A Time for Reflection and Thinking Ahead

It is easy to get caught up in the details. The realities of day to day life, especially with gifted children is that the little things tend to be the most obvious – the overwhelm of trying to answer the endless questions of a 4 year old, get a reluctant child out the door to school, or perhaps managing the frustration or meltdowns of a child who is finding little challenge at school.

The end of the year is typically a time for reflection and an opportunity to look at the bigger picture. It makes an ideal time to take stock of progress as well as current challenges. Both can help us in considering our next steps.

Stepping back to look at the big picture can help us notice those things that we might have missed along the way, in much the same way that we don’t notice our children growing because it happens little by little and then suddenly they seem to have shot up.

Then we can begin the process of working out where we would like to be this time next year. Resolutions might be the flavour of the moment, but deciding on a goal can often be more valuable in helping you stay on track and can help guide decisions that you need to make, particularly with regard to your child’s education.

I hope you will have a moment in the next few days to reflect on how things have gone and to celebrate how amazing life is with gifted children, even if it is also exhausting, and at times more challenging that we would wish. All the best for the coming year, and I hope that it brings many wonderful moments to you all.

How being gifted is like being left handed

Giftedness is a characteristic of the child in the same way that a child might be left handed.

Giftedness is not immediately visible. It requires observing the child in action. Similarly you can't tell by looking at someone whether they are left handed, it is only evident from their actions and interactions with the world.

Giftedness occurs in a relatively small slice of the population. Left handedness occurs in roughly similar frequency.

There are varying degrees of giftedness, just as there are varying degrees of handedness.

You don’t grow out of being gifted any more than you grow out of being left handed.

I am sure the analogy can be extended even further. Any more ways that come to mind?