Anonymous wrote:I like this presentation, which includes the distinction between high achievers and gifted learners:

http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/cms/lib09/UT01001306/Centricity/Domain/73/Learning%20Distinctions%20Between%20High%20Achievers%20and%20Gifted.pdf

According to this, my 7 year old is gifted, but I kind of wish she were the high achiever instead!

Check out the hoagies gifted site for thorough information. Not DCUM.

Anonymous wrote:Intellectual curiosity. Someone who truly enjoys learning new things--not just getting good grades.

+100. In fact, grades may offer little motivation at all.

I like this presentation, which includes the distinction between high achievers and gifted learners:

http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/cms/lib09/UT01001306/Centricity/Domain/73/Learning%20Distinctions%20Between%20High%20Achievers%20and%20Gifted.pdf

Anonymous wrote:Also, a child who can entertain himself easily.

Depends entirely on context! If by "entertain self easily" you mean keep self entertained dring school in a manner that works well for the teacher, you are so very wrong. If, on the other hand, you mean te kid could get handed a cardboard box full of random bits of this and that and THEN stay entertained, you're probably right.

My highly gifted kid is a disaster if unchallenged in classroom, but amazing if allowed to be creative. Like, super amazing.

Also, a child who can entertain himself easily.

Intellectual curiosity. Someone who truly enjoys learning new things--not just getting good grades.

When I think of a gifted child, I think of one who is highly creative. This is a child who creates things at an early age that blow you away. For that reason, the highly creative child needs an outlet outside of a traditional school, which rarely offers that kind of opportunity. They are often the kids who get in trouble because they are bored with the curriculum and structure of a regular classroom -- they need to create! The high achiever actually thrives in a structured classroom (all A's, teacher's pet) but is in danger of getting into trouble as well if he/she gets bored after having read every single book five times or solved every math problem available to him/her.

OP, gifted frequently means high achieving. Are you thinking of profoundly gifted?

Gifted services and AAP are for gifted and high achieving students, they are not limited to the profoundly gifted. Nor should they be, then the 1 or 2 students would be isolated and poorly served.

When doing my grad work, I saw something that really helped me distinguish between the two. Do a Google search for Janice Szabos, bright child vs. gifted learner. I'd venture to say that most kids we ID as gifted really are bright kids, but not as many are truly in the gifted range.

Well, this is the perspective from the GT/LD side:
9 year old DS is gifted according to his IQ evaluations. He also has ADD. He is struggling in 4th grade. Yet his essays amaze his teachers and he won his school's Young Author's Contest. He thinks outside the box and makes connections no one else makes, which last are completely disregarded in school right now.

Gifted has nothing to do with school achievement, OP. It's better during your schooling to be high-achieving! And in one's adult life? Who knows? The most important thing is to be aware that hard work is necessary for success in one's chosen path, whether gifted or not.

I don't think it is fair to even try to judge a child's intelligence before fourth or fifth grade, but I also think it is true that you can tell some kids have a spark before then--and it has nothing to do with reading or math.

I think the question is, does dc need more enrichment/acceleration than he/she is getting? Would she like to go faster with the curriculum and could she handle it?

I would not worry about whether he/she is "really" gifted since I think the whole thing is kind of squishy.

Anonymous wrote:our DC is way ahead in reading level like 2 grades and has current level math down pat but not as advanced. But we suspect DC is just high achieving not gifted; we are curious how do teachers or parents identify actually gifted students? We don't want to do DC any disservice by not championing them, but feel gifted should show something truly remarkable

How old is she? Reading "at grade level" doesn't mean where the average student is in that grade level, it means that all students in that grade should read at that grade level. As a result, many students read above grade level. 2 years is the sign of a bright and well prepared student with no LDs. It is great that she is having success.

our DC is way ahead in reading level like 2 grades and has current level math down pat but not as advanced. But we suspect DC is just high achieving not gifted; we are curious how do teachers or parents identify actually gifted students? We don't want to do DC any disservice by not championing them, but feel gifted should show something truly remarkable