#Gifted #Children: You don't get me and that's NOT ok

You don't get me and that's NOT okToday's topic is near and dear to my heart because it's something I have and always will face. I grew up and live in a world in which I don't fit in. I have always known that this world doesn't operate the way my mind does and it's very frustrating. But I'm not alone in my feelings. Gifted children face the same heartaches and struggles I do even in elementary school. By the time they are in 2nd, 3rd or 4th grade they have already know they don't fit into society, no matter how hard they try. Their trust has been broken by so many of their peers using them for their brain instead of wanting to be their friend. The school system gives them more work instead of tailoring their education to their needs. The following video gives you the common characteristics of a gifted child. These characteristics can cause problems in society. 

Many gifted children have academic problems on paper because they simply become too bored with the material to even care. For example, I grew up in a wonderful school district in Mt.Vernon, Ohio who recognized my intelligence. I thrived there because I was on a college track that would have placed me full time in college with dual credits my junior year. My mind was challenged. I took high school biology in 5th grade. My mother and I moved to Texas in the summer between my 10th and 11th grades. When we came to the school district in Texas they refused to recognize my subjects because they were college level and they didn't offer what I had taken. So I had to take High School Biology again. First of all the whole idea of having to redo my subjects frustrated me. I wanted to drop out of school right then and there or move back to Ohio. In fact, I pleaded with my mother to do just that. So I took the biology course and failed it. Why? Because they were using the exact same book I had in 5th grade and I had already read it. Now you would think I should have gotten an A because I had already taken the course and had done just that. But I failed it because I was frustrated and just didn't care. My mind wasn't challenged. The only great thing about that class was that we had a student whose family just arrived from Nicaragua. I had just moved to Texas after being a foreign exchange student to Costa Rica. I ended up translating everything for her. When it came time for lab I oftentimes ended up doing all of the work for my lab group because I was the brain. I did the work, They got the grade. 
So how do you teach a gifted child?
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