I also want to put in a shameless plug for state-wide gifted and talented organizations. Some of these focus mostly on GT education. But some such as the Minnesota Council for Gifted and Talented (www.mcgt.net) and the Illinois Association for Gifted Children (www.iagcgifted.org) provide many local resources and connection opportunities for parents and children.
Thank you, Mary. I should have included that. The state-based organizations I have worked with over the years have been amazing, and our local organization, https://www.giftedpage.org/ was so helpful when my kids were in school and I was co-chair of a PAGE affiliate in our school district.
Great article and very important guidance - thank you! I lost myself trying to support my gifted child's journey and now see I sacrificed my own sanity oftentimes. A lot of personal work has helped me see this and regain my footing as a stronger person, mother and wife.
Thank you, Ruthie, for sharing your personal experience with this. Many of us struggle when it comes to raising a gifted or 2e child. Glad you sought support along the way and feeling even stronger.
I'm on the other side of gifted parenting (one graduated and working, the other in grad school), but I'm still teaching gifted kids, and I give a hearty second to this: "Find or start your own gifted parenting support group." The rural county where I live was "all children are gifted" central when my kids were young. My kids and I drove to meetups with kids an hour away in so they could be with other intellectually focused kids (important) and I could talk to other parents (vital!). If your kids are 2e, you're in need of even more community and support.
Thanks, Suki. Such a great endorsement of the essential need for connection parents of the gifted experience. I was part of a gifted parents advocacy group in our local school system and it was an amazing support for all of us!
Such an important perspective, Gail! It helps to realize these are common challenges for parents of gifted so we don't internalize them and perceive ourselves as failures.
Thank you, Lea. Yes, it is so important that parents of these amazing, but complicated children avoid internalizing negative feelings about themselves just because raising these kids can be hard.
I also want to put in a shameless plug for state-wide gifted and talented organizations. Some of these focus mostly on GT education. But some such as the Minnesota Council for Gifted and Talented (www.mcgt.net) and the Illinois Association for Gifted Children (www.iagcgifted.org) provide many local resources and connection opportunities for parents and children.
Thank you, Mary. I should have included that. The state-based organizations I have worked with over the years have been amazing, and our local organization, https://www.giftedpage.org/ was so helpful when my kids were in school and I was co-chair of a PAGE affiliate in our school district.
Great article and very important guidance - thank you! I lost myself trying to support my gifted child's journey and now see I sacrificed my own sanity oftentimes. A lot of personal work has helped me see this and regain my footing as a stronger person, mother and wife.
Thank you, Ruthie, for sharing your personal experience with this. Many of us struggle when it comes to raising a gifted or 2e child. Glad you sought support along the way and feeling even stronger.
I'm on the other side of gifted parenting (one graduated and working, the other in grad school), but I'm still teaching gifted kids, and I give a hearty second to this: "Find or start your own gifted parenting support group." The rural county where I live was "all children are gifted" central when my kids were young. My kids and I drove to meetups with kids an hour away in so they could be with other intellectually focused kids (important) and I could talk to other parents (vital!). If your kids are 2e, you're in need of even more community and support.
Thanks, Suki. Such a great endorsement of the essential need for connection parents of the gifted experience. I was part of a gifted parents advocacy group in our local school system and it was an amazing support for all of us!
Very helpful and positive to consider the feelings and responses of parents of gifted students.
Thanks Gail.
Thank you, Steve. So wonderful to hear of teachers like yourself who are so attuned to these families.
I have heard all of those emotions/experiences from parents I work with, Gail. Such a helpful article. Thank you.
Thanks so much, Paula!
Such an important perspective, Gail! It helps to realize these are common challenges for parents of gifted so we don't internalize them and perceive ourselves as failures.
Thank you, Lea. Yes, it is so important that parents of these amazing, but complicated children avoid internalizing negative feelings about themselves just because raising these kids can be hard.