Raising Gifted
From early on, Galadriel Thompson, mother of three, saw a unique hunger for learning in her children. Her first son was reading second and third grade material by kindergarten, as was her daughter, who was the second born. Her third child took more of a liking to the physical and math aspects of learning. He was always on the go but always filling his time with inquisitive adventures.
After homeschooling her children for several years, she enrolled them in school where her older son was evaluated for and accepted into the Program for Exceptionally Gifted Students (PEGS). Connie Isbel, the teacher for the PEGS program at Red Bridge Elementary in the Center School District, says that PEGS is one of four similar programs in the state of Missouri. It was brought to the Kansas City area in 1996 as a cooperative between the Grandview, Hickman Mills and Center school districts to address the needs of profoundly gifted kids. Programs for gifted students vary by name, scheduling styles and traits from school to school and district to district; however, they all have a similar purpose: to serve children in public school settings who have exceptional learning traits.
The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) says, “Gifted individuals are those who demonstrate outstanding levels of aptitude (defined as an exceptional ability to reason and learn) or competence (documented performance or achievement in top 10 percent or rarer) in one or more domains. Domains include any structured area of activity with its own symbol system (e.g., mathematics, music, language) and/or set of sensorimotor skills (e.g., painting, dance, sports).”
The organization also recognizes that there is not currently one agreed-upon method or response to defining giftedness. However, schools in every area require some kind of method for evaluating students who will do well in a specific gifted program. As outlined by the Kansas State Department of Education, “gifted" means performing or demonstrating the potential for performing at significantly higher levels of accomplishment in one or more academic fields due to intellectual ability, when compared to others of similar age, experience and environment.”
Isbell reports that her program uses requirements from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. To begin to qualify, students must
- reside in the serving area,
- be entering second through fifth grades or of chronological age,
- score at or above 140 on the Wecshler Intelligence Scale for Children, third edition (WISC-III) or the Stanford Binet Intelligence Test, fifth edition (SB-V).
Classroom performance and other indicators, including creativity, strong problem solving abilities and strong reasoning skills, are also considered after the establishment of the first three factors.
Isbell notes that most students she works with have intelligence scores that rank between 150 and 200. “They grasp things very quickly, sometimes grasping concepts that may take another child weeks or months in just a few days or even hours,” she says. “I have to tweak the delivery of the curriculum every year, which is exciting while also challenging. I love using the interests of the students to build their units of study while also covering grade level state standards.”
Mensa, an international organization that provides resources and community for gifted individuals of all ages, acknowledges the challenge of raising and educating a child with these exceptional skills. The organization notes that if your child is demonstrating boredom, underachievement or misbehaving, you should assess his educational environment and connect with the school to create a plan that will be challenging (http://www.us.Mensa.org).
At times, your gifted child may also demonstrate stress, anxiety or withdrawal as he finds himself overwhelmed with the structure of certain environments or begins to recognize that he may process knowledge differently than his peers.
Thompson is no stranger to those challenges herself. “Sometimes I have mommy guilt that I’m not doing enough, but I also know that my kids would collapse if I constantly pushed them. They need as much playtime as educationally engaged time,” she says.
A number of organizations exist that are dedicated to supporting the educational as well as mental and emotional needs of children who are gifted. Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG) recognizes that individuals who are gifted and talented may not just have different learning needs but also different social and emotional concerns. Their website, www.SENGifted.org, addresses these factors with model parent groups and free articles.
While online resources, books and articles for support are helpful, the ear of a good friend or parent of another gifted child should never be underestimated. “Talking with my girlfriends or family and having support for myself allows me to gather strength and fresh ideas for challenging my children while also remaining supportive of their unique abilities, Thompson says. “And that is a resource I can’t live without.”
Karah Chapman is a school psychologist in the Kansas City area. She recommends embracing the giftedness of every child.