Monday 14 May 2012

The Gifted and The Talented (Plus Thank You Twilight Saga)


We are lucky to live where we do. Area has excellent local public primary school with excellent super involved school community. Not only that the school has special program for Gifted and Talented students. Just as well - Thirty Three per cent of students from area are gifted and talented. Which is super way above general population average of Five percent. Something in water supply to area I suspect. Am always encouraging own children to drink up. "Will cleanse out kidneys and purify other systems" tell them "Plus will make you gifted and talented". So far no luck. Though am told completing homework may also help.

Wish school was as interested in Dyslexia as is interested in giftedness and talentedness. Because own daughter is dyslexic and more support from school while she was there would have been awesome. The Dyslexia Association of Australia estimates Ten per cent of students have dyslexia and yet no teacher had any real understanding of it. Without knowing anything too much about Dyslexia myself I first suspected  daughter had it even before she begun school - smart, book loving, curious and quick to learn she would throw a tantrum when asked to look at an alphabet. Those colorful plastic letters which stick to the fridge? Thats $2.95 I'll never get back.

A full diagnosis of dyslexia didn't come until daughter was 10 - from outside the school, hundreds of dollars later in trying to discover why a smart girl was reading at a level lower than the ESL (English as a Second Language) kids, and much frustration, thwarting of confidence etc. A private dyslexia tutor followed (hundreds more dollars), hours on a saturday - her and I in the bedroom doing the attendent homework each week - and just plain determination for the next two years proved instrumental to move beyond this hurdle and make her the A student she is now. Oh, and also her determination to read age innapropriate Twilight Saga.

Actually forget all that - basically Twilight saga cured daughters dyslexia.  Educators take note.

4 comments:

  1. I agree that more should be done for early intervention and support programs- Glad you are moving and forging ahead now- GO Twilight!

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  2. I think you'll find the wonderful and talented teachers of all our wonderful and talented kids are actually part vampire (they have been known to twinkle occasionally - our generous dictactor, oops, pricipal, (always get those mixed up ), certainly twinkles constantly - is her personality though...

    Maybe you should also be encouraging your as yet undiscovered talented children to enter local art show - was desperately disappointed to turn up and not locate your children's work for sale - surely big market for shark pictures??

    xx

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  3. I think my son Freddy is a vampire due to his reluctance to sleep when night falls. I am now inspired to think that maybe this will turn him into an A-grade student by the time he reaches high school.

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  4. Fabulous post... actually, they all are (I've been having a nosy-peek around). Great blog - absolutely hilarious and have been giggling through most of it... Entirely inappropriate comment of course on post about daughter's struggle to have dyslexia recognised at school, but umm, sorry... hopefully the spirit of my comment will prevail ;) Kx

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