What is Gifted Education? A family's journey with a gifted child

Welcome to the Vanguard Gifted Academy education channel and the fourth blog in our new exploration series, “What is gifted education?” My name is Kristine Sims. I am a thankful parent of a student here at Vanguard. I am just eager to share what it's been like to watch our son experience a gifted education because the impact that it's made on him has just been so great. It has blessed our hearts, so we would love to share with other parents who are wondering the same about their child. 

Our son, Andrew, has always loved to learn, but when we would pick him up from school and ask him what he learned, he would often say nothing. I was under the impression that this was my boy not wanting to tell his mom about his day, and ready to get to the next thing. He would come home and he would get out his books or his paper and pen, and he would teach himself things and he would learn on his own. 

Andrew loved doing that. But as homework was introduced and he would sit in front of these worksheets, we began to see him wrestle through the process of needing to complete assignments on content that he didn't love, didn't care about. Quite frankly, he found it boring and his eyes would well with tears.

That phrase, “bored to tears” was a literal reality in our household.

My husband and I just knew we had to do something differently. So we did our research and we found Vanguard. Andrew came and visited the school, did a shadow day, and when we picked him up and asked him how it went. He said, “I think I would learn there,” which feels a bit pathetic and also is very encouraging at the same time. We knew we needed to give it a shot. I can tell you that while we had great expectations, there are things that even surprised us as we've watched him grow and learn in his experience with gifted education. 

Now, when we pick Andrew up from school and ask him what he learned, we never hear “nothing”. He always has so much to share about what he's learning, what he's excited about, and the experiments that he got to do. He started talking about how in the past he would have to wait. He would have to wait in the classroom because he would complete an assignment and he would sit and wait for everyone to get their thing done before the entire class could move on. Here Andrew has been given an individualized learning menu for a portion of his day where he is challenged to learn at his level, at his pace, and develop the skills that he needs with content that he enjoys. This has made all the difference for him. Now, what hasn't changed is that when he comes home, he still wants to learn. 

He isn't necessarily drained from his day, or looking to just “veg”. He's still eager to get out the books, to get out the paper and the pencil. But what has really blown us away is that while it used to always be math and science, as of late, he has been wanting to write. Writing for Andrew has never been a joy or a passion, but these teachers here are able to inspire him in a way that he is drawn to learn and develop skills outside of what he normally used to enjoy. This is so encouraging to us because what it tells us as parents is that these teachers really understand our son. They understand what interests him, what ignites a desire to learn in him, and then they're able to take that and translate it into multiple different content areas so that he can grow in a well-rounded education. 

The last thing that has made such a difference for us is the emotional development that we have seen in our son. In a gifted setting, it is given greater attention, greater weight, and integrated into his daily learning experiences. Emotional intensity is something that a lot of gifted children have. We came to learn this only through seeing it in our own son and in this setting. He is encouraged to grapple with his emotions and why he feels certain things that he does and then navigate them, develop strategies, and skillsets to manage different emotions in ways that in the past might have been embarrassing or uncomfortable and now he can own it. He's stepping into how he's wired, who he's been made to be, and navigating those intensities with some grace and some confidence that truly blesses our hearts. So if you are a parent of a gifted child or you know a gifted child, I would encourage you to look into gifted education in your area. 

If you're near Vanguard, check it out and if not, find a similar school in your area. We didn't realize the impact that it was going to have on him, not just during his school day, going from learning nothing to a myriad of things, but also at home to the interests and the skill sets that he is now inspired to develop.  He has really blossomed, and it's been pretty incredible. Thank you for taking the time to listen. If you have further questions, I would encourage you to reach out to the Vanguard staff. They are invested in what they do because they love these kids. They understand how they work. Continue to follow along. Like us on YouTube, find us on Facebook and allow us to be a resource that partners with you on the journey towards helping gifted children. Thank you for listening. We appreciate it.