April 2011: What are they doing now? - Page 2

[dessismama]

My 12 year old took part in 2 music competitions today--he got 2nd place in one and an honorable mention in the other. Here is a video of his performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txwGQ_lKUNg&feature=channel_video_title

He never ceases to surprise us!!:)

[spedteacher30]

Our five year old is reading Captain Underpants independently--he's finally admitting it but he has been doing it for awhile now.

He is also obsessed with numbers. He just spent an hour in the bathtub--chattering away about various mathematical patterns and relationships he's discovered. my favorite is that he announced that 1 doesn't have a "middle." When I asked what he meant he said that the other odd numbers have 1 in the middle that is left when you divide them into equal groups. he then clarified that by odd numbers he meant 3, 5,7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, and all the rest.

We just registered him for kindergarten at our neighborhood school, where the teachers assured us they would group him with the other kids who are at his level.

We didn't argue with them yet--but I am sure it will come by September 15 or so...

[physmom]

Originally Posted by spedteacher30 

He is also obsessed with numbers. He just spent an hour in the bathtub--chattering away about various mathematical patterns and relationships he's discovered. my favorite is that he announced that 1 doesn't have a "middle." When I asked what he meant he said that the other odd numbers have 1 in the middle that is left when you divide them into equal groups. he then clarified that by odd numbers he meant 3, 5,7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, and all the rest.

wow, very cool!

[Casha'sMommy]

Originally Posted by spedteacher30 

We didn't argue with them yet--but I am sure it will come by September 15 or so...

I like that your date given is also odd

[ellemenope]

Originally Posted by physmom 

wow, very cool!

Oh, I agree.  Very cool!!!

These past few weeks we have been on the road.  I am so glad to be home!  I feel like I have been merely tolerating DD.  That’s not a good feeling.

Reading has been going pretty well.  Some sentences she will read effortlessly.  And, then sometimes she just will not keep her eyes on the page.  It seems to be a stamina thing.  I am only now realizing that she does much better the first 4-5 sentences she reads, and then she fizzles out.  It is amazing to see her read, though. 

She has also started to play around with math and numbers more, and that seems to have done the trick in shifting her focus off of learning how to read.  I never would have seen that one coming.

On the social front, she has done amazingly well at kindermusik and 2 preschool programs these past 3 months.  We are happy to get back in that routine.  She also has no problem being left at the YMCA child watch.   And, while visiting an unfamiliar church for Easter service she went right up to the front all by herself for a children’s portion, sat so well, and paid attention.  She was easily the youngest child to do this, and there were many oohs and ahs.   Unfortunately, over the last few months she has somehow got it in her head that adults want to hear her speak like she did when she was 18 months old.   It is mind boggling.

We visited with another 2.5-year-old and his 5-year-old brother a couple of weeks ago.  DD and the 5-year-old hit it off and were sounding out words together and talking about bones and countries while the 2.5 year old was playing with his mom most of the time.  It was really nice.  Then, we spent a lot of time with another 2.5-year-old and his 6-year-old sister.  DD quickly realized that she could get nothing academic out of the 6-year-old and turned to the 2.5-year-old, matching her speech perfectly to his, even mimicking his mannerisms, and they ran around like maniacs playing dinosaurs and robots.  This was also nice.

[loraxc]

spedteacher, I remember my DD discovering the same thing about numbers and putting it exactly the same way! So cool.

Just discovered that DD can add and subtract 2 and 3 digit numbers with carrying and borrowing in her head. That is, the answers involved carrying and borrowing from my point of view, but since she hasn't been taught that yet, she does it her own way (using what she knows--tens, doubles, facts to 20). I had no idea she could do this. She's not much slower than me (FTR, I am slow at mental math).

[mom2ponygirl]

Okay, this isn't really a gifted thing but I'm really proud of my dd, 12 anyway. :-)  We had a huge flash flood and our creek washed out just under 100 feet of fencing.  We have horses (and board other people's) and suddenly didn't have two pastures.  Saturday we all pulled a long day clearing debris and the washed out fence.  She learned to drive the tractor and operate the front loader.  It was awesome.  Personally I think any 12 year old girl who can operate heavy equipment is going to feel confident trying all sorts of things as she gets older. LOL  

After working all day yesterday and part of today, she then went on to give a beautiful piano recital.  In particular, Golliwog's Cakewalk by Debussey really rocked. :-)  We're all scratched and sore from fighting the sticks, vines, wire, and various debris.  I was amazed she could really pull it together despite fatigue and give a great recital.  

[Tigerle]

Awesome! Operating front loaders is such fun and extremely confidence inducing, but doing it for two days and then give a piano recital...wow.

DS is trying to figure out multiplication, and coming up with stuff that strikes me as typical gifted fashion: understanding the concepts, but not yet having the precision to follow through and come up with the right result, in a way that will later get him in trouble in school...he'll ask: "what's four times four?", then pause, try to calculate in his head, then come up with "twenty! It's twenty, right?" or "what's two times four?", then pause, "twelve! Is it twelve?".

He also came up with this, after having sung his preschool's special birthday song for DH's birthday, which I couldn't sing along with because I'd never heard it before: "You couldn't sing it with me because you haven't sung it as many times as I have! As many years as I've been in preschool times as many kids as there are in my classroom!" I wouldn't expect him to come up with multiples of 27 but thought his grasp of the concept was rather neat.

Not a gifted thing either, but something that's made me very happy nonetheless: We've been travelling for a week, visiting first my parents with uncles, aunts and cousins, then visiting my old university city, staying in a hotel, visiting new people everyday, some childless, some with kids, going on shopping expeditions, eating in restaurants, having way too much chocolate Easter eggs and ice cream, car rides, late bedtimes. The kids took it all in stride! DS charmed my childless friends being inquisitive and making interesting observations, and did not antagonize my friends with kids by refusing to socialize or being aggressive. In fact we had the kind of dream visit which consists of the grownups bouncing the babies and chatting while the kids disappear into the garden, end of story, I longed for all winter and despaired of ever having. DD charmed everyone as well but being 8 months old and smiley and wearing a super cute sunbonnet it's rather easier then when you are an overactive four year old who's been so easily overstimulated, anxious and aggressive all winter that he looked like a case of ASD to a specialist. Everyone commented on how well-behaved, cute and pleasant my kids were; whenever the subject of school came up, there were significant nods and smiles in DS' direction "Well you won't have troubles with that one!" (oh dear, please let them be right!)

It felt good. Still don't know what the secret ingredient is here (I have begun to mentally referring to my kid as "summer DS" and "winter DS"). But I feel a lot more confident now about approaching his preschool teachers about letting him take part in the K pullout early next year.

[Tigerle]

Another funny little tidbit that just happened today: we had another PT appointment for DS to work on his low coordination and out-of-synch body halves(our ped sent us there rather than to an OT because she doesn't believe in OT but I've finally managed to wrangle a perscription out of her). I do quite like the therapist though and had shared with her DS being evaluated for ASD a few weeks ago, after DS had been his most goofy, grimacing, anxious and avoidant self all during the appointmant, as he is wont to be when forced out of his comfort zone, and, as if for her benefit, was then completely ignoring us, absorbed in checking out the toys and covering his ears at every electronic sound or jingle. (She wasn't surprised, talked about her own sn daughter, but suggested another clinic she felt might be better at dealing with sn kids, to get a second opinion if we felt uncomfortable with the results).

So today, while DS chatted with her intern, I shared our relief that the result had been negative and we talked a little bit about how they felt did feel he had some mild autistic traits which ought to be watched, when she looked at DS, took a big breath and said: "Well has it ever occured to you that it might possibly be concealed giftedness you're looking at? You know, I remember him being able to explain these really complicated concepts..."

Um, actually yes, uh-huh...

[Greenmama2]

Just a quick "please share my excitement/amazement" that DD4 polished off the last section of the 1st grade syllabus in mathletics today :joy