A few years ago the Young Maker Teen happened upon Nootropic Design's defusable clock and asked to get the kit. In our post-Columbine, post-9/11/01 era, I was wary of a clock that looks like a bomb. I warned him that even if I did buy the kit, he'd never be able to take the completed fake clock bomb out of the house for fear of it being mistaken for a dangerous device. I always suck the fun out of things. In the end, he did not pursue the ... [ Read More ]
Advice for Parents of a Gifted Kindergartener
Here's what happens when someone asks me to share advice about her gifted kindergartner, a child who is not quite fitting in with his classmates. I can't just share five great tips, even though that would be a lot more friendly to search traffic. I carry so much educational baggage that I have a long, rambling response. Here goes. Advice for parents of a gifted kindergartener With my oldest in his senior year of high school, I’ve been doing a ... [ Read More ]
Gifted Kids and Skinny Dipping in the School Pool
Did you see this article on gifted education in a recent issue of the Boston Globe? Though oddly titled, it did a good job of making a case for why the needs of gifted students should be a national priority. Here are a couple of the money quotes: Even among Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth participants, the Vanderbilt researchers have previously found that those who weren't challenged in school were less likely to live up to the ... [ Read More ]
Smart, But Socially Awkward
Have you ever thought, My child is smart but socially awkward? I've got some reads for you. Check out these old posts on gifted education and parenting gifted children. Sadly, when it comes to public education, the situation for gifted kids and high-ability students hasn't gotten any better since my boys were in early elementary school. And when I hear talk from educators about the expected "rigor" of common core meeting the needs of gifted ... [ Read More ]
This I Believe, Gifted Education Edition
I don't write much about raising gifted children these days because I'm still living it. Also, a few years ago after the school principal advised that the best way to get my older son the challenge he needed was to homeschool, well, I just lost my mojo. In retrospect, I kinda wished we had homeschooled him, but no life decision takes place in a vacuum. There is no edutopia, but there are trade-offs. Maybe we made the right ones. Or not. At ... [ Read More ]
Understanding Gifted Kids
There's so much about highly gifted kids that doesn't make sense to outsiders. So many challenges to raising these high-ability, delightfully quirky and often intense kids. Giftedness is not simply smart, it's different. It's hard for many, especially educators to see beyond the fact that a child might have had an early enriched environment (books! experiences!) and understand that gifted children are wired differently than their peers. They ... [ Read More ]