New Link!

Remember me? I hope you all haven't completely written me off the list! Between remodeling our house and teaching the boy, I'm exhausted.

But Dr. Newman has passed along another link so here I am. Hopefully more regularly.

University of West Georgia offers Saturday classes for math, science, and engineering. Robin mentioned in comments once about field tripping together. Anyone up for that?

Robin also inquired in the comments , "I am thinking of sitting down with an attorney and discussing issues with Georgia's gifted ed from both a personal and class action perspective, especially from a 2e perspective. I've found a great candidate (a mom, too) in Roswell, GA. Has anyone considered this route?" And, she added, "Maryland has implemented a 2e program in parallel with its TAG program. You can find a great guide book posted at the Montgomery County, Maryland, website that details the psychology and needs of these children. It's also here."

My email is angela_thepaintedhouse at yahoo dot com.

Torrance Center Calendar

The Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development at The University of Georgia has an impressive list of offerings for students in K-12th grade. Check out the list here. I wish we hadn't missed the date for registration for the MINDS Program--what a fun opportunity.

Book Review & Weather Links

As Calder and I began studying about weather last month, our conversations began to touch on particles and elements and chemistry. I figured it was time to introduce the periodic table. I found this book on Amazon and decided to order, not sure whether Calder would take to it. Well, it soon was what he read when he went to bed, read when he woke up at 6am, read in the car, and read during the day on the sofa. Already during its short stay at our house, its pages are crinkled and lovingly worn.

The Periodic Table: Element with Style by Adrian Dingle and Simon Basher.

The fun anime-like illustrations captured Calder's attention, and he enjoys the silly, yet informative, descriptions written about each element. He is motivated, in part, to learn about the elements because I told him once he learned basic information (atomic number and symbol) then he could play the elements card game I also ordered from Amazon.

Soon he assigned us all with an element according to our ages. He is carbon. "I'm everywhere!" Calder exclaimed. Yes, you are, my son, yes, you are. Johns is helium, "I hope he doesn't float away, Mommy!" I'm arsenic--but I promise not to use my powers for evil. Don't worry.

I hope everyone has stayed dry during all the rain. What a time for Calder to use his rain gauge! We began studying clouds this week and actually enjoyed some sunshine today and a variety of clouds in the sky--even saw "mackerel sky!" The following weather websites for children have been great to engage Calder: Web Weather for Kids and Weather Wiz Kids. Each lists various weather experiments, and Web Weather for Kids has interactive games, quizzes, and illustrations--Calder loves these.

I wish I could post more frequently, but life lately has been so full. But chime in anytime here in the comments or let me know if you would like to guest post. My email is in my profile info.

Happy teaching, advocating, and nurturing!

The Nines!

We are all about today's date around these parts. 09-09-09, Calder loves it. In the spirit of this once-in-a-century occurrence, here are nine things I love about having a gifted child:

1. When I forget how many cups of flour I put into the bowl, Calder always knows because he is always counting.
2. I have a joke buddy to laugh with me when the other kids don't see what's so funny.
3. What's that phone number again? He remembers it.
4. He develops games to play with his sister that include stuffed animals, a laundry basket, a Magna Doodle, and a sophisticated scoring system.
5. I always know the weather forecast for the day and each day for the following week--including each day's highs and lows in Fahrenheit and Celsius.
6. There is actual truth in that dreaded claim "well, all parents think their child is gifted." Yeah, I do and he is.
7. I'm re-learning things from school and learning new things I never thought I would.
8. We were more likely to be found "playing math" than playing Candyland when he was a toddler.
9. He has a curiosity that inspires me to be more curious.

The Pitfalls of Early Reading...

For those of you who travel I-85 northbound through Atlanta, you will know of which billboard I speak.

Dear Pink Pony,

First, thank you. Thank you for entertaining my very young and innocent children. They often grow impatient in the car so you were a welcomed diversion. Sure, you are a strip club; but any disapproval I would feel toward your illicit billboard was eased by the sweet giggles elicited from my 5-year-old reader with a serious weather fascination.

"Scattered Panties?" Calder asked incredulously and then erupted into laughter after seeing the billboard with a blue sky raining thongs and undies and captioned with the aforementioned "forecast".

And then 3-year-old Lee chimed in, "Scattered panties? What?" More giggles.

"If there were scattered panties, then we couldn't even see the sky to know what the real weather is." Calder speculated.

"Scattered underwear!" More laughter.

"Scattered Pull-ups!" Oh, they were whipping themselves into a frenzy.

Lee could barely get out, "Scattered thunder panties!" They were gasping for air now from the hysterical howling.

Oh, Pink Pony, you didn't.

And, then for the next five minutes it was "scattered" everything. At least we weren't talking about panties anymore. You know, Pink Pony, I at least can be grateful that there was no writhing, nearly-naked chick plastered on that billboard. Is it just wrong to name a topless bar "pink pony?" Take two of the most innocent and quintessential symbols of girlhood and use it to describe a strip club?

Tomorrow, scattered Huggies with a chance of high gastrointestinal winds.

Georgia Enrichment Opportunities

Here are a couple of links from my Internet wanderings:

Georgia Enrichment Program for Homeschoolers in Acworth offers classes from electricity and magnetism to entrepreneurship. Robotics and Mechanics are on the schedule at Youth Engaged in Science (YES!).

The Sculley Academy Math Club meets twice a month in Suwanee. Meetings are two hours and include games, problem solving, and math competitions.

Can anyone offer additional information or experience with these organizations?

Homeschool was better today--better attitudes all around. It's amazing what a little family meeting can do to put everyone in a better place.

When Onomatopoeia Falls Splat!

Thank you, Julie and Leslie, for your kind comments to encourage me past our rather flat start to the new school year. Also, thank you for the information on the various curriculum resources and experience with local teaching facilities. Calder and I are loosely following Saxon's Algebra 1/2, and I supplement with various math workbooks.

As for science, I have pulled together a weather program that we will follow for three months consisting of library books, videos, experiments, and relevant field trips. I'm weaving in literature, art, and creative writing all related to weather to round out the study. For example, today I taught him about onomatopoeia. We listened to water and storm recordings on the Internet, read a few poems and books heavy on onomatopoeia and alliteration, and then made a word bank of all the words descriptive of water sound from which to construct an original poem. Sure, he loved it all until he had to write a poem. Sure, the fear of it reduced him to tears and consequently made me cry (I'm all for honesty here). But we talked our way through it, and in the end he wrote this poem:

Water can fall everywhere.

And it can sometimes swirl everywhere.

Dibble dopp dopp!

The rain is falling from the sky.

Of the twenty-four words in our word bank, he chose the two from Mr. Brown Can Moo. Ha! But considering how confident he was that he could not write a poem, this is a wonderful outcome. He was so proud he pushed through, and I was happy, too. Hopefully he will have more fun doing my lesson on Jackson Pollock--relating raindrops to drip paintings. What kid wouldn't want to sling some paint around? (Speaking of which, have you ever splattered here?)

For his literature, grammar, and history, he is attending a teaching facility.

And, now, more links from the magical European link fairie who keeps me in good supply! Thank you! First, My Audio School is an online resource for recorded lessons on history, art, and literature. About 25% of their content is available for free. Otherwise, you can purchase an annual membership for $14.99. I briefly browsed the site and clicked on the picture of Monet's waterlilies--since we had just seen them at the High Museum. I was skeptical that the format would engage Calder, but he was on the computer screen like flies on honey.

Also, here is a list of free web seminars offered by the National Association for Gifted Children through the end of the year.

First Day of Homeschool and Links

Calder and I started homeschool today. Let me say, there was good and there was bad. As hard as I tried to banish any unrealistic and precious and disappointment-producing ideals about how homeschool should be this year, I'm still crawling away from this day discouraged, deflated--which is probably not a good time to sit down and blog. But here I am. What frustrates me so much is that he is a gem with other adults in a teaching position. Anyone have any experience with this, words of wisdom?

But I won't dwell any longer on the challenges. He really enjoyed his percentage lesson in math today as we pretended to shop a big sale on toys. We began his three-month weather unit with the hydrologic cycle, debuting with a horrible, horrible video on the subject from Netflix. He drew a beautiful drawing of a dogwood tree in our backyard. There was good today.

For those of you homeschooling, how is it going?

I should have posted these earlier than now, but here are a few Atlanta-area homeschool facilitators. Does anyone have experience with any of these organizations?

Lilburn Academic Classes
Heritage Academy
Dacula Classical Academy
TNT Academy
Heritage Classical Study Center
Artios Academies
Summit Academy
Master's Academy of Fine Arts
Knowledge Tree Center
Veritas Classical Schools
Moving Beyond the Page
Gifted Homeschoolers

I'm ready for a good night's sleep and a new day to start again!

It Is Amazing...

...what happens when the Nintendo DS dies an unfortunate death from a dunk in water: Calder passes time in the car reading Oscar Wilde instead.

But lucky for Calder, Nintendo knows the importance of being earnest in making swift repairs so that Calder and Mario Kart are back in business. Poor Oscar--one day a dandy, the next day a dud.

Saturday School

Has everyone been busy getting ready for school and homeschool like me? I didn't mean to take such a long break here, but I'm squeezing in travel amid school preparations before classes begin on August 24. I'm excited about homeschool this year after my practice run last year.

Does anyone here have experience with the Saturday School for Scholars and Leaders through Georgia State University? Calder attended one of their camps this summer at the Lawrenceville campus, taking the Simple Machines class. I assume he enjoyed it as he described it as "good," his usual one-word answer to "so, how was it?" Sometimes I can't get him to stop talking for a second and other days it is nearly impossible to extract even primal grunts from him!

The classes this fall at Saturday School sound fun. Registration deadline for the first round of fall class is August 21 or 28--I read the two different dates on their website. I'm not sure which is correct; either way, it is soon!

If your child has attended Saturday School in the past, could you share your experience here?

Also, Robin shared in the comments of the last post additional enrichment links: Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development and Renzulli Learning. Check out her comment for more information. Thank you!

Enrichment Links

The Council for Exceptional Children has an extensive list of online programs providing courses for the gifted homeschooler or afterschool enrichment for the gifted child attending traditional school. The list includes Stanford University's Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY) and ALEKS for math.

The Malone Family Foundation, which helped fund and develop EPGY Online High School, offers perspectives on different approaches to gifted education, from homeschool to public school to private school.

The Homeschool Science Academy founded by Greg Landry offers several science courses from a Creationist point of view. The program also offers science summer camps in Boone, North Carolina.

And I can't let another day go by without a link to Hoagie's. Hoagie's is one of the first places I read online about gifted children over a year ago when I began to suspect that Calder was just a bit more than a "little advanced." I'm sure you all have spent time at Hoagie's already.

Does anyone have experience with any of these online programs?

And, on a different subject, don't forget that Monet's water lilies at the High Museum in Atlanta leave soon. The last day of the exhibit is August 23.

Fun Math Puzzle

I found this puzzle in the July/August 2008 Family Fun magazine. Calder loved doing it last year. Be prepared to do every friend and family member's phone number you know. Over and over and over again!

1. Multiply the first three digits of your phone number (not your area code) by 80.
2. Add 1.
3. Multiply by 250.
4. Add the number formed by the last four digits of your phone number.
5. Add that four-digit number again.
6. Subtract 250.
7. Divide by 2.

The final answer is...your phone number!

Gifted Blog Links

There is a lot to read out here on the Internet about gifted children and their education. Here are a few links to helpful blogs on the subject.

• Gifted Exchange
• Help! My Kids Are Smarter Than Me!
• Child's Play - unschooling a twice-exceptional child
• Prufrock's Gifted Child Information Blog

Follow David Shenk's blog on The Atlantic's website as he explores genetics, talent, and giftedness.

Finally, I would recommend joining the BrightKids discussion group, if you aren't a member already. It is a parent-to-parent forum for inspiration, advice, and information.

A Proper Introduction

Wow! The response to Georgia's Gifted Child on the first day leaves me speechless! But, really, I'm not so much at a loss for words that I can't talk about myself some. Ha! Thank you so much for stopping by--and those who have commented, many thanks to you. It is thrilling to think that there are people in my own backyard who are experiencing their own version of this journey, too. I figured I should introduce myself properly before we continue.

I am Angela, a thirty-something stay-at-home mom who is trying to find her way. In my dreams I am selling my original paintings while perfectly balancing the joys and responsibilities of motherhood. In reality...do we want to go there? I am a frustrated passionate artist with little studio time and a frustrated passionate mother with little patience. I share this life with my longsuffering and loving husband CG of 13 years.

We have three children: Calder, 6; our daughter Lee, 4; and the bebe Johns, almost 2. So far the younger two don't exhibit the same unique abilities as Calder. Lee and Johns seem to be...normal, whatever that means! But we draw no distinctions here at our house--however, we are not above exploitation when it is to our benefit. Such as, "Calder, read Lee and Johns this book while I finish dinner, please." For the most part we are your normal chaotic family with young children who love to tattle on each other: said Lee today, "Mommy, Calder is chewing with his food full of mouth!" And, that, my friends, is when I love being a mom to a 4-year-old. I've been chuckling about that quotable all day.

Many thanks to Dr. Spomenka Newman, a wonderfully knowledgeable and gentle children's psychologist, for the idea of this blog. My personal experience with her made the difference between desperation and renewed hope and energy for Calder's future. She is a gem.

Now, what about you? There are great comments in the first post--anyone want to share more? And, if you wish to contact me privately, click on my profile on the right for a link to my email.

Welcome to Georgia's Gifted Child!

Six summers ago my husband and I welcomed our first baby into our home. As all first-time parents we juggled awkwardly new responsibilities and stresses, desperately trying to create a new normal. Days and nights ran together as endless feedings, crying spells, and diaper changings. That sweet baby boy put us through a ruthless hazing. I found encouragement in the company of other first-time mothers. We compared notes and commiserated together. While what we were experiencing was the hardest thing we had ever done, I took comfort in the fact that it was normal.

However, as our son Calder grew, I began to suspect maybe he wasn't normal. Comparing notes with other mothers became increasingly uncomfortable for me as Calder advanced rapidly past developmental milestones and assumed obsessions incongruous with his age. Emerging from infancy, he exhibited an exemplary memory, an uncommon level of patience, and an amazing affinity for numbers. His father and I marveled at his abilities and felt grateful that Calder seemed to have "a good head on his shoulders." But it wasn't until he was four that I sat at the computer and read on the Internet about parents like me with children like him and realized with tears running down my face and my heart racing that Calder may be highly gifted. I was terrified.

Between that moment and now as I type this first post on Georgia's Gifted Child, I have read hither and yonder on the Internet about gifted children and their education. I have exhausted my options and resources near our home. I've discovered that having a gifted child is a delicate matter, not easily talked about, accepted, or believed. I've been frustrated. Scared. Hopeful. Confused. Calder is such a wonderful and beautiful blessing--but talk about a challenge!

A few weeks ago I sat on a sofa across from a professional whom I sought advice on what had become in my mind the great drama, The Impossible Education of Calder. My husband and I have decided to homeschool--but how? Could I do it? Is it the best for him? Thank goodness for her voice of reason through my anxieties. And, she expressed her wish for someone to start an online presence for Georgia parents of exceptionally gifted children. While I seem on most days an unlikely blogger on the subject, I accepted the job.

So fellow parents of toddlers reading chapter books, of children who prefer algebra to Thomas the Tank Engine, of wee ones with musical and artistic abilities of a master--welcome! Our children come in so many wondrous varieties, with special challenges and needs. It is my hope that this blog will connect us together and provide a place to share and hopefully inspire. I have vague ideas about how this blog will evolve--but for now I'm just jumping right in!

Thank you for stopping by! Please leave a comment and let me know that you were here.