Dear Parent,
for this is your first child who is identified gifted, you probably are interested in finding out more about this phenomenon “giftedness”. You will notice that all gifted children are different from each other, some are high achievers, some are not, some are very sensible, some less. There are many books on the market aimed at parents of gifted children, which should already help you understand your own child.
The next thing you can do is to find a parent group in your neighborhood or somewhere near you. Parent groups have one very big advantage: You will meet parents who have “been there, done that” with their own kids. You will find that you are not all alone with your child, and with your feelings about her.
You might experience that not everything will go smooth at school, even after your child is identified gifted. Some teachers do not have experience with gifted children, some do not accept that gifted children have special needs, some are so busy with their whole class that they do not find time to accomodate your kid. This is when you will have to stick up for your child. You need to be her advocate, talk for her to the teachers, especially as long as she is still young. This will have two results: Teachers get more aware of possible and real problems and your child knows that you are 100% on her side (and who should be if not you! ) You might feel as if you were bugging teachers for better treatment for your child, but you are not. What you want for her has nothing to do with better treatment, it is just different, adapted treatment.
Together with this letter you will find some articles which should help you to advocate for your child at school.
With time you will notice that there are many other gifted children out there, some of them happy in their school setting, some rather unhappy in a nonadapted environment, others not even identified. You will notice that the state does not always provide for these children. Some parents of gifted children become involved in education politics and try to advocate for their own and other children by writing letters to state representatives or attend hearings about education etc. In this way improvements and funds for magnet schools and other gifted programs can be achieved.
For more information you can review some of the attached articles.
You probably think now, that you are alone, and therefore can not do anything. You are not alone and even the least bit of work toward a better situation for our gifted children can help, especially when more parents of gifted kids work together.
Sylvia Zinser
