Well, I am surprised this article didn’t get more reaction from the gifted community. Bahahahaha. I think there are genius type children out there, but I think they are mostly rare. This article is spot on on how the system is manipulated to get select students special attention leaving the rest of the class dinking around with less then desirable standards.
One parent made a comment on the article that I thought was spot on for what the gifted program has turned into.
"The only reason I want my child to be labeled as gifted is because of the emphasis schools place on gifted students. Students in GT (gifted and talented) courses (at least in Texas).
At the school I taught at, the GT class was doing DNA labs, going to Houston Science Museum, etc. The regular classes were in a portable building with no lab equipment and not even enough textbooks for each student to have one.
GT Teachers are generally better trained (i.e. the school pays for summer courses in GT education) and paid (my school gave a small stipend to GT teachers).
A lot of parents who are familiar with public education really push for their kid to be GT solely to get a decent education."
Well, at least she was honest. Some parents have bought their own lie.
One issue I have with the “gifted mentality” is that it allows parents of “average” children to accept low expectations for their children guilt free.
Remember back in the day when it was generally thought acceptable to spank a child and now, its generally looked down upon by most communities and social groups. How did this happen? I will tell you…gentle shame and guilt from leaders in social groups and communities. Gentle shame and guilt have a unique way of forcing a person to have a revelation of a better way.
When I found Brillkids, I found that gentle shame and guilt, and it was the first step towards me truly changing as a parent. I had some real issues with it, but this community is so supportive and encouraging that it didn’t last long. With the support and encouragement of Brillkids members, I moved past the shame and guilt and became empowered. So much amazing progress has happened in the last year and its all because of you guys.
I strongly believe that the “gifted” mentality does a great disservice to all children. First, the “gifted” children are patted on the back for doing something they consider is easy. Second, the “average” child is forced to adopt a belief in themselves that they aren’t amazing because well they aren’t in the “gifted” class. The “average” kid accepts that all they will be is “average” and that no amount of hard work will change that.
The second thing that annoys me is parents do not take any credit for developing their child’s unique ability to learn and adapt quickly. I have a unique perspective. I didn’t really start early learning with my 3 (almost 4) and 5 year old until they were 2ish and 3ish. However, I have been using early learning techniques with my 21 month old from 3 months. There is an amazing difference. I am taken back by all that my youngest can do in comparison to what my older children were doing at that same age. He isn’t the most amazing kid in this forum, but coming from a low income (10,000 below poverty threshold), I am pretty satisfied. I know he would be counted as “gifted” in a heart beat in a public school.
However, I take credit for it (well, there were lots of wonderful people that helped me get access to materials I couldn’t afford like my Dad and new friends). But by taking credit, I take responsibility too. By continuing to be a community where parents do not take responsibility we are holding our children back. Of course, I do not want to be the preachy type so I am generally just letting society to continue on with its belief system and not challenging it.
But should we really do this? I ask myself this often. I think you are going to have individuals who are not going to be accepting of early learning due to the fact that it would mean accepting that they didn’t do a good enough job. I was once there with that feeling of guilt and shame, but I accepted the responsibility to do better because I didn’t adopt a belief that it was too late to change. I think that as early learning community this is our greatest motivating power to others…“ITS NOT TOO LATE TO CHANGE.”
Not only has my youngest benefited, but all my children have. In over a year, my recently turned 5 year old has tested out of 1st grade math (completing every single problem in the Mammoth Math books…boy that’s a long book). My almost 4 year old is in first grade math with 65 lessons to go out of 100 using the Funnix math program.) They are reading phonetically and growing everyday in their reading skills. My quote these days is “knowledge makes play time better.” In over a years time, all my children would now be considered gifted in many areas, but they aren’t. They were average kids when we began. They still are, but I have opened the world of knowledge to them early giving them a great boost to conquer their dreams.
There is a lot wrong with the education system, but the real issue is that we aren’t starting young enough. We don’t start young enough because we have this antiquated belief system about babies lacking the intelligence to decipher and absorb knowledge to read, count and understand. Mothers have adopted this mediocre attitude because well motherhood is tough enough. What I have learned is that early learn actually makes motherhood easier! My 21 month can communicate with me what he wants and I can reason with him most days just by using my words. I credit this to early learning. With my first two. there was a lot of frustration due to communication issues.
Generally I tell people, “All I do is press play.” But that isn’t accurate. I work hard researching and preparing lessons, but there is so much joy in watching a toddler count to ten forward and backwards in Spanish and English or reading a whole sentence for the first time.
The greatest issue I have with the “gifted” mentality is it dis-empowers children. They are the victims in this perpetual circle of emotional and financial poverty. It tells children you are either born gifted or not, and if you aren’t, you just need to accept your life as mediocre. These children are force-fed this awful mentality that working hard doesn’t get you anywhere amazing. That you have to be talented and gifted to do those things. They have to accept that someone has to work at McDonalds. Well, I will tell you that if we all were educated enough, McDonalds wouldn’t even be in business. Well that’s my take. I think we should challenge the community but believe me I understand everyone’s reservations. But just like everyone put the kids first in getting people to implement positive discipline, I think the same can be done with pushing early learning into every home. (jumps of soapbox) alright, got it off my chest. You guys are all awesome. You are changing the world one baby and/or child at a time.
