The Dancing Gene

So, Daniel's latest thing is dance. Now, I don't push things on my son. I encourage him to explore and nurture his interests, but I don't force him into extra activities because I think they're what he should be doing. In December he started bugging me ferociously to take tap dancing lessions. I put him off and when he was still harping about it a month later, I figured he was serious. So, we headed off to the dance studio to enroll.

He is now the only boy in the entire studio and loves it. He is taking tap and ballet in a combo class. All the girls fight over who gets to be his partner. He has a whole new bunch of friends. And I'm sure the fact that he gets to bang around in really noisy shoes doesn't hurt either. The other mothers look at me a little strangely - the ones who drag their little girls in every week decked out in pink frilly stuff - I really don't think they believe this is his idea.

Daniel has also decided that performing is his thing. Well at least for now. He wants desperately to be on stage in a play. He was in one last year and loved it. Well, there aren't a lot of parts for wild four year olds, so we sent his info out to a talent agency and he got an audition call. His audition must have gone well (they wouldn't let me watch), so now he officially has an agent. What can I say. He's a mess, but I love eery minute of it. :)

My Students

How to Tell...

I actually get asked quite a bit by other parents how I know Daniel is different. Of course anyone who spends any time with him usually picks up on it quickly, but what they are hinting at is that every parent thinks their little angel is special. I can read between the lines - and hear between the words. I am not by any means an expert on giftedness; I just research things that are interesting to me. But an interesting tidbit came up in my readings - parents are the primary identifiers of gifted children while teachers are often the worst identifiers of giftedness. That made me think...how is it that parents with little or no understanding of the topic are the best at identifying, while the education professionals are the worst? I think it comes down to a few important factors: 1) parents see their child across many settings, teachers do not; 2) parents get the opportunity to watch their child's development over time, teachers get a snapshot; and 3)often teachers expect gifted children to be their best pupils, when really there is no direct relationship with giftedness and earning good grades. Many times the gifted child is the who drives the teacher crazy with constant questioning and can't remember to do his math homework. I came across this video that discusses attributes of giftedness:

Adequate Progress

A few years back our county implemented an Advanced Academics program for the primary years. Now that we've had the program in place for a few years, we can really look at the data and determine the effectiveness of the program. Yes, all of the students are still scoring above grade level, but some of the "hard-core parents" - those of us who really belive in a full-time gifted program are not really pleased. Even though these students are scoring above grade level, they are not making the progress they could be making. I think the bare minimum should be annual growth of at least 1 grade level. Sometimes gifted children are not scrutinized for this - as long as they stay "advanced" no one cares. They should be looking at whether or not that child made the progress he or she could have - every child should be challenged every day in school.

I found this video that I think really emphasizes this point:

Parent Resources

I thought it might be nice to post some common resources for parents of gifted children:
National Association for Gifted Children http://www.nagc.org/

FLorida Association for the Gifted http://www.flagifted.org/


What can you do as a parent of a gifted child? You have to be vocal and make your platform known to your local school district. We have an advanced academics program in our district because 1 parent refused to accept the existing curriculum for her child. Right now we are putting together a secondary years IB program and organizng an IB Booster Club to support it. It is actually being paid for by community donations. None of that would be possible without parents taking the lead!

Welcome Home Peter Parker

After soccer games we go out to this little diner for breakfast and coffee. Well, next door to the diner is a new pet shop. Somehow we found ourselves in the pet shop after our pancakes looking at fish. No, Daniel has never had a pet. In his new school they have a class pet. He is a guinea pig named Fluffy who escapes on a regular basis. He also bites, so they don't really play with Fluffly too much.

So, I figured a pet would be a good way to start teaching responsibility. We settled on a fish. Daniel picked out a beautiful red and blue beta that he named Peter Parker - because he is the same colors as Spiderman. Now Daniel gives me daily updates on Peter Parker's mood. Apparently last night he was sad, but this morning he was happy again. We're still fighting over whether or not Peter Parker will be making an appearance at show and tell on Friday.

The Make Believe World of Daniel

I guess I had always assumed that all children had make believe friends and created fantasy games. During my research on early giftedness, I discovered that it is something that gifted children are more prone to do, but I guess I still didn't think it was odd. Daniel probably started his make belive play around the age of 2. So, after 2 years of this, it's pretty common place for me - I guess I don't notice it too much. One of his favorite games is to play make believe sports, especially football. He names all of the characters and creates elaborate plays. Of course, he is always the quarterback, but he doesn't really know the different positions, he just likes to throw the ball.



We were at the doctor's office waiting for an appointment, and Daniel decided to pass the time with a rousing game of imaginary football. I wasn't paying much attention to him - he was being quiet and not terroizing the fish in the office aquarium. The lady next to me was just amazed and kept telling me how impressed she was. Then she turned to another woman and pointed out Daniel's game. Of course, he stopped when he got attention. But it made me wonder, why people are so amazed when a child uses his imagination. That should be part of childhood. Instead of stressing over early literacy and how much we can accelerate learning, we should be encouraging creativity and imagination. We have so many years to be serious, we should let our children have fun while they can. After all, there are certain things you can only get away with in childhood - and imaginary football in the doctor's office is definitely one of them!