tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82232961879022349572024-02-22T10:01:24.760-08:00Parenting the Gifted ChildOUR FAMILY'S EXPERIENCE WITH 3 GIFTED KIDSBeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-35171285985916856822011-10-28T10:56:00.000-07:002011-10-28T11:01:49.204-07:00Ever Hope for a "Normal" Child?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This may only make sense to those parents of gifted children, but do you ever wish you had a "normal child"? </div>
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Our three older children all began reading very young and all three of them have ended up skipping a grade in school, but it has been a crazy road. Trying to figure out what to do or not do when you know it's going to affect your child's future is not an easy thing.</div>
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While we are very proud of our gifted children, sometimes we wonder what it would be like if they were just "normal" or if they even struggled in school. We've always been so focused on trying to figure out what we should do for our kids in school to better challenge them or help them not be bored or let them learn on their level that it gets tiring sometimes. Is it really that important? I mean, maybe we should have just let things be and left them alone to go through school with no changes. They could have gone to Kindergarten, or my son could have gone to 5th grade. They could all be in the same grade as kids their own age. How would that be? Would they really have been bored forever? Would they have started to hate school? Who knows. </div>
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We look at our youngest daughter now and it's funny how we smile and are excited by maybe finally having a "normal" child academically. That's silly to say, but it's true. While each of our kids have surprised us, and we love them all, it seems like life might be easier if they could just go to school and be normal. </div>
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Our youngest daughter is only 3 and we figure she is just right on track for her age. Well, actually for a short while we worried that she was a little behind in her learning, but I think it was just too hard to tell when all we've had to compare her with is her older siblings who have all been early learners. Anyway, she is slowly learning her ABC's and she can write her name, and that is great. While her brothers and sister were a bit more advanced at this same age, that was "not normal" for a regular 3 year old. She surprised us the other day though.</div>
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It was quiet in her room and I walked in to see her working on this 50 piece puzzle at her desk. I went over to see it almost completely done and I was confused. It was like I was thinking, "Who else is home to have put this puzzle together?" But there wasn't anyone else home. She was in there all by herself, and not for very long, and she had figured out this whole puzzle herself? How did she do that? </div>
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OK, maybe it's just because I'm not a puzzle person, but I can't even get those little 25 large pieced puzzles together without getting frustrated! Hence to say we were very impressed and surprised that she could do this 50 piece puzzle with small pieces on her own. </div>
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Who is to say if she will be gifted like her siblings, and it doesn't really matter in the long run. Maybe we'll finally get a "normal" child, and we'll be just fine with that. No more teachers asking us to skip our kids grades or telling us they are "wasting our kids' time". Normal could be good. </div>
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<br /></div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-35328435173940335322011-10-19T13:55:00.000-07:002011-10-28T11:00:53.049-07:00Mature Academically, but Still a Little Kid<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Our little girl is now in 2nd grade, a 6 year old with those who are mostly 7 turning 8. It's crazy to think that there are many kids older than she who are just beginning 1st grade, while here she is in 2nd. Where did the time go? We worry that the time will come too soon where she won't want to be a little girl anymore. Gone will be the times of my little ponies and princesses and the only thing important will be teen pop sensations, preteen books, makeup and fashion. But how long can we hold off? </div>
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One thing about our daughter, unlike our sons who have skipped grades, is that she is a social butterfly. She just loves everyone and they all love her. She still has friends from the short time she was in Kindergarten, and then she has so many friends in her new grade level. She is never at a loss for play dates. In fact, it is often that we have mom's knocking at our van window or calling to set up play dates with Jewelia.</div>
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While there are so many girls about 8 years old in her class who have began to change their interests, it is nice to see a few who are still young at heart. On a recent play date, we were indeed happy as we saw that the little girl walking home with us to play had Dora the Explorer shoes on, and even happier when she wanted to push little baby doll strollers around outside. I'm glad that some kids can still be kids. </div>
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It seems like most kids are growing up way too fast. I suppose it's easy when you have older brothers or sisters as an influence, but even then some kids who are an only child can move on to more adult interests a little sooner than they used to. </div>
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As our kids have skipped grades and it sometimes feels like they've been pushed ahead to be older, we still think it is important that they can still be a kid. It is interesting to see them reading, writing, and figuring out math problems way beyond their same aged peers, but then when it comes down to the simpleness of playing games and having fun, it doesn't matter so much. </div>
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It will be interesting to see what happens as they get older. Will they be forced to grow up too fast, or will they be lucky and find some friends who enjoy their time just being a kid? </div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-91096018618548569472011-09-26T23:17:00.001-07:002011-09-26T23:34:41.051-07:00An 11 Year Old in Junior High<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here's my oldest son. He thinks he's pretty cool here. </div>
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I'd say he was around 4 years old at the time. </div>
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Well, it's been a long road, and now he is 11, and starting Junior High School for the first time. </div>
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Will he be so cool now that he is a tiny little 11 year old amongst Junior High School kids who are mostly ages 12 and a half to 15 years old? </div>
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It wasn't such a big deal to skip 5th grade and go into 6th grade at an elementary school with kids mostly younger than he, but now he has moved up and all the kids are older. </div>
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Older and bigger. </div>
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Much much bigger.</div>
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During the first week of school sometime I walked a short distance from the junior high school just in time to see him getting out of school to walk home.</div>
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Yeah, I suppose I was spying a bit, but I stood behind a tree from a pretty far distance away and tried to act casual. Ha!</div>
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Anyway, out comes all these kids, these HUGE kids, these old looking, mature looking kids, and then I see my boy. Yep, he's that one about 2 feet shorter than the rest, the skinny one. And I'm not comparing him to the other boys. It's the girls who are towering above him. The boys are probably much taller.</div>
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Oh, he looked so out of place. But so what. So. How is this year really going to go? Will he like it? Is he glad to be here instead of Elementary School? Is he sorry he skipped? Will he fit in?</div>
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So far, he is doing quite well academically. Well, he always has. </div>
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Socially?</div>
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Well, remember this is the boy who has Asperger's syndrome, and although his elementary school psychologist said there were many "red flags" for not wanting him to skip grades, we still pushed to make it happen, and he did well in 6th grade. The kids were nicer. </div>
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I've asked him about friends at Junior High. </div>
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He tells me everyday he eats lunch with a certain boy who they don't even share any classes with, so I suppose the boy must want to hang out with him and not just out of coincidence. </div>
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He even tried out for the Junior High Jazz Band and made it! That's my boy! Just a little 11 year old who still managed to win a spot in an audition only jazz band where the other kids are mostly 8th and 9th graders. Kudos to him!</div>
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It is a little stressful to me seeing that I don't have much control over the boy anymore. It's a little nerve racking knowing that he is on his own in a way at such a young age. It seems like he's had to grow up so fast, and yet as I think about it, he's always been so grown up all these years. Even there at age 4, I remember the way he talked to me just wasn't normal compared to other kids. It's hard to explain. </div>
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I still want to allow him the time and not miss out on things because of his early Junior High enrollment. I'm pretty sure a lot of the kids end all dressing up and trick or treating for Halloween by Junior High time, but I don't think that's fair for him to lose a year. Although he's not going to dress up for school (I doubt that would be too cool in Junior High School), he still has plans to dress up at home and go trick or treating. It's only fair, and he should get to enjoy all the trick or treating years he can! </div>
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Only time will tell how these next few years go. Will he ever get that growth spurt to catch up with the others? Will he gain some meat on his bones? Will the other kids be able to see past his tiny size and young age? Will he be considered an equal? A peer? </div>
Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-27809853740180881782011-07-12T21:09:00.000-07:002011-07-12T21:25:40.067-07:00Top Honors for Academics<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuGPWYI3gBPV9-Kv5cXNQ4fd7VILlSeteFrAWQua5lMplDw3zMuBDG3c01c7FmJgJwcB_pyHqAvhiEYuTUSkQFKO8BS1ImM-akUh4jt4jHpyb83kbgZaySHrYRC4oBHK9JoqKMUiQZ-8E/s1600/blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuGPWYI3gBPV9-Kv5cXNQ4fd7VILlSeteFrAWQua5lMplDw3zMuBDG3c01c7FmJgJwcB_pyHqAvhiEYuTUSkQFKO8BS1ImM-akUh4jt4jHpyb83kbgZaySHrYRC4oBHK9JoqKMUiQZ-8E/s400/blog.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628685625698785042" border="0" /></a>We were invited to an awards assembly at the end of the school year to see 2 of our kids receive awards. They picked 2 students out of every class who had the best marks in citizenship and academics. 2 out of our 3 school aged kids were picked, although we were surprised because our first son had all Honors in citizenship for the year as well as straight A's for all 4 quarters. <br /><br />So, things seem to be just fine academically for our 3 kids who have all skipped a grade. How awesome that they can still be excelling even after being placed a year ahead. I always wonder if they will even out and just be average since they skipped a year, but they don't. They continue to excel. Good for them! <br /><br />Socially they are all doing OK. While our oldest doesn't have really close friendships, and our second seems to think "everyone" is his friend although I don't think they all return the thought, they are happy enough. Our #3, the little girl, the youngest of them all to skip grades is probably the best socially. She is just so outgoing and has made so many friends. It doesn't matter that some of them are almost 2 years older. <br /><br />All is well. It is summer and we only wait to see what happens for our kids as the next year starts. <br /><br />Our 11 year old will enter Junior High,<br />our 8 year old will enter 4th grade,<br />and our little 6 year old will start 2nd grade.<br /><br />Let's hope for a great new school year!<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-87503119180144581492011-06-07T22:56:00.000-07:002011-06-07T23:10:15.219-07:006th Grade Graduation, Is an 11 Year Old Ready for Junior High?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Mepkjg-qsUlW_x0nGhsaH0Y8ydRexegoYdFBxXiJiCdbSVwk4ixBDWpL2fPobUf-OFRpLyRUspNxFaFBOk0xv9p2HUAoPQc86GSzJpnEnig-zK9iHS-mG5ZVeqLBq-np6yk61cSAC9E/s1600/100_3277.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Mepkjg-qsUlW_x0nGhsaH0Y8ydRexegoYdFBxXiJiCdbSVwk4ixBDWpL2fPobUf-OFRpLyRUspNxFaFBOk0xv9p2HUAoPQc86GSzJpnEnig-zK9iHS-mG5ZVeqLBq-np6yk61cSAC9E/s400/100_3277.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615724251031783634" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Well, our oldest just graduated from 6th grade. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">They had all the 6th graders go through this balloon tunnel in 2's to the stage, and it was really crazy at how huge all the kids were compared to our son. I mean, yes, we saw a big difference at the beginning of the school year, but now at the end even more so. These other kids were giantic! They towered above him. Some of them looked like kids in high school already. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">And then here is our #1, an 11 year old about to enter 7th grade. It was even weird seeing the "Future Class of 2017" banners that were posted around the auditorium. That's right, he will have just turned 17 when he graduates. I remember I was almost 19 when I graduated. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So, how has the year been? Our son went from 4th grade to 6th grade, and a lot of people have told us how detrimental that is on a kid socially, but we actually think it has been wonderful for him. He has done wonderfully well in academics receiving a perfect report card of straight A's and all Honors in citizenship for the entire 6th grade year. Great academically, but socially, he has been so happy this year! Unlike last year, there hasn't been a single time he has come home upset or commenting on how lonely he is or how the other kids won't play with him. These older kids, his new peers, seem to have accepted him just fine and they include him. No, he may not have developed any close best friend type friendships, but he felt as if he could talk or hang out with any groups in the 6th grade. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I don't know how it will be as he enters junior high this next fall. I hope that he hits a growth spurt soon, but he will do alright. As of now, just a year after skipping him 5th grade, I do not regret it. If anything, I think it's one of the best things we've ever done for our son. Every kid is different though. Who knows what will come for him when he gets to high school and driving and dating come into effect. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-68394633852352957332011-04-30T20:28:00.000-07:002011-10-28T10:57:37.140-07:00"Caught Up" With the Other Kids<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_36JfMGb4YnOe9zGeTP7HQJ06P6FJipMNqpS8UkEiG_PSWIJtBQVfycUywvf0tkjCushCp5hs8FJLrttElOPMd0sBLY9m77AzQxanjRDM7v12AciL5dgBI-a1lw-M_PSvin0DJN9CN7g/s1600/100_2808.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601585082646892258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_36JfMGb4YnOe9zGeTP7HQJ06P6FJipMNqpS8UkEiG_PSWIJtBQVfycUywvf0tkjCushCp5hs8FJLrttElOPMd0sBLY9m77AzQxanjRDM7v12AciL5dgBI-a1lw-M_PSvin0DJN9CN7g/s400/100_2808.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>It's been interesting. Since #3 was moved up from Kindergarten to 1st grade, her teacher was always telling me that she was "almost caught up" to where she should be as compared to the other 1st graders. She was "just about there" in this or that. I'm guessing this was because she missed the first 3 months of 1st grade, and so it would just take a little time. I hoped she was doing alright. I know she was a smart girl and a super reader. <br />
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Well, anyway, this past week she was sort of the very important person and got to have the spotlight on her in school. She brought home this booklet where everyone in class had to write a page about her and what she liked or whatever they wanted to write. As I first started reading these papers I laughed as I read, "She lics cats and rabbits" and then other papers that said "she is nis to ma", "she licks spring" and "she hav 6 in yor family". As I continued to turn pages I was actually surprised that so many papers had so many misspelled words and the sentences were kind of all over the place and the handwriting on most was pretty sloppy. <br />
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OK, so now I'm not meaning to critique 1st grade work, but her teacher was always saying how her handwriting needed work and "it was just about there" as to measuring up to her classmates. However, from looking at this booklet I could see that she was actually doing quite well. She didn't have any problems spelling simple words like "your", "like", and "nice". She knew how to capitalize and punctuate words, and her handwriting didn't seem half as bad as some of her classmates. <br />
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So, what was the deal? Either she had really improved and was doing great, or was I missing something? It's weird. The teacher had me all worried for so long, but after looking at this I see that she didn't have any problems in so much. I'm glad she is doing so well, but then it still surprises me that even after she skipped a grade, she still seems to be excelling even more so than many of her classmates who are all almost a year and a half older. <br />
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I can't believe 1st grade is about over. One more month of school and then my little girl will be going on to 2nd grade! 2nd grade! She hasn't even turned 6 years old yet. Ah, I still feel as if my little girl has been stolen from me. Yes, with my boys, I did feel a little robbed of that extra time when they both skipped grades, but #3 just seems so different. Maybe it's because she was the most dramatic skip as far as young age, or maybe it's because she's a girl and so little, but who knows. Only time will tell. </div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-9723924963380499792011-01-18T22:43:00.001-08:002011-01-18T23:16:35.009-08:00Social Struggles for Our Gifted Children<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9evRpBl5T77H5TVexR_FGDBa7QhEcGQFEFP-z0UQ4y_CRRTLsUb5j-zY1Qk7_VzKDkorovGvUt3XyLVk9xa8r3n9YEVxf9FsTMszkRR2X4TENkAL0uR6jVzdLfsLwQMeotY3gZVXyzhk/s1600/kids+Fall+2010.2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 235px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9evRpBl5T77H5TVexR_FGDBa7QhEcGQFEFP-z0UQ4y_CRRTLsUb5j-zY1Qk7_VzKDkorovGvUt3XyLVk9xa8r3n9YEVxf9FsTMszkRR2X4TENkAL0uR6jVzdLfsLwQMeotY3gZVXyzhk/s400/kids+Fall+2010.2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563784361880348770" border="0" /></a>Look at these cute kids. They seem like pretty decent, friendly, likable kids, don't they? Well, that may be true, but what happens when they are a bit different from the other kids their age, or when they are in school with kids years older than them? How do things work out then?<br /><br />Sometimes it has made me laugh how my kids have thought in the past how all kids their age or size should be interested or be able to do the same things that they can do. I remember #2 having playdates when he was 5 and just assumed that the other kids would know how to play the piano or read like him, like it was just a normal thing that every kid did. I laughed as I watched him one day asking the other child, just 4 year old what songs he played on the piano and what books he liked to read. He didn't understand that other kids didn't do these same things.<br /><br />I've watched my oldest kind of regress socially at times to fit in. Before he had skipped grades he so wanted to fit in with his peers. I would watch him try to interact with other kids his age and when they were bored with all his scientific explanations or discussions on rocks, mineral, or types of insects, he would soon give up and start jumping around shouting exploding noises or just being plain annoying. I didn't understand this for a time, but it seemed to him the only way he could get kids his age to pay any attention to him. It didn't seem right though.<br /><br />I watched my Kindergartner, though much more outgoing than my boys, run and say hello to every child at school calling them by name and explaining to them how to do everything and how to act and do their best while they all looked at her like, "why is this girl talking to me?" <br /><br />It's been interesting. I guess my kids didn't always fit in with their peers then, but what about now that they have all skipped a grade? <br /><br />Well, #1 has had an interesting year. I think he has gained a certain level of respect from the other kids just because they know he was smart enough to skip a grade. Although he may still be a little odd, which more or less comes from his Asperger's Syndrome, I believe that he is accepted as who he is and other will let him into their groups. Although I'm not sure if he has found any really close friends or developed any lasting relationships with kids at school, I do believe they all allow him to have input on their conversations and he feels happy with where he is. I am glad that with this group of peers I have not seen the need for him to act immature and stupid to get attention from these older kids. I do worry as he nears Junior High this next year that his interests will not match up to the other kids in his grade. They most likely will have started to like girls, while he is still into Pokemon, Star Wars, or legos. <br /><br />#2 has always been my kind of clueless one. He just thinks everyone is his friend. What a wonderful attitude I guess, but somewhat funny that he thinks the whole school is his friend. It wasn't until his birthday party that we realized just how clueless he was. He invited so many kids and they all came, but as we watched the way they interacted, none of them but maybe 1 really cared that they were there for him. No one really wanted to play with him or talk to him. They were all happy to be at a party, yes, but they could have cared less it was his party. It was strange. But more strange was how different in personality they all were. Maybe it is just a wild bunch he is with this year, and yes they are all a year older than he, but they just wanted to run around and tear apart everything. #2 wanted to have a "piano party" but I had to talk him out of it a bit because it involved what he wanted all his friends to be around him while he played songs on the piano and I just didn't think a bunch of 8-9 year olds would care much for that. <br />I'm glad for his good spirits, and according to his teacher, "everyone loves him" so I don't worry, for I think he is very respected at his school just for his musical talent rather, but I hope he stays happy and thinking everyone is his friend. I do wonder how much longer can go on with his interests so different from the other kids in his class. Much younger too.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Now #3 is really different from her brothers in that she really is very social and just loves everyone. She makes friends with everyone and although sometimes surprised and questioning at first, most of the kids accept her very well and become her friend not mattering how old they are. She has seemed to be able to maintain her old Kindergarten friends which she sees at lunch recess, as well as made several new 1st grade friends. She has only been in 1st grade a couple of months and already been invited to 2 birthday parties. She seems to be doing great! It still astonishes me as I take her to these parties and her classmates are turning 7 years old while she still won't be turning 6 until the end of the school year! But they all seem to get along and they seem to be on her level. She is so happy. I am glad. I wish the boys were as social and easy going as she was. <br /><br />Who is to know what will happen as the years go by. Will it really be that big of deal come junior high and high school for their age difference? For #2 and #3 who both skipped Kindergarten, I do not think it will matter as much because it will almost seem as if it always was. But for #1 who grade skipping is more recent and will enter Junior High next year as an 11 year old, it seems a little shaky. Only time will tell. <br /><br />We still wait to see what is in store for our little 3 year old. Maybe we can have just 1 child be "normal" and go through school "normally". Whatever that means!<br /></div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-24119909334937489172010-10-27T22:39:00.001-07:002010-11-09T08:50:51.493-08:00Hoping You Are Not an "Evil Mommy" while Doing What is Best for Your Gifted Child<div style="text-align: center;">Being the parent of a gifted child can be difficult. You are faced with so many tough decisions regarding what you should do or where you should school your child. And as you are trying to figure things out everyone else sure has their opinions to express. Often they are not so nice. This is where we begin to feel like terrible parents.<br /><br />We have had to make so many decisions for our 3 gifted kids, and each time we honestly aren't sure if it is going to be the right thing. Is anyone ever positively sure?<br /><br />We've tried "enhanced" curriculum or what the schools call "enrichment" to give extra work or challenge to the kids.<br /><br />We've done the full time gifted program.<br /><br />We've done the split grades thing.<br /><br />We've tried not caring so much what they are doing at school and teaching them at home.<br /><br />We've tried opening other opportunities to them outside of just academics like getting them more involved in the arts to keep them less bored.<br /><br />And then in the end we've skipped all 3 of them up a grade.<br /><br />Now, is this evil? Well, according to many many others, you would think we were cursing our children for life.<br /><br />Just recently when deciding whether or not we should skip our daughter into 1st Grade, we got quite a lot of comments.<br /><br />They would say, "Oh, you are robbing your kid's childhood!"<br />Now come on--how is putting my child in 1st grade "robbing their childhood"? It's not like I'm sending them to military school or making them get a job! So they go to school a little longer and do a little more challenging work at their level. Would it be better if we just let them sit home and watch tv all day? Is that giving them more of a childhood?<br /><br />Or for my 10 year old who just skipped 5th grade, how many comments we received over that. There are so many people that have told us that skipping grades is absolutely the worst thing you can do to a kid and that they will surely hate us later when they are older and have such an awful social life.<br /><br />Now, yes, skipping grades is a big deal, and I do look ahead and see my kids being very very young high schoolers, especially my little girl who is now in 1st grade as a 5 year old who will not turn 6 until the very end of the year. It is weird to know that she is in 1st grade right now with kids 2 years older in some cases. That's a big difference.<br /><br />It's hard to see my 10 year old be in 6th grade knowing he will be in Junior High next year and seeing all the other older kids towering above him or so much more physically mature.<br /><br />It's hard to see my just turned 8 year old in 3rd grade with kids that don't share the same interests as him because of his age.<br /><br />So, yes, maybe I'm an evil mommy, but we really have had to weigh over all the pros and cons and when we've tried so many things, this seemed only to be the next option.<br /><br />I don't believe so much that skipping your child grades will ruin them. I think every child is different and an individual.<br /><br />Well, as we get the ugly looks and the murmurs behind our backs about how we did such a horrible thing to skip our kids grades, we hang on and hope that things will work out for the best. Maybe it's not the best thing to do for all children, but for our kids, we're giving it a try. True, all most parents want is to see their kids happy. With our kids, being happy has a lot to do with being challenged at school. <br /><br /></div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-29651109171784583302010-10-27T22:09:00.000-07:002010-10-27T22:43:26.989-07:00Another Child, Yet Another Grade Skipped<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibvAXwIq6o5t6XHIJ-MyEGXL7MgFjg4FcciIVAaT13f9YdrafPiHUFkkL0855Rgl6_22MbETXMEoayq1FYxQUNeGAjgPFvfoWSOlQ7DYZ_MlzllxOqFYtHc8fA7QYWdO4dmt_Yv7BW5sg/s1600/101_1578.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibvAXwIq6o5t6XHIJ-MyEGXL7MgFjg4FcciIVAaT13f9YdrafPiHUFkkL0855Rgl6_22MbETXMEoayq1FYxQUNeGAjgPFvfoWSOlQ7DYZ_MlzllxOqFYtHc8fA7QYWdO4dmt_Yv7BW5sg/s400/101_1578.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532960765928775058" border="0" /></a>Our oldest had skipped 5th grade, our second had skipped Kindergarten, and now here we were facing the decision yet again to skip our 3rd child.<br /><br />Really, we didn't want to have to keep dealing with this. We just wanted our kids to be normal. What ever that meant. I mean, really, were our kids that much different than their peers? Maybe they were really aliens from outer space. No, I'm only kidding, but where did they get these smart genes from?<br /><br />We really didn't want to skip our 3rd child. Our 2 boys seemed a little bit quirky and they weren't into sports and they didn't seem to have any problems skipping, but #3 was a girl, and her age was much much younger to be skipping a grade. She was a young 5. She would not be turning 6 until May. What about dating when she gets older? She wouldn't be 16 until the end of her junior year in high school!<br /><br />Well, as we waited for all the testing the school was doing, as parents we weighed over the pros and cons. We weren't going out there trying to push our child forward. We had told them initially that we didn't want it, but yet they were coming to us because they saw the need. We began asking our daughter what she felt about school and we got some surprising responses.<br /><br />Pretty much our #3 thought school was super easy and she already knew how to do everything and she thought it was just about playing and having fun. We began to wonder if she was going to get the wrong idea about school. Isn't it about learning?<br /><br />Her teacher would send home a book a day for her to read and she would read them in a few short minutes and send them back to get another one. Soon the teacher told me she had no more books in her classroom library that she could send home because she had read them all.<br /><br />What were we to do? Our daughter knew why they were testing her and she wanted to go to 1st grade. We wanted to be sure it was for the right reasons though, not just because she wanted to eat lunch at school or have 2 recesses. We asked her again and again if she were sure. What about your friends?<br /><br />She simply replied, "Oh, I will still see them at lunch recess, and anyway Mommy, I make tons of new friends everyday!" She was so confident and so happy and outgoing. This child surely didn't have any problems socially. It was rather interesting not having to think so hard about that problem in a gifted child.<br /><br />Anyway, we met with the principal, her teacher, and the school psychologist that basically told us she needed to be advanced. They said her scores were all extremely high mostly in the very superior range and that she scored at the level of a first grader at the end of the year and had the math and reading skills closer to a student in 2nd grade. How could we keep her in Kindergarten? Well, I suppose we could always try it and see what happens.<br /><br />What about all day school? Actual homework? Would it be too much? How would the other kids react?<br /><br />The psychologist said it would be her last day in Kindergarten, and then after a 3 day weekend break, she would start in first grade on Monday.<br /><br />So, here we go again. It's not like this is new to us, but each child is different, and do you really ever know if you did the right thing? There is so much negative reaction out there from other parents when you skip a child a grade as well as other things, but that is for another post.<br /><br />For now, we sit on the edge of our seats and wait to see how another grade promotion goes.<br /></div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-22962142706696315112010-10-10T21:08:00.001-07:002010-10-10T21:33:14.804-07:00Too Smart for Kindergarten?<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZ2qMV65giimy-bOy_XXHXZjqVC2z57oAZSG65CznkY3i_t0N1p5MjprGS8IMW_kEs_8j5d-1e98TVOCVsrd7Awlh1YRl3cQyhRVkFoJwUXmVo64aQlxLmV_0GL9UBI95RshJjdPqY2M/s1600/101_1592.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZ2qMV65giimy-bOy_XXHXZjqVC2z57oAZSG65CznkY3i_t0N1p5MjprGS8IMW_kEs_8j5d-1e98TVOCVsrd7Awlh1YRl3cQyhRVkFoJwUXmVo64aQlxLmV_0GL9UBI95RshJjdPqY2M/s400/101_1592.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526635994211127122" border="0" /></a>This is cute #3. She started Kindergarten this year. While I knew she was a pretty bright kid, I'm not so sure she was gifted like that of my 1st two boys. It had been a rough road trying to figure out schooling with #1 and #2, and I just wanted to be done with it.<br /><br />"Just let my child be normal." I would say to myself, and to teachers as well. I just wanted to have a "normal" child that could go to school like normal and be fine and dandy and not need any special instruction.<br /><br />Well, I did not get my wish.<br /><br />3 weeks into school I got a phone call from her teacher while shopping. Her teacher says to me, "I feel like I am wasting her time. She already knows everything I'm going to teach this year. I'm wanting to know if you want her tested for 1st grade."<br /><br />Oh my. #3. Really we had decided ahead of time that we weren't even going to bother doing anything special as far as school placement with #3. Not that she didn't deserve the best schooling, but we just wanted our kids to be that "normal" that I guess they weren't. And it was weird this time. This was the 1st time that we had a teacher coming to us first to ask us if we wanted to do something because they are the ones to notice first.<br /><br />Hmmm......what to do?<br /><br />Our #1 was always so smart. Sooo very smart. It still baffles me to this day how smart he is. But he always showed it from like 18 months old. His has been the roughest road. Bored in Kindergarten, then transferred to a full time split grade gifted program, then back to regular school, then bored again, put into some classes in the grade above his, then finally skipped into the 6th grade. What a mess!<br /><br />Our #2 was a little different. While he didn't show giftedness at an early age, he almost just woke up overnight one day knowing how to read and everything. It was very different, but also surprising. He had an incredible musical natural talent, but he was also smart enough that he just skipped Kindergarten and started in the split 1st/2nd grade full time gifted program. Now he is back to regular school, but still ahead a grade, although I've never thought it too dramatic because he has an early October birthday.<br /><br />But here we are with #3. Again, she didn't show giftedness right off, although she sure was a talker! From a young age she sure was always very articulate. We figured it didn't matter how smart she was, because she could talk very well. But then, again, an overnight thing almost. It was like one week she was scribbling and barely knew her ABC's, and then the next week she was coloring perfectly within the lines and had taught herself to read. And the week later she was reading chapter books! How did that happen?<br /><br />So, anyway, I didn't know what to say to her teacher. Did we want her tested? She may have been smart, but she was also so young! Her birthday was in May, and so she wasn't one of these kids about to turn 6. She was a young Kindergartner.<br /><br />Well, I told the teacher to go ahead and she could test our #3 now. Of course this didn't mean we were making any decisions, but just maybe we could see how she tested and then think about it.<br />So, for the next few weeks they tested her, while we contemplated what decision we could make. <br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-37905664043952420892010-09-30T12:26:00.000-07:002010-09-30T12:44:11.308-07:001st Day of School after Skipping 5th Grade---Yikes! Are these 6th Graders?!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhxhjXGbSksJmbtmttZzjP3vOtELjPZ46MEz-g8Dsi0KirzxVxAgb7jBQL8z2RCNhoo5OaXMK_9luIO51BN-_VCFKF54QxFMiIX8ErD1Ii_UJhw_WNL_46wxU1FiZUHqcZBuh-amixjPA/s1600/giants.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 187px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhxhjXGbSksJmbtmttZzjP3vOtELjPZ46MEz-g8Dsi0KirzxVxAgb7jBQL8z2RCNhoo5OaXMK_9luIO51BN-_VCFKF54QxFMiIX8ErD1Ii_UJhw_WNL_46wxU1FiZUHqcZBuh-amixjPA/s400/giants.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522793931757037810" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Well, the big day came. It was the first day of school and we sent off our little 10 year old to 6th grade! Now, our oldest isn't really short. Well, true, I am only 5 feet tall and my husband is 5 foot 11, but I always felt our son was somewhat average in height.<br /><br />Well, it for sure didn't matter much anymore. We walked to school and watched as the kids separate into their grade groups and line up by class outside the school doors. I looked horrified by these towering giants and girls (with boobs!) who were going to be my son's classmates. Could these really be 6th graders?! They were huge! And so mature looking!<br /><br />I guess when your son goes from class with little 9 year old boys and girls and then the next year jumps into class with these older almost 12 year old boys and girls (or should I say young women) that it is a dramatic jump. Our son looked so small. He lined up in line and I couldn't even see him because his head was a foot lower than the other kids in line. And he was standing next to girls!<br /><br />Was this a bad decision? Yes, my little genius of a boy deserved to be promoted and I'm sure he wasn't going to have any problems academically, but should we have allowed this? Sure, socially it didn't seem to matter because no one accepted our quirky son with Asperger's in his classes last year. He was miserable both socially and academically. We wanted some sort of happiness for him. I didn't want him to get stepped on though. What would the other kids think? Would they know he didn't really belong in their grade? Would they know he skipped?<br /><br />All these worries, yet, these were all things we went against anyway because we had found out that he didn't seem to fit in anywhere, so why hold him back? Why not give the smart boy the opportunity to go ahead and be more challenged and enjoy school more on an academic level?<br /><br />Well, off he went and we waited to see what would become of such a bold decision. Good luck my little one.<br /></div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-25946077346448762022010-08-23T21:59:00.001-07:002010-08-23T22:34:37.946-07:00The Decision to Skip 5th Grade<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIdv_UVe2KROFxASPZP5tWP9T1fj-hHT02Zi4IcTMqLQqG7n8CRDzspo_e9U4ylwlJhhPWU16H7cL1yAHYut08ZlJuG6DZ6xcLLny5k5BiMgTB89aO-r-_ORqSuXUmPRPQMOQYdXB6SfQ/s1600/101_1272.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIdv_UVe2KROFxASPZP5tWP9T1fj-hHT02Zi4IcTMqLQqG7n8CRDzspo_e9U4ylwlJhhPWU16H7cL1yAHYut08ZlJuG6DZ6xcLLny5k5BiMgTB89aO-r-_ORqSuXUmPRPQMOQYdXB6SfQ/s400/101_1272.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508837131391498994" border="0" /></a>Yep, our oldest was just not fitting in.<br /><br />I laugh at this cute picture. (Really he does not carry a fanny pack and wear an army hat everyday....this was just from a vacation where we were going to be walking a lot and couldn't use a backpack.)<br /><br />But anyway, he was not fitting into this whole educational plan. It was the end of 4th grade now and we didn't feel as if things were working out. Yes, the school had been wonderful to try new things and give him opportunities that I'm sure they had never allowed others before. He was able to take subjects in higher grades and work more on his own with research projects, but it was still not smooth sailing. It was awkward going from grade to grade and he was still bored with the 4th grade subjects most of the time, and we already discussed how we didn't feel comfortable with the idea of him having to walk to the junior high school and back when he reached 6th grade, so what should we do?<br /><br />Back when he was in Kindergarten and bored we thought about skipping him to first, but we never acted on it. Instead he tested into the separate school gifted program which he started in 1st grade. And while it was somewhat academically challenging, he was still advanced and suffering socially. What to do?<br /><br />Moving him back to the regular school did not solve this problem. While he had friends at first, again he ended up bored and alone at the end of the year. There was no match for this poor kid. The split grade thing was OK, but it was just hard to transition back and forth all the time.<br /><br />So,<br />we decided to again ask the school about having him skip a grade.<br /><br />Last year they had decided against it because of social reasons mostly, but by the year's end, it went to show that it didn't really matter. While before he was happy academically but not socially at the gifted school, here he was happy socially but not academically, but now once again he was miserable both academically and socially. There was no winning. We knew we couldn't control his happiness social wise. He was a different kid, and maybe he just wasn't going to fit in no matter what. But, we could help with the academic happiness. Why not skip a grade?<br /><br />OK, now this is a big issue, and yes, a lot of people tend to freak out.<br /><br />What about sports? What about maturity level? What about when they get older in high school?<br /><br />Well, our oldest hates all sports and does not have any desire to try out for any sports teams, so no worries there. I don't suppose he is immature, but I don't think he is fitting in socially where he is anyway. It has been a long 5 years with still little friends if any. And, high school? Hmmm.....I don't know. All I do know is that our son was super smart, and the only time I could kind of see him happy was when he was being challenged and really learning at school.<br /><br />He was plenty smart enough. Remember the school had tested him last year and basically told me he was smart enough for college classes or what not, but now when we approached the school again they were leaning against it. It raised too many "red flags" they said. It wouldn't be a good idea. But what would? Let him be challenged and let him be happy at least somewhat without all the trauma of having to change classes and split between grades to miss this or that. We just wanted him to be in a stable classroom where he could take all his subjects and not have to travel to another school in 6th grade.<br /><br />So, we met with the Principal and the psychologist and discussed our proposition. They were hesitant, and the school psychologist told us she didn't think it would do what we thought it would do for my son. I'm not sure what she thought we were thinking, but it just seemed to make sense to us.<br /><br />And no, maybe it wouldn't solve his boredom problem, and sure, it probably wouldn't help with things socially, but then what else would? We had tried so many things, different schools, different gifted programs, split grades, extra type work options, etc....but things were still not great. Why not at least help him to feel stable in a single classroom? He deserved it. He already had passed 5th grade math and knew most of the other subjects. Why have him repeat it?<br /><br />So we waited anxiously over the last few days of school to see what the Principal would decide. I don't know what we worried about more---his decision being no or his decision being yes. Either way, it was going to be hard to take in.<br /><br />The second to last day of school the Principal emailed my husband and told him they had agreed to the grade promotion. My little 10 year old would now be a 6th grader the following year!<br /><br />Now came the stress and worry and wondering if we made the right decision. It seems like it would have been so much easier if they had just skipped him back in Kindergarten. This was all turning into a mess. Now it seemed so dramatic to go from 9-10 year old classmates to 11-12. We didn't want him to miss anything, so we looked up 5th grade curriculum and had him study all of 5th grade science and history over the summer just so we could know he had experienced it before going onto 6th.<br /><br />Summer was long, but not long enough. 6th grade was coming, and we worried still if this was going to be good or bad. This hadn't been our decision. Our oldest had expressed his desire to be in one set class and he wanted to be more challenged. It was a joint decision, but I think he was a little nervous as well.<br /></div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-5434816207104847082010-08-16T11:13:00.000-07:002010-08-16T11:27:45.365-07:00Gifted in Music<div style="text-align: center;">While my cute gifted kids have amazed me with how much they know and how fast they read, it has always amazed me the most how easily they pick up learning a musical instrument. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Maybe it is because of their giftedness that it is so easy for them. I don't know. I know different kids can be gifted in different areas. It just keeps surprising me at how much these kids can accomplish. Maybe I am just jealous. I wish I could master an instrument.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Our cute little piano player is 7 years old now and about to compete in his first University piano competition this week. Here he is playing his pieces at a "practice recital"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BB_oLt3GfQg?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BB_oLt3GfQg?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">And while he has always amazed me teaching himself to play the piano at only 4 years old, (he has been taking piano lessons now for a year with a wonderful teacher), I am now also amazed by my oldest son. He picked up a guitar and we let him start guitar lessons. After just 3 months he is able to play like this:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kGanpAn3QZ8?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kGanpAn3QZ8?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">How do these kids do it? I mean it just seems to come so natural to them! I guess I love that their giftedness can spread from the classroom and go to the arts as well. </div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-87202344447955670212010-08-15T13:04:00.000-07:002010-08-15T13:05:52.521-07:00A Gifted Child in a Regular School--Making it Work?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNY3XZCK8wbl8mokKMghNssy4JLl9Qzp1XnlJVwR8RyMhjPiw3S4zsCDqNqw5gOAvX_4-SyzNz4NxHCoA-IxnUfqTOKdh-WqQNyXnE7VwnIJXU_P6bxma0fBo7zBDt-0Jcq3ErPs8iy_E/s1600/101_0226.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNY3XZCK8wbl8mokKMghNssy4JLl9Qzp1XnlJVwR8RyMhjPiw3S4zsCDqNqw5gOAvX_4-SyzNz4NxHCoA-IxnUfqTOKdh-WqQNyXnE7VwnIJXU_P6bxma0fBo7zBDt-0Jcq3ErPs8iy_E/s400/101_0226.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452785471176093666" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Can it work? We had sacrificed higher academics for hopes of a better social life for our oldest, but was it worth it?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Yes, for once our child was happy and had friends, but now we were back to the happy socially, but bored academically. Could we never have the best of both worlds?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">We were in a regular elementary school with no gifted program to speak of. Because of budget cuts, the pull out gifted program that was once there had been all discontinued. Unless in the magnet program at another school (which we had just given up), there was nothing out there for gifted students. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Or was there? </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">After the school psychologist completed all these tests and had basically told us he was far above his peers, they had proposed a plan to challenge him more. It all sounded good, but was it really going to happen? They said they would allow him to go into the next grade math, and as far as the other subjects, he would have extra activities, research projects, and his own computer to use. So, did this happen, and what did he think of it?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">For a while it may have been working. He was loving math where he would go to a 5th grade class and do math there. That was his favorite part of the day because he was actually learning something new.<br /><br />The other parts of the day he would finish his reading or work before the others and so he would just start creating power point presentations going more in detail on whatever subject his 4th grade class was learning. This was OK for a while, but often he would mess up on the saving in the computer part and all his work would be lost, or his teacher would forget to remind him things, or he would just plain forget he could do that and so usually it was still boredom.<br /><br />Soon he began coming home in tears because schedules were not matching up. 4th grade was doing one thing, but he needed to be in 5th grade when they did math, but sometimes they changed things around, and then he'd miss something and it would cause major drama.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The school's plans were to continue placing him in one grade but having him do math in a higher grade, so eventually they would have him walk to the junior high school when he enters 6th grade to take 7th grade math. That seemed a little complicated. How was that going to work out schedule wise? And was that safe?<br /><br />Letting him use his own little laptop seemed great and nice and all, but was he really being challenged, or was he just being given busy work or fillers so he would have something else to do besides read when he finished ahead of the others? He was still telling me that he already knew the stuff they were teaching most of the time.<br /><br />It was great that this school was actually making an effort and trying to make things work for a gifted child, but I don't know if this was the answer just yet. We waited and observed, but things weren't looking good. By the end of the school year he had no friendships to speak of, and again he was bored academically. Once again we began looking for other options.</div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-79700090840454947692010-05-30T18:21:00.000-07:002010-05-30T18:50:19.905-07:00Making up for a lack of Educational Challenge with Extracurricular Activities<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidgZZcf1rzRV20uqCwAlWK8-YEsYF7TwYoun5lg70rt3lXuDluIdQDZuww1KAPiFDva_awG01M-9L6fo2RKUmPW6sSjngXeW57aAkF_Xm9qDieyCp2i_DxnWsRbAN3nOFJcLeFo98gZSE/s1600/101_0760.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidgZZcf1rzRV20uqCwAlWK8-YEsYF7TwYoun5lg70rt3lXuDluIdQDZuww1KAPiFDva_awG01M-9L6fo2RKUmPW6sSjngXeW57aAkF_Xm9qDieyCp2i_DxnWsRbAN3nOFJcLeFo98gZSE/s400/101_0760.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477239263072603618" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">The school had tested our oldest son, and although they told us he was "superior" in intelligence and scored mountains higher than his peers, they chose not to skip him grades. They did allow him to take math in the next grade up, but as far as other subjects, he was just going to be given some "accommodations".</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This plan seemed to have some struggles from the beginning. He had to leave his 4th grade class to go to a 5th grade class for math which did not quite match up in scheduling. The 5th grade took longer for math, but since he needed to be back to do other things in the 4th grade, he always had to miss the last part of math. Now, this wasn't a big deal because we found out he was actually helping the 5th graders understand how to do their math, but often it would cause emotional meltdowns when the 5th grade teacher forgot to release him and he ended up missing recess or important activities in his regular class.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">He did love the advancement in math finally, and that he wasn't bored about it anymore, but for other subjects he was still pretty bored. The accommodations that the school suggested was to have his own personal laptop as to which he could do research and make up power point presentations on various subjects that his class was learning about. He would do this whenever he finished an assignment ahead of the class. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This seemed all well at first, but eventually he would forget to ask his teacher for the laptop, or many times he had worked for weeks on a project and then somehow it got deleted in the computer and all his time had nothing to show. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">He soon became bored again and really was not being challenged at all. At least he had math which kept him happy (except for too many times when he had to miss it or things didn't work out between the 2 grades schedules).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So, what could we do? He came to us and asked us one day, "Why does summer vacation so long?" I laughed thinking what kid on earth actually thinks summer vacation from school is too long!? But really, he told us how boring it is to be out of school and not able to be learning things. Of course he was pretty bored right now, so what could we do about it?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">He read plenty. I'm sure most of what he learns comes from his own studying and reading of hundreds of thick science books or what not that he reads on a daily basis, but he was still bored. We decided if he wasn't going to get enough to do at school, that we'd try some extracurricular activities. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">He has been taking dance for 3 years (Yes, I know, a brilliant mind but a dancer? My husband often thinks it is not allowing him to live to his full potential, but every smart kid needs some creativity too!) so he does that 2 days a week. He still wanted more though, and he wanted more of a challenge, so we thought to let him pick out an instrument and get him involved in music lessons. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">He chose guitar. We found him a teacher and he began taking lessons. Amazingly enough he has begun playing the guitar and exceptionally well. His teacher tells us he is the fastest learning student he has ever had. Only 4 guitar lessons and he was already playing pretty good. And this wasn't just strumming chords, it was picking like each individual notes with different fingers, like the fancy stuff. I couldn't believe it. Yes, he was super smart with school stuff, but I didn't know he could just pick up a guitar, have a few lessons with no experience and be so good. I guess we should have believed the school psychologist when she said he "had the ability to master anything presented to him". It was soon proving true.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Now, while this wasn't helping him be more challenged and enjoy school more, it was giving him something in a different challenge that I do believe develops the brain. We still felt as if he needed more at school. If only he could have a better fit. This split grade level shifting back and forth was not always working, and the "accommodations" were just turning into busy work, but nothing that would allow him to advance and gain more knowledge as he wanted.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">But we waited, and we hoped for something more.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">They told us they would "accommodate" him in other ways during the school day. </div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-4847681971076403032010-01-11T22:19:00.001-08:002010-01-11T22:54:25.596-08:00Testing Results, "He's 1 in 300,000"<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdWngbFVy0mnExLwTCe-jf5A86cT1nCjoh6Jl6mRJTbh8Zg4T3t1C6zbOo38nYKfaVR92CkmhPB1ectuZXp_0UpKkTSoXHSjdSA_OE-oOJS_LytItTFqMjCYKpqSlmm9lyhpup2Oz3aWo/s1600-h/100_4845.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdWngbFVy0mnExLwTCe-jf5A86cT1nCjoh6Jl6mRJTbh8Zg4T3t1C6zbOo38nYKfaVR92CkmhPB1ectuZXp_0UpKkTSoXHSjdSA_OE-oOJS_LytItTFqMjCYKpqSlmm9lyhpup2Oz3aWo/s400/100_4845.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425735467773961122" border="0" /></a>We waited anxiously to hear back from the school psychologist. They had been testing our oldest for 3 weeks now and I was on edge.<br /><br />What if they told me we were crazy and he really wasn't that smart? What if they told me he had more problems because of his Asperger's? I just wished they would tell me something. Anything!<br /><br />I impatiently emailed the psychologist asking how much longer until we knew anything and if she could give me any clue as what he was showing. This is what her email said back:<br /><br />"His achievement scores are all in the Superior to Very Superior range. Cognitively, he is more of a puzzle. His verbal index is in the Very Superior range (standard score 136) as well as his perceptual reasoning skills (standard score 135). His holes are in his Working Memory and his Processing Speed, which are both in the average range when compared to boys his age, but he is not an average boy!! We need to take these skills into consideration as we plan his programming. You have a boy who is operating in the 96-99th %ile. That is not going to change - that is his hard drive. We need to individualize his education just as we do the kids on the other end of the spectrum - the very low children. I am working on his report and researching some interventions this weekend. I have also contacted the education dept at the university."<br /><br />OK, so I was relieved that they didn't think he was dumb or anything and we were just pushy parents, but really, I still didn't understand all her talk about levels and processing and what not. She scheduled a meeting for us, the Principal, the district gifted coordinator, and herself. Of course I was a little nervous of this being I would be meeting with the coordinator of the gifted program whom I had recently pulled my boys out of her program. I hoped she was not angry with us.<br /><br />My husband and I met the next day and the meeting was astonishing. We all sat around a table while the school psychologist told us that he was "1 in 300,000 kids" to be at the level he was intellectually. She showed us charts and graphs and numbers here and there that compared him to that of a 25 year old adult. She showed his level as compared to his classmates where he stretched far far ahead of his peers. Really, we sat there almost in awe thinking, "Are you sure? He's just a kid."<br /><br />And then, I was surprised by what recommendations they had.<br /><br />They did <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> recommend he skip 4th grade. They said he was so smart that he had the ability to master any subject matter presented to him rather quickly. They said if they skipped him grades it would do no good because he would just need to be skipped again and again and again.<br /><br />They said rather than skipping him, they would like to accommodate him in the following ways:<br /><br />1-allow him to take certain subjects in the higher grades but keep him based in his own grade<br />2-give him access to his own personal computer where he can research info on his own<br />3-allow him separate projects and possibilities of creating power point presentations to his class<br />4-give him alternate assignments to allow him to go more in depth on interesting topics<br /><br />and then one extra help for his Asperger's:<br /><br />5-have him meet in a peer group with the psychologist once weekly to work on social skills<br /><br />So, here we were, entering a new set up for our 9 year old. It was so funny almost to think it had taken us so long for anyone to really want to match his full potential. Yes, the gifted program was great, but even then it didn't quite fit him. I wonder why we pulled him out of this school in the first place. This school seemed to be doing so much and they really really wanted to help him succeed. Not just succeed, but live to his fullest possibilities.<br /><br />It was almost like we were the parents of some kind of celebrity. It was just weird sitting there with all these important people telling us how wonderful our son was. Sure, we knew he was smart, but they were making us feel as if we were important members of society like related to the President or something.<br /><br />Sad, that is that every parent isn't treated this way no matter what. Not that we were ever treated badly before, but this was just so different. We were really impressed with the way they seemed to care so much.<br /><br />So, here we were, ready to start a new path for our oldest. He was destined for great things they told us. We would soon see.<br /></div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-49047553270657628272009-10-24T21:51:00.001-07:002009-10-24T22:18:47.679-07:00"He's Smarter than I am"<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNS520_9C8BY0rxKSlDGviQVKzI_EuXMbmEnU3fG2hj-MVFUmftpOVuPeWPC6NRv3AIEDvXcrrn0VtrQBqn8JjKQOWxkA94fGUwD3g5HTMrgfodad5P4AHIjuVPOxE677SwTYVpvxyKGY/s1600-h/100_3935.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNS520_9C8BY0rxKSlDGviQVKzI_EuXMbmEnU3fG2hj-MVFUmftpOVuPeWPC6NRv3AIEDvXcrrn0VtrQBqn8JjKQOWxkA94fGUwD3g5HTMrgfodad5P4AHIjuVPOxE677SwTYVpvxyKGY/s400/100_3935.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396402645726730946" border="0" /></a>We met with the principal to discuss our concerns about our oldest's boredom in school. We told him the teachers were probably doing just fine, but the curriculum was below everything that he had already done in the old school. I know, I know, the other school was a full time gifted program, and we had chosen to bring him over to the regular school for a chance to have a social life, but really, it was way behind what he was doing.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />It's nobody's fault. I didn't want to go in their blaming anyone for his boredom or anything. I did feel extremely guilty and kept complimenting the principal on the school and the teachers. The principal was nice and set up another meeting for us to meet with him and the school psychologist to discuss possible excellerated learning options or even possible grade "promotion" as they call it.<br /><br />When we met with them I wasn't sure what I should be saying. How did I know if our son was really that smart, and how did I know where he should be in school? We had tried so many different things and he still wasn't fitting in right. He was either going to be completely bored with friends, or challenged but no friends. Which should come first? Social or academic? I felt like we have been on a teeter totter for the last 4 years. There is no real balance.<br /><br />The school psychologist began looking at some of these old test scores from 1st grade and his performance results from last years state testing. Yes, he had scored in the top 10 percent of the nation in every single subject except for language, but was it really that great? This psychologist looks at us and starts saying well, if we skip him to the next grade, what's to say we won't need to skip him again 3 months from now, and then again, and again. I am looking at her in shock. What did she mean? Why and how could she be saying this when all she was looking at were a couple of testing results?<br /><br />And then my husband looks at me and says, "He's a smart kid. He's smarter than I am."<br /><br />What? "What!?" I ask him. What is that supposed to mean? How can our 9 year old son be smarter than a 33 year old computer programmer. I'm pretty sure my husband is pretty intelligent.<br /><br />But he says to me, "He doesn't know as much as I do, but he is smarter than me."<br /><br />What? How can this be, and how can he know this, and how can this principal and school psychologist think any of this by looking at a few papers? Can I not interpret these papers the same way they can?<br /><br />They asked us to sign some papers to have him go through some testing and then they would get back to us within the next 2 weeks. We signed and so now we wait.<br /><br />Of course I am worried.<br /><br />What if they do all these tests and the results are that he's really not that smart and we're just a bunch of stupid ego boasting parents?<br /><br />Or, what if he is somewhat smart and they want to skip him to 5th grade, but then he gets there and he fails?<br /><br />Oh, why does this seem all so weird? I guess we will wait and see. Our son just keeps saying how he thinks he would have so much more fun in 5th grade where he could be learning new things everyday. I laugh and think, gee, why not just take the easy road? I'd be thinking, "Woohoo! This is going to be a piece of cake! I can just do whatever in class!" (OK, so I guess I was the slacker student.) But, no, our son insists on having new material everyday. Good kid. I just wonder what will come of this and worry for what we may do if it doesn't work either. We have tried so many things. What will happen next?<br /></div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-84348858580446214812009-10-11T20:58:00.000-07:002009-10-11T21:20:49.290-07:00Troubles Arise in 4th Grade - School is Too Easy<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQVsgfIaOW6fmHqRGoVr2FBG8Sekn4zH_u4NueeNjgoAQzojjIM7Y99K8bWzzwkIjd8ICLS-SbVwnbGO_gzfPwvHdFsCjEdbJZ0yWa731ixLiAGvQTO64IS-DGd49c2cuxHfeCOnMavQ/s1600-h/100_4320.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtQVsgfIaOW6fmHqRGoVr2FBG8Sekn4zH_u4NueeNjgoAQzojjIM7Y99K8bWzzwkIjd8ICLS-SbVwnbGO_gzfPwvHdFsCjEdbJZ0yWa731ixLiAGvQTO64IS-DGd49c2cuxHfeCOnMavQ/s400/100_4320.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391559134989000258" border="0" /></a>We had felt good about our decision to take both our boys out of the full time gifted program and back into their neighborhood school. Our younger boy had already skipped a grade anyway. I'm sure he would be fine. Our older boy had such few friends, if any, and we really wanted a larger social circle for him. He was really smart, but so what if you're the smart kid in class. It might be kind of nice. So we thought.<br /><br />School started things seemed really great. For the first time, our oldest son was coming home and talking of friends and interactions with them at school. He had friends! 2 or 3 friends! He was socializing with others! Now this was a great thing, especially considering his Asperger's, and the other kids didn't seem to think anything different. He finally belonged! <br /><br />Our second son was loving school. They had already asked him to play the piano twice during lunch time for all the kids and teachers there. He was loving that attention and loved that he got to play outside with such a large group of kids as opposed to the small 22 kid group that he played with at the gifted school.<br /><br />So we were happy. This could work out! But then we started noticing the homework that was coming home, and we began getting comments from our oldest.<br /><br />Our oldest, a 4th grader had already done most of 4th grade math last year in the gifted program, and we figured it would be easy this year, but we were surprised by what we saw. He was bringing home assignments in basic basic addition and subtraction and when comparing it to his 2nd grade brother's homework, his brother's homework was actually harder! <br /><br />Maybe it was just a review, I thought. But when he brought home a test on Chapter 2 Math and the questions were 4-0=? and 9+3=? and measure this picture with the already drawn ruler, I was shocked. This couldn't be 4th grade math, could it? Our oldest had done this work in 1st grade. <br /><br />Now I want to state right out that his teacher has seemed great and she is probably a completely fine decent teacher, but the curriculum just didn't seem right. I began questioning other moms and even looking into what the kids in 5th grade were doing, and it seemed all mismatched. <br /><br />I emailed the teacher and asked her about the curriculum. She agreed it seemed easy, but she said that was what they had as 4th grade math. She said she would bump it up a little to make it harder, but really, how much more can you bump up 4-0=? It would have to be bumped up a lot!<br /><br />It was super easy, but what had me worried more was the fact that our oldest was coming to us and asking why it was so easy. He was telling us that he didn't understand why it was so simple and asking us why it wasn't harder. He said he thought he should be doing harder stuff. <br /><br />So, what to do? It's not just the math, but the spelling words are all very basic, and grammar he's already done. He says he is pretty bored and wishes he could learn something new. <br /><br />It is frustrating trying to figure out what to do. We tried regular school first. It didn't work. We went to the gifted full time program at another school. It was alright, but just so small socially, and not as conveniently located, and sometimes seemed like a little too much busy work and homework when it wasn't needed. He excelled there academically, but socially he was losing. So back we go to the regular school where he is excelling socially but losing with boredom academically. Where can we go now? We decided to set up a meeting with the principal to see what our options could be. <br /></div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-27175462747853721642009-09-28T19:58:00.000-07:002009-09-28T20:21:12.776-07:00A Six Year Old's Writing<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiK-aImMDvfYwHAAbxbzSAo-yvugRReCjI5VadmtzAbteYPyEdrwMnpAyMWbaGQdt_XOoNHKIMIg5rA8rh6cwyUHGRn9kx5BSEe3T5lrbQYaprA0k1OyPHjcqZzoNMUlEQpQKuos1q3DY/s1600-h/100_3943.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiK-aImMDvfYwHAAbxbzSAo-yvugRReCjI5VadmtzAbteYPyEdrwMnpAyMWbaGQdt_XOoNHKIMIg5rA8rh6cwyUHGRn9kx5BSEe3T5lrbQYaprA0k1OyPHjcqZzoNMUlEQpQKuos1q3DY/s400/100_3943.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386719212298602514" border="0" /></a>Yeah, he looks pretty little and cute, and along with his piano skills, our 2nd son is also a pretty good writer. For the last 2 years he has been making little "books" stapling papers together and writing stories. Now tell me, what 6 year old is writing stories with narratives and creating their own books? <br /><br />I came across yet another "book" he was making. This one was a work in progress but as I read it I was surprised at how a 6 year old could actually put words into a story and be more than "My name is Joe. I like cars. The end."<br /><br />"What Happened When I Woke Up" this work is titled. This is what he wrote so far:<br /><br />Chapter 1 More Arms<br /><br />When I woke up something weird happened. Every second I got more arms! It was so weird that I fell to the ground. In two minutes I had 120 arms! My mother fell to the ground when she saw it. She said "Oh my gosh!"<br /><br />Chapter 2 Start the Search for the Cure<br /><br />"What happened?" She shouted in a very very very loud voice. <br />"I don't know" I said.<br />"Then we must search for a cure right away." My mother said.<br /><br />Chapter 3 Is There A Cure?<br /><br />"But....oh yeah is there a cure? We are going to go around the world everywhere until we find it." I said. <br />"That's what I thought." My mother said. <br />"That's what I was going to say and we will never know there's a cure until we just look."<br />"OK, you're right."<br /><br />Chapter 4 The Last Place to Look<br /><br />-------<br /><br />OK, so this is all he had so far and I guess it isn't the most fancy story out there, but it was pretty good for a 6 year old. I don't remember writing any stories when I was 6. We will have to see how his story ends.<br /><br /><br /></div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-16726675201000667192009-08-26T09:29:00.000-07:002011-10-28T11:00:02.930-07:00The Big Decision<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQutWfJ1sdEeghCgQ9CsYpgxhYp9NZmI41oxdBahkJ6H2cPyfkCy2jTs7G1XDQQehHhIH1RHKaNX3hbIQ8LfQDanPZD28Kt92TCsg5QnRFbQMiuErSDDwoWn33X3v-eNjb2bUC_uleGe0/s1600-h/100_4355.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374316378821010002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQutWfJ1sdEeghCgQ9CsYpgxhYp9NZmI41oxdBahkJ6H2cPyfkCy2jTs7G1XDQQehHhIH1RHKaNX3hbIQ8LfQDanPZD28Kt92TCsg5QnRFbQMiuErSDDwoWn33X3v-eNjb2bUC_uleGe0/s320/100_4355.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
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If you read the last post, then you see we have been having some mixed feelings about the full time gifted program that we put our kids into. Why can't schools have the resources for kids that are a little more advanced? It's not like they don't have the material. There are grades 1-6 in an elementary school, and so why can't a more advanced kid just do the material from that of an older grade?<br />
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I recently read an article weighing out the pros and cons of skipping grades. A couple of comments raised my attention. Someone asked why we have grades at all? Why do we have to trap students into grade levels by age or by birthday? Why can't we just group students in levels based on abilities? This would work especially for those that may be gifted in one subject, but struggling in another.<br />
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It makes perfect sense to me, but why don't we do that? You are never going to have a class of all 6 year olds who have the same abilities and knowledge. I know they passed this whole "No Child Left Behind Act" several years ago aimed at helping kids that were falling behind in the classroom, but it seems as if no one has ever figured out how to help kids that are ahead.<br />
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Sure, they have these gifted programs, but in our case there is one full time program that is at a school not close by and that does not offer bus transportation. So if you're going to go then you must figure out the driving.<br />
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Budget cuts forced all if any in school gifted pull out programs in our district to be ended and discontinued. That is sad isn't it? It's sad that there are hardly any music or art programs continuing in public schools today. It's interesting that in other countries, many schools focus highly in the arts.<br />
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So where does that leave us?<br />
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Well, after all our struggling over the past years with trying to figure out what is best, we made the decision to pull both our kids out of the full time gifted program at an away school and put them back into regular old public school in our neighborhood.<br />
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With this comes many feelings of guilt and worry. Is this the right thing? Did we mess things up? I don't think there will ever be a right place for our kids while they are young as far as schooling. I want them to be emotionally and socially happy as well as academically challenged enough to keep them happy, but these seem impossible to go together.<br />
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Before we were more concerned on the academics and letting our kids live up to all they can do and learn. Let them learn at their pace and not have to wait and be bored. But all the things it entails with driving to another school, not having friends, not knowing anyone, and then tons of homework just doesn't seem worth it to me.<br />
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Plus, why can't our kids just be kids? They will have a time for intense study, for intense stress and worry. Why give that to a 2nd and 4th grader?<br />
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Now our kids are in regular classes probably doing math they completed a year ago or maybe doing a lot easier things, but what can we do? We're not going to skip our 6 year old any more grades. We want him to be a kid! I suppose we could skip our 9 almost 10 year old a grade, but we don't have plans of that unless we are approached, and then we can make the decision.<br />
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So here we are on a different road. It will be interesting to see what happens. Our 2 boys started school this past Monday, and so far I am waiting to hear.</div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-85815457115735423852009-08-19T10:53:00.000-07:002009-08-19T11:48:36.568-07:00Stuck. Was This Really What it was Cracked up to Be?<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>Stuck. That's what we are. Stuck.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghHFCcCWjvriUhJMc_jhHNmJvt07SXongfJ_h9fcJ5ZdL4_J6e1Lg3atqL0w3oS9vly_VE2cyZ5i0QY0pGXpomO_5FY97ahFgJyLokEF7g8fBl6fB4IpNg4XYiLY0EpAaDfbaZ7wAzPJA/s1600-h/100_3923.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghHFCcCWjvriUhJMc_jhHNmJvt07SXongfJ_h9fcJ5ZdL4_J6e1Lg3atqL0w3oS9vly_VE2cyZ5i0QY0pGXpomO_5FY97ahFgJyLokEF7g8fBl6fB4IpNg4XYiLY0EpAaDfbaZ7wAzPJA/s400/100_3923.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371735701768293426" border="0" /></a>We started this whole full time gifted program for our oldest because he was so bored and miserable at school. He was far advanced than his peers and we knew he needed more to what he was doing in his school at the time.<br /><br />We had our cute little 5 year old skip Kindergarten, throwing him right into this 1st/2nd grade gifted program also because he was at a level higher than his brother was at the same age.<br /><br />We thought it would be good. Older brother seemed to love it the first 2 years. The teacher was great and she really let the kids learn things more in depth if they were interested.<br /><br />Then 3rd grade happened and the teacher was different. It was more book reports, busy work, and tons and tons of homework. It seemed like she just wanted to see how fast the students could get everything done in a workbook. Our oldest came home everyday from school just hating school again and anything that went with it. His love for learning was gone. He was just so concerned with having to get everything done as fast as possible and there wasn't much time to go more in depth in things like in the previous years.<br /><br />Now, I'm not there in the classroom, and I don't know exactly what goes on, but this is just from what my kids tell me. His teacher is a good teacher, her approach is just different. He will have the same teacher next year.<br /><br />Now, younger brother does love it, and he had a great time his first year. I'm sure he'll have a great time this next year, but what happens after that?<br /><br />Another issue we are facing is that in this program they are with the same group of kids for 6 years. The kids all test into this program and pretty much stay give or take a few drop out or a few test in at later grades. This can be a good, yet bad thing at the same time.<br /><br />It's good that all the kids will know one another, but what about meeting new people? And what if they never quite find their niche in this group of peers? What if they don't really fit in or make any close friends? By the end of 2nd grade, if they haven't found a friend, then there isn't much chance of all the little friend groups opening up to include someone new.<br /><br />We have found this with our oldest. Now, yes, he has Asperger's, and so social things come a little more difficult to him, but he still wants and needs to have friends. He is a good kid and he can have friends, but he has not found a very good friend circle in this program. He has maybe 3 people who he considers friends in the grade above him, but then the next year they move on to another class and a younger group comes in below him which he has no friends. He doesn't seem to have any friends in his grade level. So he is stuck the 2nd year of each teacher's class to being depressed and lonely.<br /><br />Younger brother doesn't seem to have a solid friendship group yet, but I don't think he really cares or knows yet. He's loving school, but what if he doesn't find his place later?<br /><br />And what happens when younger brother gets into 3rd grade into super busywork class and starts to hate school like older brother? Is it worth it?<br /><br />So, what do we do?<br /><br />I know older brother would be bored in a regular classroom, but he wouldn't be having the life sucked out of him, and in another school he would have the opportunity to meet new and different kids being that you don't always have the same teacher and sometimes they split classes for subjects. He already goes to church with some kids that go to the regular school. He would know some kids.<br /><br />Younger brother I'm sure would do fine wherever. We already skipped him Kindergarten. I'm sure he would be fine and not be bored, but he seems happy at his brother's school right now and with his teacher.<br /><br />And, what to do when sisters start school? At this point we have decided to start sister at the regular school when she is 5. I suppose if she shows some sort of super giftedness in that year that we might choose other options, but right now it seems easiest.<br /><br />I think, what if we just got our 2 boys out of the gifted program at the other school after this next year and then all 3 of our school aged kids could go to the same school? Wouldn't that be easiest? And maybe the oldest would be bored, but I'd rather he be bored than learning to hate school and being depressed. Most things he learns from reading or watching science/math shows at home anyway.<br /><br />But, here we are. Stuck. We've asked our boys repeatedly if they'd like to go to the regular school, and they tell us no. I think it is a more fear of change. And I suppose after this next year our oldest will have a new teacher for 5th and 6th grade, and maybe she'll have a more fitting teaching way for the way he learns. Maybe. Maybe not. I know I don't want younger brother's spirit to be crushed when he gets into 3rd grade.<br /><br />Here's a picture of all our cute kids:<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC1CzWJKe8WJgpzr6d2i0wLLC33sBw8P6ndU0QdOqdlmxXZwbHR62vV3RQTCVBQgs7PB7oJcs8SD_WQgoVIk0UypmYIyYaEBen9D-ecGf8sHq8aJlmOlqvghFjGc4EEGZ6fKRU2TW2tOs/s1600-h/100_3866.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC1CzWJKe8WJgpzr6d2i0wLLC33sBw8P6ndU0QdOqdlmxXZwbHR62vV3RQTCVBQgs7PB7oJcs8SD_WQgoVIk0UypmYIyYaEBen9D-ecGf8sHq8aJlmOlqvghFjGc4EEGZ6fKRU2TW2tOs/s400/100_3866.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371736319682568146" border="0" /></a>They look so happy, so full of potential. We want to do what is best for them to have a good experience academic and socially. The problem is figuring out what works best. We're learning that often having a gifted child doesn't pan out socially. What use is being smart if you don't have friends, or like learning, or feel accepted?<br /><br />I guess we will start into this new school year and see what comes. I know we will be making some big decisions as the the next school year comes to an end, if not sooner.<br /></div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-37748922717297630722009-08-04T22:35:00.000-07:002009-08-04T22:51:39.859-07:00Summer Math and Science Camp<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs2HaOxA8Fc7lPbhUnEYrvgHuufv3YwooU5kdX6bFtu1PBRZ75TjE8S3gqciuNM0FkyQ2UOIdN_-YOfmWwqB7pGFB_6Nhcvocy3liQKmukjza8ILlsk_7fBxdBGz-LIt4McRKkn_vfUd4/s1600-h/100_4107.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs2HaOxA8Fc7lPbhUnEYrvgHuufv3YwooU5kdX6bFtu1PBRZ75TjE8S3gqciuNM0FkyQ2UOIdN_-YOfmWwqB7pGFB_6Nhcvocy3liQKmukjza8ILlsk_7fBxdBGz-LIt4McRKkn_vfUd4/s320/100_4107.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366350193798916082" border="0" /></a>Recently a gal came into my work wanting to put up a flyer advertising for a free Math and Science day camp. Free? This sounded a little too good to be true. I guess it is a private/charter school that is looking to attract new students, so sure, it was a free camp for a week. <br /><br />I thought right away that my oldest would absolutely love this being that all he has been doing lately is watching the history or discovery channel. The only problem was that it was advertised for 11 to 15 year olds, and my oldest was only 9. <br /><br />Hmmm.......he's smart enough. I know he would love it. So, off to camp we went this week. I told him if anyone asked him how old he was, that he was 11. Of course, my good honest son looked at me in confusion and said, "No, I'm not." And I thought. And then I said, "Well, just tell them you're smart as an 11 year old." And that was that.<br /><br />After the first day I went to pick him up and the coordinator stopped me in the hallway. "So, is he home schooled?" She asked.<br /><br />Hmmm......home schooled? I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult, like if that was a good thing to be or not, but she went on explaining she knew he wasn't as old as the other kids but he was so smart. She said he was in there right in the middle of the other kids doing 7th grade math and answering all the science questions as if he knew all the answers. <br /><br />I guess she was just saying how she was surprised he was so smart in just a regular school setting. I told her he was in a full time gifted program, but actually when I think about it, he hasn't really learned all that he knows from school. Anything he knows is from reading or stuff he's learned at home. I know he's got that super memory where he remembers everything to the word of anything that he's ever read.<br /><br />It is only day 2 of camp and he is loving every minute of it. Funny how math and science camp is the last place I'd like to be, but for my oldest one he is just in heaven. Experiments, logic, thinking, and problems are what he loves. I hope he continues to have this love and it takes him to great places. <br /></div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-71660970126603847092009-07-23T12:01:00.000-07:002009-07-23T12:24:55.921-07:00Transitions? When to Stop Talking to your Child Like a Baby<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUpGNV7Ux7gO_aoBepYf_lVcfylThw4-OjYML_arn_MqV2M5PXM_YP8JCJJzJg-EJfwn7tJrGU6xXBfr8i6CBZQRyVqtffK2FuNRhluMaQvSeJIOmfxlJRnFVbhQwp__ryAN7l9WHx0J8/s1600-h/slobber.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 168px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUpGNV7Ux7gO_aoBepYf_lVcfylThw4-OjYML_arn_MqV2M5PXM_YP8JCJJzJg-EJfwn7tJrGU6xXBfr8i6CBZQRyVqtffK2FuNRhluMaQvSeJIOmfxlJRnFVbhQwp__ryAN7l9WHx0J8/s200/slobber.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361738691077586914" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">OK, so I don't think we've really been too bad at talking to our children like they are babies. Yes, I admit I still say, "oh you got an owee?" or "no, that's ca ca!" to our 21 month old, but at what point does that stop?<br /><br />We don't talk to our 4, 6, and 9 year old that way, but when did it transition?<br /><br />The reason I ask is because I've seen a lot of baby talk out there to other children by their parents and the children are 5, 6, 7, and older. Does it matter? I'm not saying it is bad or good because I don't want all the ugly comments to come my way, but I will tell you what I have observed.<br /><br />For instance, we will be playing at a park or a pool and another child, usually taller than my kids (no surprise there!) will come up and we'll ask him his name, how old he is, and what grade he's going into so my kids can relate more with them to play, and then we are surprised by what comes out. More often than none it might be a 7 year old who says, "My name Luke. I seven year old. My school is be done. Me gonna be first grade."<br /><br />Now I'm really not sure how to react. I don't judge the kids like there is anything different. I actually think it is kind of cute, but I just wonder why they are still talking like they are so so young. I may meet the parents and more than less again these are the parents that are like, "oh Johnny, wow! You ARE such a BIG boy! Yes! You found a friend YES YOU DID! Johnny go play a little longer, Mommy and Daddy need to do this and then we can go home and go pee pee in the potty and nappie time."<br /><br />OK, so I might be a tad exaggerating, but really, I am all for positive talk and enthusiasm, but some of these parents just sound so funny! Especially when they are saying it to an 8 year old! I often wonder if their children are talking the way they are because the parents aren't having normal conversations with them.<br /><br />No, I don't think we need to discuss politics or problems of the world with our young kids, but I do think they can be mature enough to have a normal social conversation with normal words rather than adding an E to the end of it or making everything sound so cutesy all the time.<br /><br />Once again, though, when do we make the transition? I always refer myself as "Mommy" and my husband as "Daddy". And I have a hard time talking to my youngest child saying "Mommy needs to go to the store" as opposed to when it's my 9 year old and I just say "I need to go to the store." And really, why do I talk in 3rd person anyway? I think it is a teaching tool in the early days, so that our young children can identify names and connect people with words. Ok, I'm just making this up as I go, but it sounds good.<br /><br />It would be interesting to actually have some sort of study that showed how childrens' communication evolved depending on the communicative environment they were surrounded by.<br /><br />As for now, I'm still Mommy, and I still think things are ca ca and I don't like getting owees.<br /></div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-10683515062065203842009-06-26T12:43:00.000-07:002010-05-30T18:51:12.229-07:006 Years Old, Finished with 1st Grade, Are We Ready for 2nd?<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsB0OGP9Xi4laHCMUstt6-53Kpu4hJSRptDGy3iw_ja_YbHltE66xY2Ltj0NqylqZXsQ1iFEEBhQznAy0KPGODNlfu3bWw03C1uKTseqbhTFItQuEKaCvQ5RLDAy2kbAJjWxst-i5bcpU/s1600-h/100_3857.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsB0OGP9Xi4laHCMUstt6-53Kpu4hJSRptDGy3iw_ja_YbHltE66xY2Ltj0NqylqZXsQ1iFEEBhQznAy0KPGODNlfu3bWw03C1uKTseqbhTFItQuEKaCvQ5RLDAy2kbAJjWxst-i5bcpU/s400/100_3857.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351725101799718994" border="0" /></a>Well, our little 6 year old finished the school year. He's actually going to be in 2nd grade next year! How is that going to be?<br /><br />It's been interesting to watch him this past year so small and so young in his classroom of 6-8 year olds when he started out as a 5 year old who was supposed to be just in Kindergarten.<br /><br />How did he do?<br />Well, academically he was perfect. He had all good marks and scores.<br />Behavior-wise he was also great. His teacher raved at how much everyone loved him.<br />Socially he seemed alright. He told me he had some friends and I watched him with his classmates.<br /><br />But now, the big question is developmentally, how is he there? This is the one that will take some time. Sure he is smart and creative and friendly, but then here is an about to be 2nd grader who just barely figured out how to tie shoes and not very well. He can kind of ride a 2 wheeler bike, but he still can't start by himself. He still likes Sesame Street and Elmo's World, and he is still pretty clueless to how the world is.<br /><br />I know this was a big issue when we were debating skipping him Kindergarten, but I think he will catch up in the end. I see all he has accomplished this year in school and I can't imagine what he would have been doing still coloring pictures about the ABC's in Kindergarten. I've seen him along his classmates and he is still pretty far advanced than many of them in terms of reading, writing, and math. And these are the year older kids. I still feel good about what we chose to do. I know he absolutely loved 1st grade and is happy he went there.<br /><br />Who is to know what would have happened if we left things alone and had him go to Kindergarten? We look forward to next year where 2nd grade seems so old to a little 6 year old. I hope things will be alright.<br /><br />Out of anything, I believe his gifted abilities take a more creative focus. He was always reading and writing at a very young age being that he wanted to create stories and little mini books. He found such joy in piano when he could take his reading to teach himself to read music and play.<br /><br />Also ending the school year, he had his first piano recital from only 2 1/2 months of piano lessons and he was spectacular. We couldn't be more proud. If you are interested in that, here is the video:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AFGZhyU4XXY&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AFGZhyU4XXY&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /></div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8223296187902234957.post-28034736942520831782009-05-31T21:37:00.000-07:002009-05-31T21:41:55.869-07:00Stop Reading the Dictionary!?<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPeHMyPEQirHqeAP6mL636JGY46uDuEEKbCqABS-jkCNfLGbdULKk6mdf8NUjVDHYVuaNv5RZGCOLBmmQR6bpma4mEYLXGIMUciF3DuYSGNJQmUIDF12l4cT9A2s8fmztHp-giCbYUe8c/s1600-h/dictionary_~bxp28378.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPeHMyPEQirHqeAP6mL636JGY46uDuEEKbCqABS-jkCNfLGbdULKk6mdf8NUjVDHYVuaNv5RZGCOLBmmQR6bpma4mEYLXGIMUciF3DuYSGNJQmUIDF12l4cT9A2s8fmztHp-giCbYUe8c/s400/dictionary_~bxp28378.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342213662718016882" border="0" /></a>So, recently I'm having a hard time getting the boys' attention or getting them to listen. And why, you may ask? Well, they won't stop reading the dictionary! Really, the dictionary! I don't know what is so exciting about the dictionary, but it must be so fascinating, that it is even causing wars between them. <br /><br />They'll bring it in the van and then they are both fighting over who had it first and who was reading it. <br /><br />Yes, the dictionary is following us everywhere. Into the stores and out on a walk. <br /><br />I suppose this is a new thing. Before it was the brain teasers, atlases, and phone books that followed us everywhere we went. Alas, now it is the dictionary. <br /></div>Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05737471455195883868noreply@blogger.com1