[senco-forum] [SENco-forum] G and T

From my perspective, it is all about respect. Highly

I have a child that has an IQ that would sit happily
in documentry on child genius. His time has been
staggeringly unhappy. I have never wanted for him to
be pushed yearss ahead of his peers, nor have I wanted
him to be put on some pedestal. I have simply wanted
for him to be happy.

Children in the top 1% are as different to those in
the top 5% are to the 'normal' range. Misunderstood
they can become very isolated, withdrawn and
disassociated by the educational processs. These
children do not need to be told they are different,
they worked that out years ago when they struggled
with peer relationships. School can be difficult for a
variety of reasons: the neeed to question is often
seen as confrontasional, they often test badly because
they make random associations and assume the obvious
answer must be a trick. They fail assignments because
they assume that steps 1-4 are so obvious they don't
need to mention them , go straight to step 5 and get
down graded as a result. Unchallenged, they coast.
They frequently do not have study skills because they
have never had to work to achieve anything. More
importantly, they often go through school feeling
worthless because they do not get praised. Their
brains compute at a level their hand cannot keep up
with, often resulting in messy or incomplete work.
Repetativee work results in boredom.
Teachers frequently assume that a child that has
switched off is simply lazy and that a really bright
child will work hard all the time. Often
perfectionists, they will feign disinterest in
anything new and appear sullen or lazy when the real
reason is that their fear of failure prevents them
even attempting it.

Yes, they need more challenging work. Yes, they need
to work at things they find hard to gain that sense of
acheivement they often lack. Simple things like
allowing the use of mind maps, highlighters, bullet
points etc, all help. 
 More importantly, if more teachers understood the
make up and needs of these children they would feel
liked and respected, not misunderstood and isolated.
>From my perspective, it is all about respect. Highly
gifted children are still children,  and unhappy ones
learn nothing.

The G&T register is not about gifted children, it is a
government declaration that 10% of children are
already unchallenged in a system that is geared
towards the average,

Gifted children with SEN is another disaster area. All
back to unhappy children acheiving little. These
children get the double whammy. Too frequently placed
in lower sets because of difficulty working at the
pace of the higher pace - another recipe for damaged
self esteem. 

Gifted children should be SEN because all too
frequently they end up with damaged self esteem or
behavioural problems. Personally a more preventative
approach would be better all round

I feel my soap box is getting taller and I am at risk
of falling off.

wonder if we li
--- SEN at tringham.net wrote:

> 
> 
> of course we all have talents, just as we all have
> some level of IQ and
> originally the identification of higher IQ was just
> an extension up from the
> task of identifying all children with any AEN.
> 
>  Not sure why 10% was the chosen cut off point when
> it is around top 25%
> that are able to access Grammar schools (in some
> areas) in order to support
> their academic leanings - hardly equitable.
> 
> 'Talented' brings balance and picks up those who
> excel outside of academic
> circles.
> 
> What is questionable is if we should be focussing on
> one area at all when
> everything else in the system is working towards a
> holistic overview.
> 
> I have G&T children with SEN. I have had to spend
> all my time supporting
> their right to an education, that they have not been
> able to access easily
> due to their SEN.  There has never been time to
> nurture their 'talents' with
> additional sport, music, drama or dance coaching or
> extension activities due
> to their 'giftedness in Science or English.  They
> have gained nothing in
> school from being on the G&T register either.
> 
> However, having watched the child genius programme
> on Channel 4 they are
> extremely grateful that we did not have time to
> indulge them, or ourselves,
> in providing ridiculous amounts of extra curricula
> activities or coaching.
> In consequence they are well balanced/well-rounded
> and quite unlike the
> other family of 4 that  belong to MENSA.
> 
> Children with high IQ need to be identified, as it
> is a SEN/AEN issue that
> if left unsupported may lead to boredom and
> frustration. Those with talents,
> including ones outside of school, need to be
> encouraged and celebrated
> within school, but neither areas should be pandered
> to to the exclusion of
> all else, as such a lack of balance cannot be
> healthy.
> 
> Sharon
> 
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