Why do so many people equate being "bored in class" with being gifted/advanced?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - I'm not sure if being bored is a sign of being gifted or not. Like you said, other factors have to be taken into account. But...why do you care? Your post makes me think that you feel you or your child are somehow being put out by someone making this assumption. Life is too short to worry about that! Hopefully your child/children are not bored in their academic setting, so you should probably be a bit thankful and move on to worry about something else.

Idle curiosity, I guess? I'm not really stressed about it. I've just noticed this phenomenon, both here and IRL, where parents seem to assume that their kid MUST be brilliant because (s)he is bored in class. It feels very backward to me, so was curious if I'm missing something. I do wonder if this is an indication that we as a society are relying too heavily on teachers to spoon-feed enrichment as one PP suggested, rather than encouraging kids to use their imagination.

Not worried at all about my own kids. They're both in the "bright, but not genius" category (95% ish on most tests). However, they both have the type of personality that will find something interesting/fun about whatever task you put them on. I don't take it as a sign of their brilliance or lack thereof, just their personality.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Dumb kids check out and feel bored too. Their parents would rather think their kids are gifted. No rocket science here.

It's easier to excuse your child if they're bored by saying they're gifted. If they were truly gifted they would find a way to make learning not boring for them.

A 7-year-old who finishes an entire book during silent reading time (instead of just the chapter the class is working on) can't "find a way to make learning not boring" without getting in trouble with the teacher. Have you ever been in that situation? I have, and it stinks.

Get another book. Read a more challenging book. Write a book report about the book. There are many things he can do. And yes I have been this student.

You have been this student? I seriously doubt it from what you've written here.

Not that PP (actually OP here), but I was that student, and my 7yo is now. He will finish the entire book... Then start over and read it again. He will happily read the same book three times in a row. He enjoys the characters, he'll make up side stories about them in his head. He gleans more from the story every time he reads it, and he just enjoys it.

I think this about sums it up. OP presents her child that has finished a book and re-reads it and gleans more from the story. He finds ways to be creative and make learning fun. PP presents that her child finishes the book and is bored. She does not offer ways that her child has found to make learning fun and creative on his own.

OPs child sounds gifted.

OP again... I actually don't think I could draw any conclusions from these stories that either child is academically gifted, or not. All I can tell is that one child enjoys re-reading a book, while the other doesn't. Why do we assume that is correlated either way with giftedness?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Dumb kids check out and feel bored too. Their parents would rather think their kids are gifted. No rocket science here.

It's easier to excuse your child if they're bored by saying they're gifted. If they were truly gifted they would find a way to make learning not boring for them.

A 7-year-old who finishes an entire book during silent reading time (instead of just the chapter the class is working on) can't "find a way to make learning not boring" without getting in trouble with the teacher. Have you ever been in that situation? I have, and it stinks.

Get another book. Read a more challenging book. Write a book report about the book. There are many things he can do. And yes I have been this student.

You have been this student? I seriously doubt it from what you've written here.

Not that PP (actually OP here), but I was that student, and my 7yo is now. He will finish the entire book... Then start over and read it again. He will happily read the same book three times in a row. He enjoys the characters, he'll make up side stories about them in his head. He gleans more from the story every time he reads it, and he just enjoys it.

I think this about sums it up. OP presents her child that has finished a book and re-reads it and gleans more from the story. He finds ways to be creative and make learning fun. PP presents that her child finishes the book and is bored. She does not offer ways that her child has found to make learning fun and creative on his own.

OPs child sounds gifted.

OP again... I actually don't think I could draw any conclusions from these stories that either child is academically gifted, or not. All I can tell is that one child enjoys re-reading a book, while the other doesn't. Why do we assume that is correlated either way with giftedness?

At the elementary level, I think giftedness has more to do with the innate desire to learn than actual IQ. A child that is naturally curious and continually seeks answers will be labeled gifted.

[Anonymous]

Bored is another way of saying 'I swear my kid needs to be in AAP, whether FcPS thinks he needs to be or not.'

I was bored in school sometimes. My kids are bored in school sometimes. I read. They read. Bored doesn't equal behavior problems. That's just an excuse.

[Anonymous]

Not saying my 8 yo DC is extremely gifted--found eligible for AAP based on one test score and GBRS scores/commentary. However, DC finds plenty of ways to occupy self in class and at home. DC loves free time because it allows opportunities to work on independent projects like writing in a journal, drawing, making up stories/plays, and reading (especially). GBRS mentioned these independent behaviors in commentary supporting scores. I just found that interesting. I don't think "expressing boredom" would qualify as supporting commentary, so perhaps it's not (perceived) as a good indicator.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see a lot of people on here that claim their kids are gifted or "need" to be in AAP because they are bored in class, regardless of testing scores, reading level or other objective measures.

I don't really get it. Yes, I know that a lot of advanced kids do get bored by slower-paced instruction and repetition. I also know a lot of really advanced/gifted kids that do NOT get bored in class - they just dig into whatever they are learning and find ways to enjoy it, even if it is below their level. Conversely, I've known many kids who are academically average (or even below average) who do get bored ... because they don't enjoy the material, it's not interesting to them - not necessarily because it's "too easy".

Among the groups of kids I know - the ones that are the most academically advanced are the ones that are LEAST likely to get bored. They are love learning, and know how to challenge themselves. Say they have a worksheet of basic math facts, something they already know cold. Instead of saying "I already know this, I'm bored", they will make a game out of it - look for new patterns, see if they can finish it faster than they did last time, something like that. They are intrinsically self-motivated. The kids who simply don't enjoy math are the ones who will take that worksheet and say "this is boring".

I'm not saying that bright kids won't ever get bored, I know that some of them can and will. I just don't get the correlation that any bored kid "must" be academically gifted, or (s)he wouldn't be bored. Am I totally missing something here?

I don't think a lot of the discussion on this board about this topic really is about people thinking that if a child is bored it must be that they are advanced. I think a lot of times it's just people rebutting assertions that gifted children are NEVER bored, and that if the child is bored he must not be gifted. I recently posted on another thread regarding this topic, and maybe my posts could have come across as supporting the OP who mentioned her child was bored. I didn't think the child belonged in AAP based on the scores, but I also didn't agree with posters who started generalizing about gifted kids never being bored, and that basically any child who gets bored could possibly be gifted because they "know gifted." I find that absurd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see a lot of people on here that claim their kids are gifted or "need" to be in AAP because they are bored in class, regardless of testing scores, reading level or other objective measures.

I don't really get it. Yes, I know that a lot of advanced kids do get bored by slower-paced instruction and repetition. I also know a lot of really advanced/gifted kids that do NOT get bored in class - they just dig into whatever they are learning and find ways to enjoy it, even if it is below their level. Conversely, I've known many kids who are academically average (or even below average) who do get bored ... because they don't enjoy the material, it's not interesting to them - not necessarily because it's "too easy".

Among the groups of kids I know - the ones that are the most academically advanced are the ones that are LEAST likely to get bored. They are love learning, and know how to challenge themselves. Say they have a worksheet of basic math facts, something they already know cold. Instead of saying "I already know this, I'm bored", they will make a game out of it - look for new patterns, see if they can finish it faster than they did last time, something like that. They are intrinsically self-motivated. The kids who simply don't enjoy math are the ones who will take that worksheet and say "this is boring".

I'm not saying that bright kids won't ever get bored, I know that some of them can and will. I just don't get the correlation that any bored kid "must" be academically gifted, or (s)he wouldn't be bored. Am I totally missing something here?

There's a difference between "bright" and "moderately gifted" and "profoundly gifted." My profoundly gifted 4th grade (IQ 157 on an unprepped WISC-IV) was severely bored in school this year. His teacher was a bad match. She didn't have time for all of the indepth questions or exploration of material that he wanted to do. She didn't really want him reading during "work time." She felt that it showed that he was rushing through his work and not putting in enough time and effort. He got As on everything, but she still felt he needed to spend more time on the work. She suggested that we pull him out of after-school enrichment so that he could spend more time on his work. The only deficit that she could point to was that his handwriting needs more work. She just seemed really offended that he was spending so little time on work that other kids were spending a lot of time on.

He is really far ahead on math and science, especially. He is talking about zero dimensional space and four dimensional space at dinner. He is working on algebra "for fun." There is only so much he can do to make 4th grade interesting or challenging. You wouldn't find 4th grade work interesting or challenging, no matter what you did to it. Neither does he.

He is capapable of starting his freshman year of high school, but lacks the emotional and social maturity for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dumb kids check out and feel bored too. Their parents would rather think their kids are gifted. No rocket science here.

It's easier to excuse your child if they're bored by saying they're gifted. If they were truly gifted they would find a way to make learning not boring for them.

A 7-year-old who finishes an entire book during silent reading time (instead of just the chapter the class is working on) can't "find a way to make learning not boring" without getting in trouble with the teacher. Have you ever been in that situation? I have, and it stinks.

Get another book. Read a more challenging book. Write a book report about the book. There are many things he can do. And yes I have been this student.

You have been this student? I seriously doubt it from what you've written here.

Not that PP (actually OP here), but I was that student, and my 7yo is now. He will finish the entire book... Then start over and read it again. He will happily read the same book three times in a row. He enjoys the characters, he'll make up side stories about them in his head. He gleans more from the story every time he reads it, and he just enjoys it.

I think this about sums it up. OP presents her child that has finished a book and re-reads it and gleans more from the story. He finds ways to be creative and make learning fun. PP presents that her child finishes the book and is bored. She does not offer ways that her child has found to make learning fun and creative on his own.

OPs child sounds gifted.

OP again... I actually don't think I could draw any conclusions from these stories that either child is academically gifted, or not. All I can tell is that one child enjoys re-reading a book, while the other doesn't. Why do we assume that is correlated either way with giftedness?

Because everyone on this board knows what gifted means. In a different setting, if OP had said my child rereads books and gets more each time, and scores 95ish on test, it's very likely that the pp who declared that OP's kid sounds gifted would go into a diatribe about how those score are no where near gifts, and, in this area, probably average.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dumb kids check out and feel bored too. Their parents would rather think their kids are gifted. No rocket science here.

It's easier to excuse your child if they're bored by saying they're gifted. If they were truly gifted they would find a way to make learning not boring for them.

A 7-year-old who finishes an entire book during silent reading time (instead of just the chapter the class is working on) can't "find a way to make learning not boring" without getting in trouble with the teacher. Have you ever been in that situation? I have, and it stinks.

Get another book. Read a more challenging book. Write a book report about the book. There are many things he can do. And yes I have been this student.

You have been this student? I seriously doubt it from what you've written here.

Not that PP (actually OP here), but I was that student, and my 7yo is now. He will finish the entire book... Then start over and read it again. He will happily read the same book three times in a row. He enjoys the characters, he'll make up side stories about them in his head. He gleans more from the story every time he reads it, and he just enjoys it.

I think this about sums it up. OP presents her child that has finished a book and re-reads it and gleans more from the story. He finds ways to be creative and make learning fun. PP presents that her child finishes the book and is bored. She does not offer ways that her child has found to make learning fun and creative on his own.

OPs child sounds gifted.

OP again... I actually don't think I could draw any conclusions from these stories that either child is academically gifted, or not. All I can tell is that one child enjoys re-reading a book, while the other doesn't. Why do we assume that is correlated either way with giftedness?

At the elementary level, I think giftedness has more to do with the innate desire to learn than actual IQ. A child that is naturally curious and continually seeks answers will be labeled gifted.

This is true if the child's curiuosity falls within the socially accepted behaviors that his teachers approve of. If his curiousity takes him outside of those behaviors or into topics that the teachers find weird, then he'll be labeled a trouble-maker or a behavior problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dumb kids check out and feel bored too. Their parents would rather think their kids are gifted. No rocket science here.

It's easier to excuse your child if they're bored by saying they're gifted. If they were truly gifted they would find a way to make learning not boring for them.

A 7-year-old who finishes an entire book during silent reading time (instead of just the chapter the class is working on) can't "find a way to make learning not boring" without getting in trouble with the teacher. Have you ever been in that situation? I have, and it stinks.

Get another book. Read a more challenging book. Write a book report about the book. There are many things he can do. And yes I have been this student.

You have been this student? I seriously doubt it from what you've written here.

Not that PP (actually OP here), but I was that student, and my 7yo is now. He will finish the entire book... Then start over and read it again. He will happily read the same book three times in a row. He enjoys the characters, he'll make up side stories about them in his head. He gleans more from the story every time he reads it, and he just enjoys it.

I think this about sums it up. OP presents her child that has finished a book and re-reads it and gleans more from the story. He finds ways to be creative and make learning fun. PP presents that her child finishes the book and is bored. She does not offer ways that her child has found to make learning fun and creative on his own.

OPs child sounds gifted.

It is not true that all gifted children have the emotional maturity or social skills to do this. Giftedness is asynchronous development. They may be very gifted intellectually, but be at age level (or below) in emotional regulation and social skills. That can frequently be a source of trouble. The kid gets done with the work before other kids, but doesn't have the social or emotional ability to keep himself out of trouble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dumb kids check out and feel bored too. Their parents would rather think their kids are gifted. No rocket science here.

It's easier to excuse your child if they're bored by saying they're gifted. If they were truly gifted they would find a way to make learning not boring for them.

A 7-year-old who finishes an entire book during silent reading time (instead of just the chapter the class is working on) can't "find a way to make learning not boring" without getting in trouble with the teacher. Have you ever been in that situation? I have, and it stinks.

Get another book. Read a more challenging book. Write a book report about the book. There are many things he can do. And yes I have been this student.

You have been this student? I seriously doubt it from what you've written here.

Not that PP (actually OP here), but I was that student, and my 7yo is now. He will finish the entire book... Then start over and read it again. He will happily read the same book three times in a row. He enjoys the characters, he'll make up side stories about them in his head. He gleans more from the story every time he reads it, and he just enjoys it.

I think this about sums it up. OP presents her child that has finished a book and re-reads it and gleans more from the story. He finds ways to be creative and make learning fun. PP presents that her child finishes the book and is bored. She does not offer ways that her child has found to make learning fun and creative on his own.

OPs child sounds gifted.

OP again... I actually don't think I could draw any conclusions from these stories that either child is academically gifted, or not. All I can tell is that one child enjoys re-reading a book, while the other doesn't. Why do we assume that is correlated either way with giftedness?

At the elementary level, I think giftedness has more to do with the innate desire to learn than actual IQ. A child that is naturally curious and continually seeks answers will be labeled gifted.

Why bother with administering the tests then.? Especially, why bother paying for the FaxAT?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Silly OP, everyone on DCUM is a genius, as are all of their children. Just look at all the profoundly gifted people in this thread!

DCUM, where the men are wealthy, the women are beautiful and successful in their selected ouvre (WOH or SAH), and the children are all above average. (with apologies to Garrison Keillor)

[Anonymous]

Lots of kids are bored these days because school doesn't have the bells and whistles that an iPad, wii, xBox, etc. have. My kids would happily reread a book again as well - many times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see a lot of people on here that claim their kids are gifted or "need" to be in AAP because they are bored in class, regardless of testing scores, reading level or other objective measures.

I don't really get it. Yes, I know that a lot of advanced kids do get bored by slower-paced instruction and repetition. I also know a lot of really advanced/gifted kids that do NOT get bored in class - they just dig into whatever they are learning and find ways to enjoy it, even if it is below their level. Conversely, I've known many kids who are academically average (or even below average) who do get bored ... because they don't enjoy the material, it's not interesting to them - not necessarily because it's "too easy".

Among the groups of kids I know - the ones that are the most academically advanced are the ones that are LEAST likely to get bored. They are love learning, and know how to challenge themselves. Say they have a worksheet of basic math facts, something they already know cold. Instead of saying "I already know this, I'm bored", they will make a game out of it - look for new patterns, see if they can finish it faster than they did last time, something like that. They are intrinsically self-motivated. The kids who simply don't enjoy math are the ones who will take that worksheet and say "this is boring".

I'm not saying that bright kids won't ever get bored, I know that some of them can and will. I just don't get the correlation that any bored kid "must" be academically gifted, or (s)he wouldn't be bored. Am I totally missing something here?

I don't think a lot of the discussion on this board about this topic really is about people thinking that if a child is bored it must be that they are advanced. I think a lot of times it's just people rebutting assertions that gifted children are NEVER bored, and that if the child is bored he must not be gifted. I recently posted on another thread regarding this topic, and maybe my posts could have come across as supporting the OP who mentioned her child was bored. I didn't think the child belonged in AAP based on the scores, but I also didn't agree with posters who started generalizing about gifted kids never being bored, and that basically any child who gets bored could possibly be gifted because they "know gifted." I find that absurd.

Yes this, exactly. I don't know anyone, gifted or not who didn't get bored in school. Some people seem to have an idealized view of what a gifted child is like. They aren't perfect and come with many different types of personalities.

[Anonymous]

My 4th grader was bored in the normal classes and is bored in the AAP classes, and will continue to be bored with anything academic lol. Bright as he is, and he is definitely bright, he just isn't a driven academic child and had no interest in been top of the class. He's just happy go lucky and content with getting by ok.