I have been reading about the social and emotional health of "gifted" kids and one of the things that I took note of was that elementary school kids were bothered by the fact that no one ever explained the term to them. They knew they were different and were in different classes, but never really understood why.
One day I asked Wolf if he knew why he was in Independent Study in first grade and not in a regular Kindergarten classroom. He replied that he did not. I asked him if he wanted to know and he said yes.
I explained that if he was in a classroom with children his age he would be learning the alphabet, how to count to twenty, how to sound out and read basic words like cat, and that he wouldn't be learning Spanish or Logic or root words. I told he we had put a lot of thought into which option to choose and had decided that putting him in an environment where he could work at his level and be challenged would be the best idea. I asked him if he would rather be in a regular classroom and his response was, "NO! It would be way too boring."
I take that as proof we made the right choice...
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
What do you do when...
... Your two year and ten month old son gets bored waiting for you to load up the website he wants and simply opens the bookmarks menu, scrolls up and down looking for the site he wants, finds it and opens it?
Thursday, December 17, 2009
It really is a little unsettling...
Bear was recently put through a battery of developmental tests by a professional in our home. We'll be getting the results back in a while.
The thing that really floored me was that the tester had to come back for another visit to finish the cognitive testing section because, to quote, "he surpassed all of the tests she had with her." I was there for the whole testing process and there wasn't one test she gave that he couldn't have done if he had wanted to cooperate (instead of grinning and intentionally giving the wrong answer...). She told me that the tests she was giving him near the end were normally used with 4 and 5 year olds. He is two years and ten months... I mean we knew he was smart, but this? Really?
The thing that really floored me was that the tester had to come back for another visit to finish the cognitive testing section because, to quote, "he surpassed all of the tests she had with her." I was there for the whole testing process and there wasn't one test she gave that he couldn't have done if he had wanted to cooperate (instead of grinning and intentionally giving the wrong answer...). She told me that the tests she was giving him near the end were normally used with 4 and 5 year olds. He is two years and ten months... I mean we knew he was smart, but this? Really?
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Wolf got his Little Dragons Yellow Belt!
He has been wanting this since he first started martial arts in October. The testing was so much fun to watch. I don't think any of the Little Dragons are older than maybe seven? Watching all of them following instructions and doing their form was so cute. Wolf even got to break a board and got it on the second try, a huge improvement from his first attempt at breaking a board where the instructors had him do everything they could think of for him to manage to break it. The lessons are helping Wolf so much with his concentration and respect. Compared to the other white belts testing he was definitely the most focused and that was really nice to see.
For those who are wondering the Little Dragons program is martial arts for little kids. All belt levels work on the same form and the same skills, it's all just an issue of learning focus and the basic moves. They are expected to come to class twice a week and not expected to practice at home or to memorize the form or self-defense combos. They level in the same way that the older kids do, but their belts have a white stripe in the middle. What happens when they are ready to move up to the big kids classes is that whatever belt they are at their next test gets them a white belt with a yellow stripe (instead of starting with a white belt) then they level up with full colored belts from then on starting with yellow. Basically they are a yellow belt twice, once in the Dragons and once when they get to the older kids classes.
For those who are wondering the Little Dragons program is martial arts for little kids. All belt levels work on the same form and the same skills, it's all just an issue of learning focus and the basic moves. They are expected to come to class twice a week and not expected to practice at home or to memorize the form or self-defense combos. They level in the same way that the older kids do, but their belts have a white stripe in the middle. What happens when they are ready to move up to the big kids classes is that whatever belt they are at their next test gets them a white belt with a yellow stripe (instead of starting with a white belt) then they level up with full colored belts from then on starting with yellow. Basically they are a yellow belt twice, once in the Dragons and once when they get to the older kids classes.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Winner NaNoWriMo 2009
I made the deadline with a little over 50,000 words. Not only that, but I actually finished the story. I'm quite pleased with myself. I would have felt pretty silly if Wolf had finished his and I didn't finish mine!
The simple things that make me happy
The Saturday after Thanksgiving we went with family to some land that they own. It is basically on the left hand side of no where, which is nothing but a very positive comment actually. The drive there was gorgeous, through narrow canyons, past abandoned mine sites and right next to cows. Literally right next to, no fences, just cows hanging out at the side of the narrow winding road.
We stopped at the last restroom before we got there. It was a little general store/restaurant in an old school house. It was getting very cold out and the place was not very well heated.... well at least the bathroom wasn't.
We got back into the cars and drove the last stretch to our destination. Our little prius was the tail end of a train of four SUV's going at break neck speed on tiny very curvy roads. Did I mention someone made the mistake of giving me access to a walkie talkie? As we were driving it started to rain and then then rain started to slush and then it started to snow!!! For those of you who don't know I LOVE the snow, rarely get to see it and Bear had never seen it. The first thing I do is start hoping and wishing that enough falls for it to stick so that I can make snowballs.
(As a side note, I am the person who said it would never rain in July of course causing it to and who went camping in the winter and begged the universe for snow after which it snowed enough to cave the tent in on Dragon twice before he retreated to the van.)
Needless to say it REALLY started snowing. It was beautiful. Oak trees, fallen trees, golden grass, rolling hills, all of it slowly getting coated by silent whiteness. The flakes were like chunks of cotton candy. You could actually look at them and see all the intricate ice crystals, but they looked so soft.
Wolf was out and hesitantly playing in it and eventually Bear woke up and was convinced to come out and join all of us. It did snow enough to make snowballs, admittedly sort of sad ones, but snowballs none the less as long as you avoided the cow pies. The boys got into that for a little while.
One of the cousins picked some mistletoe and another came back with the lower jaw of a cow which was a big hit. In fact it prompted Bear to tell one of the relatives that hadn't gone all about finding a dead seal and a dead bird on one of our field trips when asked what he saw on this trip!
We stopped at the last restroom before we got there. It was a little general store/restaurant in an old school house. It was getting very cold out and the place was not very well heated.... well at least the bathroom wasn't.
We got back into the cars and drove the last stretch to our destination. Our little prius was the tail end of a train of four SUV's going at break neck speed on tiny very curvy roads. Did I mention someone made the mistake of giving me access to a walkie talkie? As we were driving it started to rain and then then rain started to slush and then it started to snow!!! For those of you who don't know I LOVE the snow, rarely get to see it and Bear had never seen it. The first thing I do is start hoping and wishing that enough falls for it to stick so that I can make snowballs.
(As a side note, I am the person who said it would never rain in July of course causing it to and who went camping in the winter and begged the universe for snow after which it snowed enough to cave the tent in on Dragon twice before he retreated to the van.)
Needless to say it REALLY started snowing. It was beautiful. Oak trees, fallen trees, golden grass, rolling hills, all of it slowly getting coated by silent whiteness. The flakes were like chunks of cotton candy. You could actually look at them and see all the intricate ice crystals, but they looked so soft.
Wolf was out and hesitantly playing in it and eventually Bear woke up and was convinced to come out and join all of us. It did snow enough to make snowballs, admittedly sort of sad ones, but snowballs none the less as long as you avoided the cow pies. The boys got into that for a little while.
One of the cousins picked some mistletoe and another came back with the lower jaw of a cow which was a big hit. In fact it prompted Bear to tell one of the relatives that hadn't gone all about finding a dead seal and a dead bird on one of our field trips when asked what he saw on this trip!
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