Your Child IS Gifted!

Remember when I wrote a little while back that I was wanting to write about the 'giftedness' of all children? I haven't been inspired to do so yet....until today. Somehow a copy of "Parents" magazine ended up in my mailbox; I definitely did not order it, as I have never cared much for the publication.

After wondering why this magazine came to me, I turned my attention to the cover :"How To Tell If Your Child Is Gifted."  Wow. Can you picture a young mother reading this and quickly turning to the right page to determine the extent of her child's gifts? Or...maybe her child isn't even gifted at all, but here's how to tell.

So I turn to the article, and how convenient: There's a chart titled : "Is Your Child Gifted Or Just Smart?" Seriously? I can read a little box chart in "Parents" magazine to find out if I have just an average smart kid or an OOH 'gifted' child.


The article discusses different options for 'gifted' children and claims that "the lack of options for gifted kids may be due to the ambivalence Americans feel about anything that smacks of elitism." (p63) Excuse me? Schools aren't good enough for some kids because no- one wants to admit how amazing those kids are? Is it just me...or is this extremely offensive?

I'm no big fan of  Amy Chua, the "Tiger mother," but I will say one thing in her defense: In her mind every child is "gifted." Every child can do it. And isn't this true? Aren't all children 'gifted' in their own ways? Howard Gardner in his book, Multiple Intelligences,  expounds on his theory that all children have gifts, or 'intelligences' as he refers to them; it is up to parents and mentors to foster and nurture the gifts specific to that child.

Maybe some children lean towards science. Maybe towards music or art. Maybe a child can't draw at all, but he is happiest expressing himself in that way. Isn't that a gift?  One child may have an incredible sense of humor, while another child can listen and empathize ...all gifts.

To gain clarity on this issue, I turned to 1Corinthians, chapter twelve. Will you take time to read this? God's word always defines truth.  The truth about giftedness is crucial to the understanding and development of our children and ourselves if we are going to become who God has called us to be:


4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues[d]? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

Living In A Minute

I like to plan life, but life never goes according to plans. I like to plan life, but I don't like living according to plans, even my own! I'm the planner that doesn't use plans- Not a good combination. Since we have made the decision to home school our children (years ago), and since I was "trained" to be a teacher in college, the planning bug hits me hard sometimes. The problem is, I want my children to love learning at home, and I want them to have the freedom to pursue interests of their own. So planning an agenda for them has left us all feeling unsatisfied and lacking.

When we have abandoned all structure, however, we have also felt something to be amiss. Somehow the days get away from us, and we haven't had time, or haven't made time to read books together, play, look at stars, paint, etc.. How often do I tell my chlidren we will do something "in a minute? "
I think I'm finally realizing, over the last year or so, that LIFE ISN'T IN A MINUTE. LIFE IS NOW.

So, for the new year, I am trying a "new" kind of planning. I am going to plan the fun stuff- things we love to do! Instead of planning typical lessons, I am going to plan time to play board games,do simple crafts, read the books we want to read,  bake together, etc... I want to GIVE PRIORITY to nurturing a love of life and learning in my children. I don't want life to go by and my time with them to disappear and see all the dusty books on the shelves that have never been read, the games with the boxes still fresh from never being played...

I AM FEELING THE PULL TO LIVE.
I am feeling the pull to live, NOW.... Not in a minute.

How long can I spin the cocoon and feather the nest instead of taking flight?

How long can I weave words and ideas, yet cling to the loom?

Oliver said to me on Christmas morning, after constructing a train with his new Keva planks,
"I don't care if I am ever smart, as long as I have my creativity."

Later that day he put his new "wind generator" together. I overheard Mary Margaret say, "Gosh, Oliver. You're like Albert Einstein!"

I used to want my children to be smart. Now I want them most of all to love life and have a passion for learning....
THIS MINUTE!

Some thoughts on learning and life in general~ My philosophical blog (the long story)

How Children Learn~ Part 2~Doing

Children Learn by doing. They are happiest (especially when young) to be involved in grown-up activities. My children have a little wooden kitchen that they do play with. But given the choice, Anna would do the 'real ' dishes any day!



As she feels the water running through her hands, I tell her what she is feeling..or I will ask her a question- "Does the water feel warm?" "Are you going to use soap to clean the dishes?" All the while her vocabulary is expanding, and she is feeling different sensations. The sense of touch is very important !



Another important aspect of 'doing' for children is the parents' ability to let go. In other words, we need to let go of higher standards and control over every situation. This morning I inwardly cringed as I sent Sam downstairs with Mary Margaret and Tommy and only verbal instructions on how to make pancakes. He repeated the ingredients to himself all the way down the stairs. When I finally made it down, he had made pancakes start to finish! We need to let our children mess up- or not mess up! Sam did an incredible job, and he was so proud to serve me breakfast!




I can't recall how many times Will has fixed something-even big things like tillers and lawn mowers, because we let him have at it. I have to remind myself of letting the kids "do" on a daily basis, because it's too easy to get comfortable with not wanting to bother with the mess .Fill your home with creative things to do! It doesn't have to be fancy! One thing we have had off and on over the years is a giant 'make-it box.' It is a huge Rubbermaid container filled with junk!: cardboard tubes, pipe cleaners, boxes, string, etc...Just last night Will said, "Remember when I always made rain hats from the 'make-it' box" .... Oh, How I wish we had had blogging back then!!!

How Children Learn~Part 1~ Discovery

Display:



Touch:

Discover:

Create a home where there are possiblities to imagine and discover~ A home that is interesting, that invites learning.

"Do You Want Fries With That?"

I think the best kind of learning happens when kids don't know they're "learning." And I love to find out about this incidental learning when it comes out in conversations with the kids. Today Oliver and I were discussing advertising tactics over burgers at McDonald's. He really wanted to get one of the new iced coffee drinks they're advertising in the restaurant(with a huge poster-looks totally refreshing). I told him I didn't think today was a good day to get one because we had all the little children with us.

"Oh well" Oliver said resignedly. "It's probably all just margarine at the top of the picture, anyway."

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"Well, McDonald's just wants their food to sell, so when they're taking the pictures they don't really use the real food. They use margarine for ice cream so it looks fluffier and not all melted. They glue sesame seeds on to puffed up hamburger buns so that every seed is in perfect place."

I looked at my smashed hamburger bun. It definitely didn't resemble the fluffy bun on the picture on the menu. But I didn't know how Oliver was suddenly such an expert on fast food marketing ploys.

"So how do you know all of this? It sounds a little crazy."

"I read it in that Do Not Open book" (really cool book by John Farndon -available at Amazon)


Oliver had read the book (we had checked it out of the library a couple months ago). He found it to be very interesting. The conversation turned into Oliver's disbelief that people (marketers) get paid to think up advertising for big corporations.

"That sounds like a fun job !" Oliver said, as he crammed his mouth full of fries. Life doesn't get any better, in my opinion.

"SCHOOL" AT OUR HOUSE

Lots of people are curious as to what a typical day looks like in our home school. I also would like to be able to look back at my blog in a couple months/years and see what we were doing in April 2009. So I thought I would write about an average morning in our home. Let me preface this by saying that there really are no "typical" days in our home. Every day brings its own surprises. So here is a glimpse of what happened on an ordinary April morning in the Smithdeal home:
Travis took Will to school early this morning(actually, Will drove Travis-now that he has his learner's permit). Travis came home and I was up with the children doing laundry, getting out breakfast, etc...We have a tradition that we use the first of the wild Asparagus to make omelets. So I made Travis an Omelet which he devoured :). Some of the children wanted pancakes, so we made pancakes and bacon. We started to clean up, but at around 10:30 Anna wanted to be put down for a nap(which involves nursing her to sleep, usually in the rocking chair in my room). I headed upstairs for a nice respite, when Emily came in the room with a copy of Henri Fabre's Storybook Of Science. We began to read about electricity. Sam, who was listening ,said very excitedly, "Oh...so that's what all those little sparks are that I see in my covers every night.." This launched us into a long conversation about static electricity.
Enter: Oliver-who just woke up about fifteen minutes ago(late night baseball is rough on the kids!). "Mom," he said,"I didn't get any pancakes. Will you make me some please?" I explained that I was tied up at the moment, but he could put some on the griddle himself. "There's no batter left," he replied expectantly. So I told him how to make the batter and cook them. He went down stairs and made them and did a very good job! Sometimes my kids do much better when I can't tend to them right away!
Back to the science. In his book, Fabre describes an experiment you can do with paper and a stove that demonstrates electricity at work. So down we go to the kitchen. The experiment is a success! That's always a plus, as lots of times the books make it look so easy, only to have the experiment fail and the kids thoroughly disappointed.
When we were doing the experiment, the paper became brown and dingy-resembling an old historical document. Emily noticed this and asked if she could use it as "olden days" stationery. She spent the next thirty minutes writing on this paper!
Meanwhile, Sam, Oliver, Mary Margaret and I pulled out our Let's Read And Find Out books about storms and electricity (incidentally, this was the first set of books I ever bought for my kids- 25 cents a piece at the Christian Mission in Alabama. Kind of fitting that Will's first books wre science books! I highly recommend these books to anyone who wants to have fun learning about science.) We then read a book about St. Jerome and the Lion by Rumer Godden. It was a sweet story. We finished up with The Grey Lady And The Strawberry Snatcher by Molly Bang-an absolute all time favorite of my children!!!
Anna woke up and we never finished the kitchen, so we tidied the house and began making lunch. All and all, it was a nice, happy morning. Normally we would have been outside, but the rain kept us in to enjoy the coziness of learning together!