Have you ever felt that becoming a parent has made you smarter? I do. As the parent of a young gifted child, I have had to step up my game, so to speak. I have to stay three steps ahead of him, anticipating his every question and being able to come up with an answer to the many questions he might ask. If I don’t know the answer, then I have to find out post haste. I was an honor student throughout school, graduated number nine in my class in fact. But Tyler is so smart it’s scary. And it can be a little intimidating because he’s so young. I was never much of a history bluff or a science geek but because of Tyler, I have more history and science facts stuffed in my cranium than you can imagine.
Although it is intimidating, learning with him has been a great experience and I look forward to learning more as he ages and the issues become more complex. Sometimes I worry that I won’t be able to continue guiding him and I have already decided should that happen, I will have to hire someone who can work with him and help him develop his gift. For the time being I continue to be his secondary teacher.
However, as we approach the beginning of another school year I will temporarily become, once again, his primary teacher. School starts here in Mobile next week but I have decided to homeschool Tyler until we return to New Orleans. I was hoping to have returned home by now but the best laid plans…
I have enrolled him in a private school in New Orleans, which won’t open until late September. Like most businesses and individuals in New Orleans, the road to recovery continues to be a slow one. Although the school I’ve enrolled him in was open last year, they are in the process of moving to another location but it’s not ready yet. This works fine for me since my house is not ready yet either. The school year will be extended into the summer months.
I had to make the decision whether to send him back to public school and then yank him out when it was time to leave, let him have a longer summer break, or begin homeschooling when everyone else returns to school next week. I decided to do the latter although we probably won’t have school all day long, probably just a few hours in the morning. He has already gone through several first grade workbooks so we’re starting on second grade curriculum but I don’t want to get too ahead or he’ll be bored when he returns to school since the work will be mainly a review.
Teaching Tyler has always been a joy since he’s so eager to learn. This makes me eager to teach. And who knows what additional knowledge I may have acquired by the time he returns to the classroom. So tell me, do you think you’re smarter now that you have kids?
See also:
The Survival Guide for Parents of Gifted Kids
Gifted Programs and Honors Classes
Your Child Can Be Both Gifted and Learning Disabled