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How Can I Be Gifted If I Did Not Excel In School? And Other Conundrums Surrounding The G Word
Not all gifted kids are high achievers in school. Not all gifted kids score well on tests. There are many reasons: So, yes, you can be gifted and do poorly in school. You can be gifted and not perform well on tests. You can be gifted but incorrectly assume you are just a lazy, indecisive,…
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Fourteen Tips For Parents of Gifted Children
Four of the top concerns I hear repeatedly from parents of gifted children are: finding appropriate schooling options, making friends/building relationships, managing intense emotions and sensitivities, and perfectionism. Here are my recommendations: 1. Look for the teachers who are more sensitive, flexible, smart, and creative. Ideally, they have some training in gifted education. But even…
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A Gifted Woman From India
Anu did not think she was smart. She did not excel in mathematics. In India, where she grew up, the gifted ones were the math stars. If you loved music, art, theatre, and literature, like Anu did, you were not considered particularly intelligent, much less gifted. If you were restless, highly imaginative, sensitive, and curious,…
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Gifted And Lonely In Belgium
Just yesterday, 26 people in Bangladesh and 9 in Qatar were reading my blog. 10 in South Africa, 12 in Turkey, 1 in Kenya, and 6 in Sudan, among many others, around the world. We are not alone, my dearest rainforest-minded darlings. We are not alone. Of course, you may still feel lonely. Like Elien,…
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A Gifted Teen In Malaysia — What Is Normal?
I am on a quest to see what rainforest-mindedness looks like around the world. So far, we’ve “visited” Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and Finland. Today, we are in Malaysia. Meet Mila*, who is Muslim and 18. “..I was too sensitive, too easy to cry, too easy to fall sick, and an unstoppable chatterbox…I struggled a lot…
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Realizing That You Are Gifted — Will It Make a Difference?
Realizing that you are gifted. That you are of the rainforest-minded clan. Explains a lot. It explains why you are so darned sensitive. So darned empathetic. You see, your feelings and perceptions are as vast as your intellect. You are not only thinking, analyzing, and synthesizing on many levels at once and pretty much all…
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A Short Guide to the Complicated Life of Gifted Adolescents or Young Adults
Maybe you wonder how you can be so smart and so dumb at the same time. Perhaps you feel like too much and not enough. Maybe you are terrified of both failure and success. Perhaps you love learning but are frustrated with schooling. Maybe you live by the highest standards for excellence but can never…
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If I’m So Smart, Why Do I Feel So Lost and Alone?
There are times when you just want to scream. Even though you’re a pacifist. Even though your instinct is to be compassionate and understanding. Even though you have empathy that overwhelms you. There are those days when you just want to say, “Why are there so many f—ed up, insensitive, clueless, exasperating people in the…
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Gifted, Sensitive, Curious Children In School — What Can Parents And Teachers Do?
You would think that kids who love literature, enjoy mathematical puzzles and scientific enigmas and who are curious beyond measure, would be high achievers in school and a teacher’s dream. There are times when this is the case: When curriculum is challenging and engaging. When teachers are sensitive, enthusiastic, kind, creative, smart, flexible and organized.…