The Gifted Child - part 2 | Raise Your Child . org

The Gifted Child - part 2

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Continuation of the article by Theresa Willingham

She scored one point shy of admission to the gifted student program at our local elementary school. Because she didn’t hurry through a timed portion of the test - indeed, has never hurried through anything - a score sheet said she wasn’t The “profoundly gifted,” but just a “plain old smart kid.” I was invited to bring her back in a year and have her tested again. The school was sure she would make it on the second round. I decided it wasn’t that important.

Of course she’s gifted. Her IQ measures in the 120 range. She’s twelve now, a magnificent artist, with a mature flair for cartooning and a deep and abiding love and understanding of nature. But she can’t do grade-level math to save her soul. Her sister, whom I never had tested, is also gifted. At ten, she shows “prodigious talent” at the piano and works well above grade level in math. But she gets confused with word problems on paper and her giftedness takes flight at the sight of any kind of “test.” The girls’ seven-year-old brother would probably be stuck in a learning disabled class. His giftedness is somewhat hidden behind a gregarious, fun-loving nature and an abhorrence of reading, although he loves to be read to and has the focus and maturity to enjoy listening to long novels with his sisters.

My friends’ kids are gifted, although not all of them notice their gifts. These children are wonderful skaters, artists, inventors, budding scientists, amateur filmmakers, young architects, and more. NThem have ever been formally tested for giftedness. As far as the public schools are concerned, these plain old smart kids have to tough it out in crowded classrooms with everyone else. Fortunately, many of these friends homeschool and they don’t have to worry about that.

I’m sure your children are gifted too. When my children were very little and we spent time with other friends who had children the same ages, I would watch in fascination and wonderment at the skills and talents they all showed at those tender ages. I couldn’t figure out why those other parents didn’t seem to see their children’s talents. Indeed, over time, a lot of those talents went unrealized because they were never recognized.

How many brilliant scientists have we lost? How many doctors, how many possible cures for cancer, how many magnificent compositions and great works of art, how many inventions and cosmological theoretical advances have never seen the light of day because throughout their youth, our possible saviors were told they were nothing special? Genius isn’t relegated to the domain of high I.Q. Genius, said Thomas Edison - who was considered “addled” in his youth and probably wouldn’t have qualified as GSP material today - is one tenth inspiration and nine tenths perspiration. It’s the result of the blue-collar work ethic, not white-collar elitism.

I am grateful that homeschooling allows me to nurture the unique genius and gifts of each of my children. I mourn the genius lost in public schools because a child hasn’t yet realized his or her potential at the age of 5. I believe we get what we expect from our children - and from one another. At least, I believe we do if our expectations consist in belief in one another’s highest potential. If we treated all our children as the geniuses they can be, and nurtured their innate gifts of kindness, charity, understanding, and compassion, as well as their hoped-for academic gifts, then 9,999 children out of 10,000 could brighten our future and theirs with their own “extraordinary abilities.”

What are the odds your child is gifted? Probably pretty good if you believe in your child!

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February 22 2008 01:49 pm | Child Development and Child Education and Homeschooling

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