him. The best way I could tell someone to handle something like this is to just keep re-assuring your child that everything is going to be fine. This is what I do. This is the only thing I can do.

Strange Days of being Gifted

2006-03-11T07:39:00.000-08:00

I thought I would share some of DS strange behaviors, habits whatever you want to call them. Maybe some of you can relate to this and maybe not but here is some things he does. One of the things he does is chews on things and I don't mean gum. He has been a chewer for as long as I can remember. He chews on his clothes as a matter fact he has chewed holes in his sleeves and the collars of his shirts.

He hums all the time, no matter what sitting he's in, he's huming. This can be annoying at times.

I remember about a year or so ago he was going through a phase he would wear a t-shirt with a clip on tie clipped to the collar, interesting combination to say the least. He also went through a phase of painting his nails which its my understanding that this is fairly normal for most boys to want to try Moms things but he was wearing it to school until he was picked on so bad he never done it again.

He has a high sense of smell and taste to the point he walks around smelling everything even our poor cat.

Speaking of our cat I remember one summer he gave our cat which is a Siamese by the way, he gave her a hair cut because he told us he felt sorry for her since it was so hot outside he was trying to get rid of some of her fur for her. Anyway these are some things that DS has done in the past the chewing and humming he still does. hopefully he'll grow out of it. I hope!!!!

This is not a one size fits all. Gifted Signs

2006-03-06T07:12:00.001-08:00

Well if any of you have a gifted child you have probably already have read some of the most common signs. While I do agree with a majority of them they do seem to differ in children. Where one child may present a majority of the signs some children may show only a few but still test gifted. My conclusions are not based on any type of research but only on my personal experience with my own gifted child.

Reasons well (good thinker)
Learns rapidly
Has extensive vocabulary---(Not Always)
Has an excellent memory----(When it suits him)
Has a long attention span (if interested)
Sensitive (feelings hurt easily)
Shows compassion
perfectionist's-----Signs of perfectionism can vary. For us it doesn't mean he keeps his room tidy or keeps his clothes folded. For my DS it means that he has a fear of trying new things in fear of failure.
Intense
Sensitive
Has strong curiosity (Yes, this is extreme for my DS)
Perseverant in their interests(Hyperfocus's)
Has high degree of energy (Almost seems hyper at times)
Prefers older companions or adults----(Not Always) How about Companionship in general
Has a great sense of humor (So much it gets him in trouble)Class Clown
Early or avid reader (if too young to read, loves being read to)----(This is not always the case.)
Concerned with justice and fairness (Always) Makes him a tattle tale
Judgment mature for age at times
Is a keen observer----(Doesn't miss a thing)
Is very creative
questions authority (All the time)
Good with numbers (This is not the case in every gifted child)
Good at jigsaw puzzles

Signs of being gifted

2006-03-04T12:45:00.000-08:00

I thought I would post some signs that I noticed with my son in case someone is looking for identifiers of giftedness for their child.
Emotions- This kid cried when I took him to see Garfield, he thought Odie was being mis-treated. The kid is super sensitive it doesn't take much for his feelings to be hurt.
Avid reader. This is one of the signs that most gifted kids show straight off jump street but I will say my son is not that much of a reader he gets bored with reading very quickly. He is a good reader 3rd grade reads on a 9th grade level but has no desire to sit with his nose in a book unless he is caught up in one of his Artemis Fowl books.
Puzzles- Now this is the one that threw me for a loop, Imagine your little 7 year old who is in the first grade and working a puzzle he found on Jigzone.com, but this isn't your normal kiddie puzzle this puzzle is made up of all 50 states, no lines to place the pieces on, no names on the pieces, you would almost have to know all your states and the exact placement of each state to get this one right. He did this in 9 minutes. I wouldn't even go there with that.
Just Knows the Answer- Here's a good one that I'll never understand. My 9 year old DS ask me if I knew how to do Square Roots and gives me a problem to figure out, While I'm doing a search on the internet on Square Roots to find the answer he is spouting it out of his mouth. This is one of those things that makes you go. Hmmm

I just wanted to give a few ideas of some things to look for these things that I've posted are things that I have experienced first hand. I'm going to be posting more of the signs that I had with my son maybe it will help someone else determine if their child may have a gift or not.

Smart and Lazy

2006-03-03T05:18:00.000-08:00

I have never in my life seen such a lazy child, He brings homework home almost everyday but hardly ever turns it in. Sometimes he just doesn't do it. Why is he like this? He knows the work could probably have it done in 10 minutes and it takes 2 seconds to hand it to his teacher. He takes lots of shortcuts for things to keep from having to do them, for instance instead of working a math problem on paper like most people he'll work it in his head. Problem here is he is more likely to make careless mistakes and get the answer wrong. This will not help him on his Fcat which is are state academic test they take once a year. His room is a mess he will get something out of a draw and then leave the draw open. His desk is a mess at school I have had several complaints from his teacher about this. It all comes down to him just doing things that involve a little effort. I just have to figure a way to get him from being so lazy

How do we know he's gifted

2006-03-02T05:37:00.000-08:00

After thinking for several years that there was something emotionally wrong with my son I had him tested by a psychologist. I was in shock to find out that my sons intelligence was 2 standard deviations above the normal. Now what do I do? Its been an uphill battle after we found this out several years ago. I started educating myself on the subject as much as possible to try to get him help. Being gifted does not mean that everything just falls in your lap, oh no its very much the opposite. Daily struggles with academics, emotions, quirky behavior and just plain old know it all, you will find it all here.