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.

For the record, I don't think I've ever disagreed with NotanOtter. But you put it better than I do.

I have namechanged for one thread. Bit embarrassed to do it under my own name.

Blu, the G&T section was started because people who wanted to discuss that subject were getting a lot of grief in the general Education section - but as I understand it it was meant specifically to be about children on the Government G&T initiative.

I like the topic because I thought G&T was a drink and now I realise that it's an excuse to show off about my amazing children

But seriously... this site is for talking about anything isn't it? G&T didn't exist when I was at school, there were just "sets" for subjects that some people are miles better at than others, like maths and languages where it's difficult to teach them together. I expect mums still asked each other whether their 1yos knew their colours yet though.

I don't think G&T postings are always bragging, by any means, though a lot of them are. And of course there are particular problems raised by having a gifted child. I don't agree that there is no point in having the topic.
But I do think posters need to be a bit self-aware with regard to how they will come across, just like you would on any subject. Suppose you had loads of money, and you wanted to post about the stress that caused you (!). There's no reason why you shouldn't want to seek out other MNers who are in the same position. But you would have to be damn careful how you approached it, bearing in mind that most people on the board would be dealing with far greater stress caused by precisely the opposite.

MB- in my Irish primary school while the girls did needlework, the boys did EXTRA MATHS. Then they told us boys were better at maths....

ROFL Rosa. (I'm laughing because I am so horrified )

As I beleive I might have mentioned before, I have no problem with children being cleverer, more talented, or more successful than mine - many are after all - I just hate the term 'gifted and talented'. It implies that non-labelled kids are thick and talentless.

Why does it have to have a label. There always were children who were better at certain things than others - much better in some cases but there wasn't a heading for them. You wouldn't have a labelling system for kids that were 'Beautiful' or 'Popular'. It's divisive IMO.

haven't read the whole thread but G&T does get my back up and I try not to post on it. There are exceptionally few truly gifted or talented people/children. Or at least few so G&T that they need special treatment. I just don't accept that there are that many G&T children out there. If the government guidleine is truly 10% of a class then in theory the majority of my whole grammar school would have been G&T in primary which is patently nonsense.

I consider that as a child I would easily have fallen into the G&T category. In fact I wasn't treated any differently to anyone else. I did reasonably well academically but not as well as I was capable of. And yet I have had a successful and lucrative career and (I consider myself to be!) a stable and happy person.

The only children who have real needs that I would consider to be worthwhile discussing are the ones that are so bright they are almost off the IQ scale.

However (as I said) I do try not to comment on those who consider their child to be G&T as I'm not really in a position to assess whether Johnny is Einstein or just quite smart.

Same here kewcumber - reading at 3, tackling the classics by 7 or 8. Was I gifted or talented. I don't know and I don't really care.

If I do American IQ tests I rank in the "genius" category (seriously!) Though the British tests rather more sensibly have me below that. So what? In the long run, I benefitted far more from the time I spend rehearsing with my lovely choir when I was a kid than if anyone had given me extra maths - even if it would have given me better A level grades.

When I was doing O level maths I used to finish all teh questions in the first lesson (double maths) then be sent off to do the copying (on a banda press for those old enough to remember then pre-photcopiers) in the second lesson whilst the rest of the class caught up.

I I wouldn't consider myself to be truly G&T - just quite smart.

Kew, can I ask you why did you take an American IQ test? Why is this IQ thing so popular here? (genuine interest)

becasue I was asked to (not sure why).

IQ tests are popular here becasue people hope that it is going to tell them they are brillian and have secretly been so for years. IME everyone scores lower than they expect to!

IQ/intelligence are zero indicators of how well one will fare in life.

EQ tests are apparently better indicators of future success (although i prefer to watch it all pan out, had one kid tested enough- have no wish to see others subjected- ds1s tests completely failed to describe him anyway).

have just read OP - I've never read one on here about G&T but it'd get on my nerves as iut sounds like just straight up bragging. which we are all guilty of from time to time, but imagine i came on and said 'my dd is just so fantasmagorically beautiful, people crash their cars to look at her, and i just don't know how she will deal with this emotionally as she grows up as she is jjst eye wateringly good looking'
i sound like a knob.
Now change 'beautful' to 'clever' and you've got what those G&Ters sound like. and yes, maybe a few have a problem with theire G&Ter, but i think quite a few just want to spread the news..'i'm SO WORRIED about ds, he is SO CLEVER i think his braing must be SO ENORMOUS that his head will soon be too small to contain it'

I never look at the G&T threads. The whole thing is ridiculous. Long ago, in a different life, I used to be involved in G&T summer schools - the kids selected to go on these were so ordinary it made my eyes water. Not remotely G or T. And the way parents pretend that there is some sort of problem with being bright is the most sickening sort of disguised boasting. I remember an ex-colleague of mine telling me, with wrinkled brows, how she and her husband were very worried, because they had strong suspicions that their PFB might be very bright. Now this was a woman with a BSc and an MBA, and a man with a PhD. The kid had both nature and nurture on its side - and how dare people like that pretend that being clever is some sort of problem?

i know, the only thing to do is nod your head sgaely and say well yes, you think you've got problems, but my child has just actually been certified as a genius with a reading age of 18 and his playgroup teacher thinks he'll prob be ready for Oxbridge a week on thursday, so we are really up shit creek aswell.

I think the interesting thing about "G&T" is what is it for?

My DCs are absolutely bright as buttons but its not something that is really noteworthy in itself. They have great genes (DH and I both have parents who are well known in tricky (dull) highly technical fields and they are at a school that teaches on a rigorously differential basis. The school does not run a G&T provision (its private) so I would have to declare them as such if I wanted to "join in". (For the record, I have said before that I think "gifted" is a highly over used term and I personally have come across very few genuinely gifted people in a large number of years in higher education/professional life)

So just saying "My DS is G&T would not in itself really mean/acheive anything". Nor does loafing around on the G&T threads. If I have any concerns then I think a specific and carefully worded thread on an Eduction or Primary seems to elicit some great responses.

pscmum. My circumstances do bias me against G & T so I try and avoid these threads - DS has severely delayed speech, so it's not easy for me to hear how difficult it is having a child who happens to be quite academic.

Bluestocking - I think you have said exactly what I meant more eloqently and in a better punctuated manner!

Why thank you Anchovy, I was just admiring the cogency of your post! [mutual admiration society emoticon]