Childhood for Gifted Children
Thursday November 5, 2009
How many of you want to deny your child a normal childhood? I know I didn't and you probably don't either. But I also know that what was a normal childhood for my son was not necessarily what was normal for other kids. His idea of fun, even when he was a toddler, usually involved learning something. One of his favorite pretend games was school with him doing homework.
I tried my very best to give my son a well-rounded, happy childhood, so I was sure to expose him to a wide variety of activities, not all of them academic. However, when I took him to the library and let him choose books, he more often than not chose non-fiction books. If I took him to the bookstore and allowed him to pick something out, he quite often on his own chose workbooks -- he loved workbooks -- or flashcards. One of his favorite toys was 2XL, a robot that played a tape with questions and that allowed kids to push buttons for the correct answer.
My son wanted to play with other kids, but most kids his age weren't interested in workbooks or flashcards or too much 2XL. Even though I knew the difference between pushing a kid and nurturing his interests, I'm quite sure that to outsiders, it looked like I was pushing my son to learn, preventing him from having a normal childhood.
Joyoz has raised this issue in the Gifted kids forum. While parents of gifted kids are more likely to be pulled by their kids than to push them, they can be guilty of pushing. See what you think about the situation Joyoz describes. Is it pushing or nurturing?
I tried my very best to give my son a well-rounded, happy childhood, so I was sure to expose him to a wide variety of activities, not all of them academic. However, when I took him to the library and let him choose books, he more often than not chose non-fiction books. If I took him to the bookstore and allowed him to pick something out, he quite often on his own chose workbooks -- he loved workbooks -- or flashcards. One of his favorite toys was 2XL, a robot that played a tape with questions and that allowed kids to push buttons for the correct answer.
My son wanted to play with other kids, but most kids his age weren't interested in workbooks or flashcards or too much 2XL. Even though I knew the difference between pushing a kid and nurturing his interests, I'm quite sure that to outsiders, it looked like I was pushing my son to learn, preventing him from having a normal childhood.
Joyoz has raised this issue in the Gifted kids forum. While parents of gifted kids are more likely to be pulled by their kids than to push them, they can be guilty of pushing. See what you think about the situation Joyoz describes. Is it pushing or nurturing?
The situation Joyoz describes is pushing (not the worst, but still… ). The mother should relax. My aunt pushed my cousin from a young age; he got back at her by blowing a full college scholarship, flunking out of school and still (at age 37) not moving out of the house. Be advised.