Lynn Goldstraw writes about her four-year-old son, William, recalling the early signs of his sharp mental ability and her decision to move him out of the state sector and into private education.
I used to read to William from when he was just a few months old. As he got older, I would point at the words as I read to him. From an early age way before he could talk, I could go through an ABC 123 book and ask William where items were and he would point to the picture, which I thought was quite amazing. When he was one, he could easily count to 20 and he knew his alphabet.
From 18 months at nursery, William ‘could read all the children’s names on the pegs’
When he had his three-year assessment instead of playing with the baby toys that were given to him, William was reading the posters on the wall. The assessor could not believe it, and said that what William already knew was being taught to six and seven-year-olds. She considered William to be a gifted child. This was the first time I’d heard this term used to describe William.
William did enjoy being in reception for a couple of weeks but then was bored again. Even the teacher said that she did not think he was getting anything out of it anymore.
‘At three years of age he had the reading age of a seven-year-old’
I took it upon myself to get William tested to see if there was another problem that maybe I was not aware of. The tests showed that at three years of age he had the reading age of a seven-year-old and that he was two years above his age in other areas. The results put him in the top 2% which qualified him to join Mensa. I gave a copy of the report to the school and asked if William could join the reception class full time. They said no.
Yet they make it out to be a mystery why he is so advanced. I will so be considering having Douglas join Mensa in another year or so lol
More than 200 documentaries. I prefer movies on psychology, society and health. There are also movies on science, environment, music, nature, art, history, but I have not tried to show them to my kids.
Yes, I found and read that after watching the documentary. I did think: ``no wonder he’s advanced with an IQ of 140’'.
And I did wonder after reading that: ``Why on earth were they making the whole thing look like a big mystery on the documentary? Most documentaries and newspaper articles only give half-truths (to create effect), they leave out important details, especially when it concerns the giftedness thing. Okay, some parents make the giftedness thing look like a mystery too; it does well for your esteem if you can say your child inherited your superior genes, no wonder he’s so bright. Few will admit they taught the child anything or did any preliminary groundwork with their kid.
And when I hear parents saying ‘‘Oh he taught himself to read, I never did a thing’’, I wonder: ‘‘Are you really sure you are telling us the whole truth? Are you sure you really did nothing? Or maybe you did not know that reading aloud and pointing out words or viewing large print words on TV help a child read?’’
And yes, lots of kids on this forum would qualify for Mensa, my kid included. Get Douglas in next year. lol.
Has anyone else watched a few of these? It’s mind boggling and has left me stunned.I am watching the public hearing scene in The Lottery right now with my jaw hanging open in shock.
So far I watched the war on kids and I wasn’t super impressed to be honest. I liked Waiting for Superman. I think it could have focused on a little more and blamed teachers a lot but it was decent.
