My son is very gifted but not in the G&T group. What shall I do?

[ChristineFrog]

My son is 7 and is very gifted in all areas. He can read fluently and often reads long, complicated works to himself (Enid Blyton, etc), can do addition and subtraction to 100 and understands complex scientific principles such as how the earth rotates around the Sun and how a food chain works.

However, I have recently discovered that there is a Gifted and Talented 'club' at his school who meet on Wednesday. He is not part of it and I am angry that his talents have been overlooked and that he is not having the fulfilled and rich education which his gifts demand.

I am going to make an appointment to see the headteacher on Monday morning to ask why he is not included and ask that they re-assess his obviously above average needs.

What else can I do to make sure that the school starts providing for him and his complex needs?

I considered joining Mumsnet as i thought it would be advantageous in many respects. Having just read several postings in respect of gifted and talented children I now have NO intention of logging onto this site again.It appears to me to be a forum for competitive mothers who seem to be point scoring against each other.
A sad reflection on today's society.
Shame on all of you.

Are you for real? And since when was Enid Blyton challenging. I read Jane Eyre aged 8.

Right, just read rest of post and seems this is a wind-up. Who is goodeve though? She sounds annoying.

Ahahahaha!!!!

goodeve and messalina... seriously? Have you even read the thread?!

Either you are both too impatient and did not read the thread, or you are certainly not G&T!
h, you have made my night. Thanks!

OK, messalina, I let you off

Is goodeve real, and gone away with that big misunderstanding?
How funny!

only just discovered that G&T group means gifted and talented. I thought it was gin and tonic.
I cannot believe there is a section for this

Well, if she is real and has flouced it serves her right for reading things properly!

Dear ChristineFrog

My son is on the G&T register at his school so I hope my comments are of some help.

You might want to look online and find an educational psychologist to assess your son (they cost about £400 - so not a cheap option). That would give you the confidence to approach your child's school with some firm evidence of your child's ability.

Gifted kids mask their ability at school to fit in, so there could be a reason why he isn't displaying his giftedness in the school setting.

The only word of caution I would give you, is that the things you have put in your post so far really aren't out of the ordinary at all in my experience. He sounds like a nice bright kid, rather than gifted. My son is five and read all the Harry Potter books when he was 4 and has known about the solar system since he was around 3.

Obviously a child can only know about what they've been exposed to, so just because a child can't reel off the planetary system or isn't doing sanskrit before breakfast doesn't of course mean they aren't gifted.

I would say if you can afford to take your child for testing, it would at least give you peace of mind. If it is out of question for you to pay this, there is an excellent book about raising a gifted child written by Professor Joan Friedman.

Hope this helps.

I didn't read the thread properly (clearly I'm not g and t) so feel foolish now I see this is a spoof. Arggh. Oh well

FFS, it's a "lets take the piss out of the G&T children" thread. How farking clever These children are at higher risk of mental illness in the future and are already suffering from social exclusion, shame on you! When your child comes to you for the 20th time that term because some little shit has rammed his head into a filing cabinet and asks you if it will stop if he's not clever any more what the hell would you say to him.

Some of you are no better then these bullies. You should be ashamed, these are just children. I no longer post on the G&T threads because of shit like this.

Well said Belle.

I might or might not have a g and t child - he's a bit young - but these boards are valid and useful where people have real reasons to swap notes like Belle does.

I think all this pisstaking is really harsh.

I must say what is the 'big deal' with the need to label your child? Is it really in the best interest of the child or the parent.
It is all well and good that your child can read but does he understand what it is that he is reading? Do not mistake this for jealousy. My son is gifted, or so 'they' say. My son is just 6 he has a reading age of 13 a maths age of 10 and an English/spelling age of 12. This is not what makes my son gifted. A bright child will know the answers, but a gifted child asks the questions.

I have always known that my child was clever, all parents do. It was the school that made me aware of actually how advanced he is. However I HATE labels, I let my child develop in the way he wants, he has got this far with just our support. If your child is gifted the school would have noticed. Don?t bother with the club your child was not invited to; take him to a tutor outside school if you really feel that the school is not providing him with what he needs.

support do not push!
good luck

The head at my DD's primary school has upset loads of parents by making a distinction between Gifted and Talented and more able. He said the school has many more able children, but should have no more than 1% of the school population as G&T - 7 children (its a big school). I think this has really picked out the truly G&T children - also its not always about how good they are at Maths and English - it can be sport, music and art.
He is making a provision to support the more able children. It is surprising how many parents firmly believe their child is G&T when they are just very bright.

I think Nic85 has captured the difference clearly in 'A bright child will know the answers, but a gifted child asks the questions'

'A bright child will know the answers, but a gifted child asks the questions'

Very gifted kids question the answers....

crawling at 8 months old (gifted???) my DD & children of my friends must be super gifted then. that's not exceptionally early. I don't doubt that you DS is bright but not sure about G&T