Okay folks - I am aware that I may be opening a can of worms here but why does this topic piss so many people off?

[Theclosetpagan]

I mean if someone has deemed a child G+T (or is it G or T) why is it that they seem to be flamed when they post about any difficulties here?

If the label has come from outside the family and the family struggle why can't they post here saying "Help" without people leaping in to say "your child sounds normal to me"

For what it's worth I don't have a child labelled as G+T but am glad I don't given the response some posters get to this topic.

Surely it's okay for some children to be extra bright. Or is it that there is distrust of this label?

Just interested really.

I think it's because some people claim that their children are G&T just on their say so. Eg - "my toddler asks lots of questions therefore he is G&T" and it turns out that G&T is a label that the parents have given the child rather than some sort of "diagnosis". It then just comes across as bragging about a perfectly ordinary child.

That's my guess anyway.

The other problem is the way G&T is defined. My children's school has always used the NAGTY definitions, so looking at top 5% of the population as measured by various things like CAT scores etc. However, government now wants all schools to nominate their top 10% as G&T. Obviously, the top 10% in one school might be nowhere near the top 10% in another school, so the definition becomes more woolly.

Yet another argument is that very very few children are actually so gifted or so talented that a 'normal' classroom environment is not enough for them.

And I agree with what Sophie said about parents trying to label their children. It's as if now everyone knows the label exists, any sign of being bright leads parents to suspect their child of being G&T when in fact they might very well be 'just' very bright.

yes, lots of parents will think their child is incredibly bright - so many posts here about that, when in fact, they are normal average...G & T is a rare thing,
and dont' we all want to have bright intelligent kids?
maybe a reminder that they do have average kids

I think its because even if a child is G & T (whatever that actually means) the child is still a normal child emotionally, ie needs to be allowed to develop and be understood just like any other 4 or whatever year old.

I generally get the impression that some people think their G & T child is a different species of being

Plus pushing is counterproductive

Part of the problem is that 10% of children in a school will be labeled G and T.

In the vast majority of cases there kids will be clever, but not mind blowingly bright.

G andT doesn't eqaute to being Einstein.

Also lots of parents post 'Is my child G and T because they do X Y Z'

Parents with older kids post saying, she sounds smashing, but this sounds normal to me, and the OP can get the huff because everyone doesn't immediatly agree

I don't know ?

I called someone a troll once because they said their 2 year old was reading. It was their first post on MN and I thought it was a wind-up. Later posts made it clear she was not trolling. So that's another way things can go a bit wrong....

Well it is just a teensy bit irritating? Half the time the children aren't either gifted or talented when you read the posts.

Even when they have been labelled as such by the school, quite a lot of the time that's essentially meaningless. The top 10% of one school could be below average in another school.

So it sort of sounds like - "MY CHILDREN ARE DEAD CLEVER AND SO MUCH CLEVERER THAN A NORMAL CHILD"

Not that I have been horrid or even commented on a G&T thread before.

I agree with Portonovo.

It is unfortunate that the Board name is the same as a rather meaningless label with the education system.

Of course there will be issues that parents of very very academically advanced or with special talents in other areas will want to discuss or ask about. And of course there should be no mealy-,outhed carping about the brilliance - and challenges - of child prodigies - but, as someone else pointed out, can those concerns not be dealt with under specific thread titles on the other education boards?

Not that it matters to me. I am quite capable of having a wry smile at the delighted parents of lively bright toddlers!

All the reading 2 year olds just sound like ds1 aged 2 to me (who has severe learning difficulties- in fact he ticked most of the g and t boxes aged 2) so personally I can never take 'gifted' toddlers very seriously.

I find the need to define it as a 'problem' intensely irritating tbh. I suspect many do.

Biggest problem though is huffiness after being told said behaviour is actually quite common.

Because quite often it comes across as bragging.

My child is SOOOOO much brighter than his classmates.

People read this as 'My child is soooo much brighter than every other child, including your child', oh yes indeedie.

There then follows a long list of everything they did, before anyone else.

And then an attempt to be 'worried' by it and to ask for 'advice'.

My neice is officially diagnosed G&T, so I do know how hard it can be, but I still get pissed off sometimes.

also there is a trend that goes

'DC's teacher says that he is being disruptive in class, is it because he is G and T?'

a. he might be G and T, but doesn't give him an excuse for misbehaving in class
b. He might be bored but that doesn't give him the right to misbehave either
c. He might just be misbehaving.

G and T is often used as a 'catch all' reason for acting up, when in reality the numbers of kids who are affected in this way are very small.

Algernon is more likely to just be being naughty

Competitive parenting ... yuckety yuck

That's what I mean by being normal mb

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take this list for example Apart from sleeping well (he slept very well) and the two word phrases bit (he had words around 12 months but lost them by 15 months) ds1 ticked every single box. He could also sing things like twinkle twinkle perfectly (and i mean perfectly) in tune by 15 months.

He's at an SLD/PMLD school now and his learning difficulties are classed as severe.

Cam, so do I

Fwisw I wasn't gifted or talented, as much as I'd have loved to, but I got bored nevertheless. And what's wrong with it? I used to daydream quite a lot.

yep bored thickies are expected to behave so why not clever bored children

well, quite.

And even kids who are bright aren't going to find everything equally facinating.
because none of us do.

and some stuff you have to learn is just dull but ends up being useful in the end. For example I can't remember being rivited in my English lesson when we did buisness letters, but I do remember how to write one. And its been handy!

Ewww at the 'Make your child smarter!' banner on Gess's link!

oi! Are you implying I'm a thickie????

isn't being bored good training for work life anyway

Message withdrawn

thanks cod