Robert Frost used to get tossed out of school on the first day of classes because he was unhappy there. Beethoven's music teacher would refer to him as "hopeless." And Einstein quit school at fifteen. This scenario doesn't come as a shock to most
parents of
gifted learners. This is because for as much as the world has benefited from the contributions of gifted individuals, the academic population least likely to learn and achieve its potential is the highly gifted.
Yet with some high ability learners, their gifts manage to grow. Such was the case with Frost, Beethoven, and Einstein. They and others like them beat the odds. But not every gifted learner does.
Statistics show that 85% of public school educators agree that more needs to be done for gifted students. Yet it seems that most school budgets-of those that had any funds budgeted-are becoming continuously thinner.
As we enter November, we are slowly finishing the second month of the 2011-2012 academic year. By this point if you are the parent of a gifted learner, you have probably already witnessed the beginning this year's challenges. You may have noticed your child whipping off a week's worth of lessons in, say math or language arts, in less time than it takes you to make stir-fry, and in many cases in less time than that. The tricky part is that your child probably - usually - has it all correct. So what's the problem an uninvolved observer may ask? If the child is achieving all A's or 100's, what's the big deal.
That attitude, all too common, frustrates parents of gifted learners because they see how little effort it is taking their child to master required classroom skills. When the parents of gifted learners see this sort of behavior, a flag instantly goes up. You are generally aware of how much further the child could go with certain (or most) of these skills, and instead you begin to see your child's time being diverted toward activities that do not fuel his or her talents, pleasures, and potentials in those areas. Not that you are against creativity or free-play recreational activity. Rather than "spending" time, it becomes more like "killing" time to ward off excess energy. And that's what may bother you.
Parents (and child) both see and react to the lack of challenge. The problem is that this lack of challenge interrupts the child's flow experiences and in some cases, it can stop this great intrinsically rewarding mindset dead on arrival. This is of concern because it breaks down the transfer of flow to other areas of development. It disrupts the scaffolding effect which the right amount of challenge and flow will help generate to grow gifts and their potentials.
Some argue that the numbers of profoundly gifted are so small that why should anyone care? I have personally listened to points of view that insist that if these individuals are so smart, then they can easily qualify for scholarship when it comes time, so why should parents be complaining about anything? What is there to complain about?
If not properly nurtured along the way, by the time high achievement learners reach college age, their potential can already be seriously impeded. The snowballing of information, processing, skill, capability, motivation, delivery, and reward that we all hope occurs with the gifted learner as well as all others may be seriously diluted. But because of the extreme lack of need-based academic programming for these individuals, they seem to be most affected.
It seems unreasonable to expect to reap the benefits of gifted children's contributions if we don't nurture their minds along the way.
Probably the most frequent complaint you hear from parents involves their child's lack of challenge at school, as well as a general overall lack of understanding of just "what is challenging" to a gifted learner from those who work with them. For example, you may have a 7 year old who enjoys pointing out the discrepancies between Galileo and Aristotle and questioning her mother's good friend's definition of death, using a principle of string theory she viewed to her delight several times on PBS or who has noticed a commonality between a Virginia Woolf short story and a science experiment in photosynthesis. Or who has talked about protagonists and antagonists in stories with comprehension for several years and wondered what "agonist" might have to do with each word-to the point that the parent "must" look it up. Or perhaps the 7 year old who aspires to write a book on "what existed before the universe"- her idea - and enjoys going to science classes held in her local museum with her parents. She likes these classes because she sees them as helping her find information that leads to information that she thinks will help her academic pursuits. Meanwhile, she is beginning to become bored with "regular" school because she may receive 2X the "amount" of work she received a year ago - even though she is doing it in minutes. It's not the amount of work, she needs heightened. It's the materials and the treatments of those materials she needs deepened as well as expanded to make it all connect and "flow" into other connections, heightening the bar or interests and pursuits.
Parents of gifted children see the fallout of a disconnect occurs. Lack of challenge leads to high-energy behavior (sometimes misbehavior) trying to create challenge elsewhere - such as dancing ballet on a high balance beam , or timing a stopwatch to see how fast they can figure out a math problem, setting it faster and faster for lack of other incentives and rewards.
I have discussed with other parents what we have come to call an intellectual chameleon effect. Some gifted kids (and many others as well) wind up mirroring the intellectual environments they are in. So, if they are around other high achievers and the academic challenge is good, they raise their own bar. If not, they want to fit in, so they lower their own bar. Looking through a zoom lens of 12 years, it is easy to see how someone may miss their potential if the bar stays low. Parents of gifted children, as parents of all children, are simply concerned - about this missed opportunity.
The following are a few things I would like to share that have made the lives of some parents, children, and educators "a little" easier.
• Arrange for early evaluation for your child. If you haven't already, try to schedule an appointment to have your child evaluated by a professional. This way, when you speak with administrators and teachers, you will have more ground to support your concerns. A professional can also inform you on what to expect in your child's development and how you can nurture it - as well as explain some predictable pitfalls.
• Contact appropriate school personnel in advance - your principal, assigned teacher. By in advance, I mean preferably a year before your child enters a program. This builds your rapport slowly so you will have one when you need it. It's never too late. If your child is already in a program, start now. But move slowly and lightly as your situation allows. Things work out a lot smoother when everyone is on board-if that is possible as per your situation.
• Ask your principal to help match your child with a teacher that will meet his/her needs. This is easier if you already have established a rapport with your administrator.
