Roll call...

Okay, now the boards seem to be working, so I can give it a try now. I have two DDs, 14 and 10. They are both gifted in music, but my younger DD is profoundly gifted and working with a university professor who specializes in work with highly gifted young musicians. Our road up to this point has been rocky, but now we're on the right track, I think. I first noticed that DD was different when she was about six and participating in group violin lessons. She had spontaneously learned everything the other children were playing, including the much older children, and began playing the teacher's parts too. The teacher pulled me aside and said that DD had a special gift and that she had never seen anything like it before. She asked if she could take over teaching her, which only worked for a short while as I soon had a seven-year-old spontaneously playing pieces that were too long and intricate to play without reading notes, yet the teacher had no ides how to intervene and teach her to sight read. What made things worse was that I don't play any musical instruments and cannot read notes, and DD had long passed the point where I could try to learn to help her. DD's only "practice" at this point consisted of playing whatever she wanted for as long as she wanted to with absolutely no guidance. We were recommended for a state-run music program at the arts university for profoundly gifted children and DD came under the guidance of one of the university professors who run the program. Since then she has two violin lessons a week so she doesn't have time to spontaneously learn a new piece that goes uncorrected before her next lesson. Her supporting violin teacher has been instructing all of the young participants in the state program for fifteen years now and says she has only encountered cases like DD once or twice in that time. She learns so quickly it seems like she always knew what she was playing. Recently she started playing a piece from front to back and at first I thought it had been one of her sister's older pieces, but it was actually a piece she heard another young gifted violinist play twice at a rehearsal. I am here because while DD receives plenty of kudos and acceptance IRL, her gift gives her a number of difficulties that no one entirely understands. She is often edgy and plays or sings nonstop. "Off" notes disturb her and wrongly played music is immediately ingrained into her memory, where it takes ages to unravel. She probably has perfect pitch, say both the professor and her teacher, but this is often a disadvantage. Her general development is also noticeably asynchronous; she spoke extremely late and has pretty pronounced difficulties with vocabulary, grammar and storytelling. On the other hand, she is advanced in math, sports and spelling, and her reading aloud is, strangely enough, extremely advanced. She doesn't care that much about achievement at school because she claims she wants to be a musician, preferably a singer. She happens to have a powerful, true singing voice and would like singing lessons, but she can't get them here until she's about twelve. She's really only happy when she's playing music, doing sports or playing make-believe. She had pretty much stopped using any toys that couldn't be used as theater props by the time she turned eight. A lot of people ask me what I do with DD to get her to make music like she does. The answer is nothing, and the truth is that I simply can't stop her.

I haven't been here in ages, and it is nice to see some familiar names still here. This is my third time trying to reply, so lets see if I can be a bit more concise this time around- not my strength! I started coming to this and the old AP'er board around 2004 when my twin boys were 2, and haven't been in a long while. They are now 11 years old and in Grade 5 and generally doing quite well. They are both in Scouts and play the piano - not seriously, but in grade 4 and very much enjoying it. They have been tested EG, but that isn't always apparent, except with their choice of books and discussions between them. One has an amazing memory for things he has read. A small team of psychologists have suggested that he has aspergers, but we have not felt the need to pursue a formal diagnosis so far. The other boy is also quirky, and extremely similar to his brother, but with minor differences that no one has really been able to put their finger on. With the exception of some organizational issues, they manage to function extremely well. Currently the boys are in grade 5 in a language immersion school. Grades 2 and 3 were nightmares for them. They had good teachers, but under direction from the (then) principal, expected a certain type of behavior and skills from them in terms of self-direction and organization that they simply could not do, and consequently they shut down. The improvement seems to be partially a crisis (one ran away from school at recess, which caused the administration to look at things more closely, request a counsellor, and acknowledge a problem). I think a large part of the reason that things are better is simply that both boys have matured significantly and are better able to be self-directing with their energy and enthusiasm. They’ve rekindled their own spark of learning. It is not lost on me that when they needed help and differentiation the most it was denied (because they weren’t doing their existing work, which was acknowledge to be very simple for them), and when they were able to take care of their own needs they were suddenly offered more help. I also have a DD4 who is the sole extrovert in our family of introverts. It has been quite a shock to us all. It is hard to pinpoint where she might be at intellectually. She does not have the compulsion to memorize facts or do puzzles or mazes for hours on end as her brothers had, but is bright, independent and goes through life with a confidence and 'sass' that we enjoy. She has a social knack none of us have and we cannot convince her that there is anyone who is a stranger. She views every person she doesn’t know as someone she should get to know, and she has stunning success with it. There were a few milestones she hit sooner than her brothers: all physical, verbal and early pattern recognition, but she did not carry these through to any exceptional level once the foundations were learned. Many of the cognitive ones that she hit sooner may have been because she had earlier exposure to early literacy toys (puzzles and things). Her brothers have taught her to love math, and she is adopting a love of books that is pervasive in our family. If I had to guess, I'd say she is MG, but I can't say that for sure. She may be more, she may be less. She is in a “GT” pre-K program. (They categorize as "GT" fairly broadly, based on a 20 minute interview and assessment and a fairly broad interpretation, using the confidence intervals. Despite that she only reads at about a grade 1 level she is at the top of her class.) She is annoyed at not being allowed yet to take piano lessons like her brothers. Last fall she just wasn't ready to let herself be taught; we have always had to work hard to convince her she isn't in charge and should follow directions. She is ready now, and eager to start. Her brothers show her a few things on the piano. AFM, I was a SAHM for much of the time I posted here, but have gone back to a law practice. It has been very challenging with very limited time resources for the kids, and the guilt that goes along with that. DH has been away for about 2.5 years of the last 4 with 2 tours to Afghanistan and some other taskings. I'm extremely glad to have him back now. I'm in western Canada at the moment, though not in m00minmama's neck of the woods. I grew up in that region, and after having lived coast to coast, have come to the conclusion that it will always be most beautiful to me. So, I'm back here after a few years. I'm hoping that a little bit of time here will help me find a place again where I can talk or brag more freely about details around my kids. It isn't that they are doing anything stellar, but things aren’t typical either. I find that more and more often there would be unfortunate consequences if I talk too much about my kids. There are other parents around who are worried that their children aren’t academically strong enough, and I know that there is very little I can say that will not make them worry more by comparison. I miss having a place to be amused when the boys choose to bring a chemistry text, economics book, or the Criminal Code of Canada to school for extra fun, or a place to roll my eyes (for lack of a better way of phrasing it) when my DD4 insists she will write out all her own valentines for both daycare and school. Shari

Yeah, I know. Paragraphing goes missing a lot of the time here lately. Nice to see you around here again! Where did you grow up? Just curious .... Miranda