Hey mamas,
Let me start by saying how much I LOVE AND ADORE MAMAPEDIA. Seriously. But having said that, I am looking for an active forum specifically about dealing with gifted children.
Don't get me wrong, I've gotten tons of great advice on here and will continue to use this, but as anyone with a "gifted" child knows, there are some specific challenges and dilemmas that go with the territory. So I'm just wondering if there's a place where moms going through the same stuff can help each other?
Thanks for any thoughts!!
I really do appreciate replies, but with all due respect, I've had two response and they confirm why I'm looking for a specific forum...it has not been my conclusion that he's gifted, trust me. And I don't know about everyone else, but my mamapedia posts don't represent the totality of my life. there are a lot of issues. I haven't posted about many of them here because frankly, I've read other threads on this topic and I don't like the tone many moms receive. I've had this experience in "real life" too, people think you're bragging if you talk about the things your kids can do that are out of the range of "normal," whatever that is. When in fact, you're trying to talk about how hard it can be! OF COURSE all children are gifted. But some are a certain kind of gifted that present certain kinds of challenges. I get that no two kids are the same; if getting good responses to questions depended on every kid being the same, then there would be no such thing as Mamapedia.
I'd try facebook, type in gifted children or some other keywords, you might find a cool group to chat with there.
You're so funny! It is TOTALLY okay for you to go to other advice sites. You're not cheating!!
Okay, now that I've said that (I'm still laughing!), I don't know where to advise you to go, but I'm glad that you recognize that your child is gifted. Don't worry about anyone saying "how do you know", as you have mentioned in your SWH. (I haven't read the other posts yet, just reacting to what you've said.) I wish I could tell you where to look. I wish there had been a Mamapedia (or the internet) around when my son was growing up. He is gifted too, and I really could have used SOMETHING like this forum, or one specifically like what you are looking for, to help me!
So, keep looking, ignore the negative aspects of asking questions here (you are right - there are "tones" here from people). And I just want to say that I've seen bragging, and your question is not one of bragging...
Dawn
Okay if I don't ask this is going to eat me up, your son is four, you came to the conclusion he is gifted how?
Other than bringing your A game to discipline I saw no unique issues to raising gifted kids. Maybe I missed something.....
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After reading your what happened two things come to mind. One is the words of my father, if you have to say it then it probably isn't obvious to those around you. The other is you can speak to the challenges without saying my child is gifted, to say it is in fact bragging whether you wish to accept that or not.
Personally I have found nothing that couldn't be addressed with a simple question, what would have worked for me as a child.
Well... gifted, how? Do you mean your son is extra smart? If that's the case, I can't imagine you'd find a specific forum for parents of smart kids. If he's a prodigy then you could perhaps look into Mensa and some of their affiliates (but we're talking about kids reading at 18 months, composing music at 3, etc... not the garden variety smart child).
Tons of people on Mamapedia have extra smart kids, and this forum works for us. Raising them is the same as a "regular" child, you just have to work a little bit harder to keep them challenged. And disciplining a smart child is the same (or easier) than a regular child - because the kid can understand at an earlier age what you're talking about.
If what you're trying to say is that your son is super smart, stubborn, hard to discipline and all of that... then the suggestion to look into an Aspergers forum is a good one. A lot of kids who's parents think are just plain stubborn and smart are actually on the autism spectrum.
Not trying to knock you down here, but if you explained more what you mean by gifted and "specific challenges and dilemmas" we might be able to help more.
We all have gifted children.
http://www.mothering.com/community/f/370/parenting-the-gi...
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/on-line_support.htm
http://voices.yahoo.com/parenting-gifted-children-forums-...
Try some of the above links. I understand what you mean when you are saying that your child is gifted. It is different than being really smart or having a high IQ. I hope that you can find the support that you need from one of the forums listed above.
Have you looked at the website www.hoagiesgifted.org? It's a wonderful resource for parents of gifted children and includes information for all sorts of websites, blogs, message boards, etc. Also try www.uniquelygifted.org, which is a website for gifted children with special needs.
Some of the folks who posted negative comments (Everly . . . cough, cough) are just very ignorant of what it means to be gifted. Although I have to admit I absolutely hate the term because it is misleading. So many gifted students are also special needs and they struggle in school because they are thought to be lazy. My oldest daughter (now 17) is such a child. She actually breezed through school until about 6th grade, so no one really paid much attention to her learning/behavioral differences (me included). But by the time she hit her sophomore year in high school it had became painfully obvious that the "regular" school system wasn't working for her because she thinks so differently. And this was in a school system with a gifted/talented program (which is good at the elementary school level but not at the middle school/high school level). I kept hearing "she could do the work if she just applied herself." It absolutely broke my heart to see her so miserable and I found myself beyond frustrated that the teachers, etc. weren't listening to me. So we pulled her out of the public school system and put her in a private school with very different teaching methods (individualized for each student) and which also allows her to take dual credit courses at the community college. She is a senior in high school and it taking three college courses and is so much happier because of the freedom to learn in a way that best suits her (vs. being told what methods of learning must be used which is often the case in public schools).
Understand, I am not bashing the public school system -- it works for most kids (I have two other children who do just fine). But their attention to "special needs" children usually is directed to those that are "obviously" special needs and overlooks the "gifted" students whose special needs may not be so obvious.
There is a forum called the well trained mind.
I apologize, my first response was rude.
Have you googled "gifted children's forum", for your 4 (four) year old?
You might check with the G/T curriculum coordinator (or whatever they would call that person in your district) to see if he/she has any suggestions for online support, even if your son isn't in school yet. Or check out the webpage for my district (http://www.hebagt.org/resources.htm). I haven't really investigated it much, but maybe some of the links would lead to an online forum.
I haven't looked lately but i doubt there are any forums out there that are like mamapedia but for parents of gifted.
You could try searching to see if there is a Yahoo group. Or you could call your elementary school and see if the gifted teacher or school psychologist could suggest an online group.
Likewise if your child was tested somewhere they might also be in touch wiht a group for you.
I definately don't want to be like your other responders so please don't let them color what i'm going to say next. You might consider trying an Aspergers forum, and i say that because many of them are highly intelligent, extrememly focuses and have alot to deal with that might overlap what you could be dealing with with your child, and unlike some responders I"m not going to go back and look up every question you have ever asked or answered on here. so just a suggestion to take or leave.
HTH
hoagiesgifted
sengifted
welltrainedmind
And my GT girl was NOT diagnosed an Aspie, but those sites help too.
I would look into a site like cafemom and see if you can find a group that fits your needs. Otherwise, search for a yahoo group. I'm sure there must be forums out there. I'd make sure you find one where the kids are about the same age (maybe 3-8 years old) since much older kids will be dealing with different things.
