What is it like to be the parent of a gifted child? featuring Deb Grizzell

Welcome to Vanguard Gifted Academy’s education channel. This is episode three of the series on parenting gifted children. My name is Deb Grizzell and my husband Matt and I are the parents of six gifted children. Two of those children are twice exceptional. That means they have disabilities that accompany giftedness. So we have a really broad range of experience. 

Today I want to really talk about Bryant and his transition from his experience at Vanguard Gifted Academy to a public middle school and how Vanguard equipped him for that experience. I think as we faced that, knowing that inevitably life at Vanguard would come to an end, we had a lot of concerns that I think a lot of parents do as their kids transition from one level of education to another. Bryant's needs have been so well met here. We wondered whether he would feel comfortable in a much larger classroom setting, much larger school setting in public school.

And I think the best thing that I can say about his transition is that he's so well-equipped from his experience at Vanguard Gifted Academy. This is a really small setting. It's ideal for young, gifted children. He really learned to be part of a community, to advocate for himself, to be able to self-direct his learning and really get what he needs. And the teachers here really spoke our language and his language. They understood from the very beginning what his needs were in terms of learning and found ways to challenge him. 

Now as he's transitioned to a public school setting, he's having to do that for himself, but he's really well able to do that. He's been capably talking to his teachers, finding things that he can do to keep himself challenged. He makes good use of time when he finishes the coursework that he finishes there and he's really been able to engage in some extracurricular activities that keep him stimulated and excited about the things that he's learning.

And I think the thing that has surprised us the most is that coming from a small setting, he's been able to move to a school where there are 1500 students, capably, and find friends, network, negotiate the social drama that's part of any middle school, really well. And he's a happy kid. Even in a bigger school setting. 

I think the key for us in all of this, as we've watched our other children make this transition as well, is the teachers and the staff here at Vanguard really are forward thinking. They know that children are going to someday leave this wonderful environment at Vanguard and move out into the world and into other educational settings, and they've been able to equip those kids to be ready for that. 

So this has been our journey here at Vanguard, which we have really enjoyed. We're grateful for the way that it's prepared Bryant for his experience. If this resonates with you, we hope that we can keep this conversation going. We hope that you'll continue reading this series on Vanguard Gifted Academy's blog page, and that we can continue to be a resource for you. Thanks very much.