About Annette Revel Sheely, M.A. Expertise Counseling, giftedness, gifted children and adults, high intelligence, high IQs. Various types of IQ tests. The social and emotional needs of gifted people. Special issues for gifted girls. Friendships among gifted children. I have a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology and several years of experience counseling. For the past three years, I have worked exclusively with the gifted (IQ over 130, some in the 180s and 190s) and I write and speak about gifted children frequently. I have presented research about the assessment of the highly gifted at a conference at M.I.T. I am on the staff of the Gifted Development Center, an internationally known resource center for gifted people of all ages.
Question Hi, first of all thanks for your time. I have a son that tested in the 98th percentile on his M.A.T. in second grade, they tested him at a fourth grade reading level then. He is now in third and in the gifted program in school. He reads on a seventh grade level now (although he hates reading). He won the spelling bee in his class (although that is just because the words were so easy) He could care less about the gifted program, everything comes easy to him. He is not apathetic, just un-interested. He has never been a discipline problem, quite the opposite, he is a delight to all his teachers. I just feel he is not being challenged, and I don't know where to start to get learn some positive things about gifted children, and some things I can do to help him. My daughter is in first grade and it appears she is gifted also. She is a little bit more excited about learning than he is, and becomes bored easier, she has reflected this with behavior problems in the past,(I pulled her out of kindergarten last year because she and the teacher butted heads so much and then realized that the fact she was not being challenged was the problem) this year she is really well behaved in school. She begs the teacher to challenge her more, but of course, in the end she really doesn't get challenged, but the teacher is far more understanding than her kindergarten teacher was. Please guide me towards more understanding of my children and their needs. Thank You, Shauna
Answer Dear Shauna,
It's so great that you're writing; this is such an important issue. In my opinion, there is nothing more important in the education of a child, than finding and giving them appropriate challenge to maintain their love of learning. Many gifted children find that regular school work is so easy that they become bored and they never learn study skills. But the problem is that they often "hit a wall" around 5th grade, for some not until middle school, for a lucky few, not till high school. But gifted children can't just coast or they become at-risk for dropping out later when things don't come so easily to them anymore. I don't want to alarm you, I'm just telling you what I have seen in my experience with the gifted.
Here's what I would recommend in your situation:
Have him tested individually, on a Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Third Edition (WISC-III). I suspect that if he is in a gifted program and not challenged, he may be *highly* gifted (145+IQ). If he scores over 145 or if he gets two or more subtests at the 99th percentile (scores of 17, 18, or 19), he may need to have an individually designed educational program. If he is in the highly gifted range, you should check out the Hollingoworth Center's website (www.hollingworth.org). If you want a referral for testing, contact the Gifted Development Center (www.gifteddevelopment.com) in Colorado and tell them where you live, near what big city. They can tell you if there is a tester in yur area who specializes in assessing levels of giftedness.
Also check out this website (www.hoagiesgifted.com). It is a rich resource for families with gifted children. I wish you and your children the best! : ) Please write back if you have further questions,
Annette Revel Sheely, M.A.
