Lori Williamson, vice president of Scottsdale Supporters of the Gifted, said such a school would have saved her 13-year-old son, Mark, from making an 80-minute commute each day last year to the Washington School District, which has a selfcontained program for the gifted.

It also would have helped Mark develop socially.

"Research has shown that bringing highly gifted children together is very good for the development of selfesteem," Williamson said. "It helps for these kids to be around people they are similar to."

Williamson’s troubles with the school district began shortly after Mark started kindergarten at Scottsdale’s Kiva Elementary School.

Mark, who hadn’t yet been identified as gifted, could already read books. His classmates, on the other hand, were just learning their ABCs. When Mark came home from his first day of kindergarten, he was confused. "I thought you said that we go to school to learn new things," he said to his mother.

Williamson called first grade a "disaster." Mark could already spell words such as "valentine" and "February," but his classmates were learning to spell "at" or "pat."

Williamson began consulting with district representatives and Mark’s firstgrade teacher, who rebuffed efforts to enrich Mark’s curriculum, Williamson said. Mark was also having problems with classmates who picked on him for being the "smart kid."

Mark’s interest in languages has created a dilemma for his mother, who has to scramble to find college courses for her son.

"What do you do with a 13-year-old who is interested in the origins of Indo-European languages?" Williamson asked.

So now Mark has a selfpaced individual education plan and takes courses including Navajo at Phoenix College.
He also takes science and social studies in Japanese on Saturdays at the Arizona Gakuen School.

Although the Williamsons would welcome financial assistance, they don’t receive money from the district to help pay for these extra courses.
part of the article at the Tribune (http://www.aztrib.com/evliving/evliving5.shtml) (the part concerning ME, of course!


Guess who? :p

Mark Williamson perhaps??

Ok, I'll bite the bait. Who is it, GB-GIL Trans-global?

Originally posted by Phrenetic
Ok, I'll bite the bait. Who is it, GB-GIL Trans-global?

me.

I don't like these "gifted" programs. I think the word "gifted" is thrown around way too loosely.

When I was a kid and they threw me into "the gifted" class, all I wanted to do was go outside and play with my dumb friends.

And another thing. I was nothing like the other so called "gifted" students in my "gifted" class. I remember these kids were really snobby and some of them even ate their own boogers. Now is that GIFTED?

Do you have any interest in mathematics?

Don't expect any special treatment from me...cos come morning, I won't know who the hell you are :D

Buddy ole pal, good to see ya again.:cool:

Looks like you're getting the attention you deserve. I fondly remember those kindergarten days back in the city, I think maybe, just maybe, the only reason I enjoy reading so much is because I had this massive contest with this other girl in my class, I would read ahead and as fast as I could, discovering new words like "that" etcetera.

I've always had this opinion, that little accidents that we go through as children really lay the foundations to our fates as adults and adolescents. I dunno.

*he sighs* Maybe, if I had been given the chance, I could have spelt valentine when I was a toddler. Spelling has always been one of my strong points.

But I guess there's more to it then that, huh?

Well, good luck on your journey's, geebee.

u should shoot your school with a machine gun until they fulfill your demands.

tell them you will shoot everybody until they give you money to learn Navajo

tell them u will blow up the school until they agree to pay u 2 learn science and social studies in Japanese.

I remember first grade. My teacher, Ms. Little was here name, would make me grade papers because I didnt have anything else to do. Now Ive lost my interest in learning, something just turned me off of it. I still read though, a lot.

I was my class' (class of 2002) dumbass.

I wish I could have a big brain like you guys

Originally posted by Phrenetic
I wish I could have a big brain like you guys
its not the size that counts.
or is it?

I was never really "excellent" when it came to scholastic
endeavors: I just didn't give a flyin' (hey, what's that??).
Obviously, my grades were low (passable), but the plus
side is I never really had to study for anything. Around 4
years ago I "woke up" to my potential and started doing
the things I SHOULD HAVE BEEN DOING from the get-go.

I guess it all comes down to potential and curiosity/interest...

To this day, I still wonder if things would have been drastically
different if I actually would've cared about school and my mental
development...

Come to think of it, I'd still know nothing about everything ;) :p

I give a major sh*t about school, and I had 2 A's and 2 B's on my report card 2 weeks before the term ended. Right when that happened I had a killer test in Honors Bio and I guess my grades in spanish just slipped or something. Now I have an A, a B, and 2 C's. But I haven't checked them in awhile....

The problem with most schools is that they are geared toward the "average"* student. Any extra resources are almost always spent on helping the "below average" students to keep up. Students who are "above average" are generally left to rot.

Anecdotal evidence from my own experience:

When I was in the third grade, my reading skills had been tested and the scores showed a twelfth grade reading level. I.E. I was reading and enjoying novels, and could read The New York Times with good comprehension. I got bored with the classroom reading assignments, so I stopped doing them. Instead of giving me harder material - something interesting and challenging - the powers that be decided that I belonged in a slower group. They knew I could read more than the other students, but they didn't care about my needs as long as my grades stayed up.

* "average" refers only to so-called scholastic aptitude

UMBAGUMBA

I could have been put in a "gifted" program, but I go to a school that is too small to facilitate such a thing. My sister was in one in the previous town we lived in, so it would have been likely that I, as well would be put into the program.

That said, I'm a completely lazy ass who would do a lot better in things if I would put some effort into my studies.

Originally posted by You Killed Jesus
I could have been put in a "gifted" program, but I go to a school that is too small to facilitate such a thing. My sister was in one in the previous town we lived in, so it would have been likely that I, as well would be put into the program.

That said, I'm a completely lazy ass who would do a lot better in things if I would put some effort into my studies.

Welcome to my world... and feel free to pet the cats! :D

It also would have helped Mark develop socially.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He missed out there then!
:(

i never liked highschool..
during any particular schoolday i always felt that there were other places i should be ... instead of sitting in some algebra teacher's( who was also the boy's basketball/gym coach..and, would rather be on the gym floor instead of crunching numbers ) musty ol' classroom. actually, i did pretty crummy with my grades...and, all my teachers said i was lazy and not "working up to potential"..... actually, i probably wasn't. but, i didn't care then. in college i liked the whole atmosphere (less constraining and restrictive) a lot better...and, in turn..my grades improved. eh...

Originally posted by odin
It also would have helped Mark develop socially.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He missed out there then!
:(

lol. don't worry, it happened anyways.

GB,

Ah, so you're 13. That explains a lot.

- Warren

.

pete

You have shown time and again you're not here to learn anything but instead are here to cause trouble.

Either edit your post or go away. Your kind is not appreciated here.

Q:

go away. Your kind is not appreciated here.

He can't. Somebody overturned the log he was living under.

Kids, when you go walking in the forest, never overturn rocks or logs and leave them that way. The little forest critters will lose their homes if you do. :p

I know everything i need to know Q

In other words, he knows how to eat, clean himself, and post random strings of gibberish.

.

pete

WHY MENTION IT???? there is no need

Yet you saw the need to say this:

What the fuck do you people know!?? Is it any wonder that i say you dont know anything!???? ITS BECASUE YOU DONT YOU FUCKING TWATS!

I know everything i need to know Q

That is only too apparent. And the said, you can of course, only hope to flip burgers the rest of your life.

They didn't know what to do with me so I went to college a little early. Unfortunately, I fell apart in college with the usual alcohol & shit. Took me a couple years to get it back together.

Word of advice to GB - Don't run away from your intellect.

.

Word of advice to GB - Don't run away from your intellect.

Very good advice. Also, try and keep an effort in school. I was also "gifted" but teachers never tried to keep me interested in their class, they were too busy dragging it down so everyone could learn "fairly". I was clearly a detrimental influence on the class, what with me being smart and all (or something like that. So, I gave up on high school. (it was great fun reading a book through class. The teachers would always assume I wasn't paying attention and try to get me to mess up, but they hardly ever did :)) College seems to be a lot different than high school (more about self motivation) so now I'm having to kick myself to get to do any work. Save yourself the trouble and stay in the habit. (Some where in there was good advice, I think :))

Don't run away from your intellect.


as if he( or anyone else with any semblance) of intelligence has a choice..

as if he( or anyone else with any semblance) of intelligence has a choice..
I don't think you got my point there...oh well.

yes, i did. i was merely commenting on what you wrote from a figurative perspective, not as as a comment being applied to that guy...
i was merely musing and speculating, actually.:)

Originally posted by chroot
GB,

Ah, so you're 13. That explains a lot.

- Warren

What does it explain? My acting more mature than Unregistered? Oh. Well, he's younger than me. And I think he likes to attack people when he can't think of an actual argument.

lol. I know that isn't what you meant.

You just finding out that I am 13 tells us a lot about how often you post here. I've said it a number of times before, and I also said I was 12 when I was 12.

Does it explain my differing opinion?

List one way my posts differ from all the other people at Sciforums my age. (there is always someone else who will fit too. Xev insults people who she thinks are stupid [often simply people with different viewpoints that aren't exactly "gifted"], most of the posters in Religion are Atheists, Joeman likes to throw around insults much more than I ever did (Curly, too), Mr. Fish + Tiassa, are liberal liberals with no national bias, etc)

I really can't see why you'd think this. The content of my posts is not something you would expect from a 13-year-old if you were in touch with reality. My vocabulary size is much larger, I read much faster, write much faster, type much faster, I care more about the real world than about some freaky fad, I am actually fairly well-educated on politics.

Originally posted by GB-GIL Trans-global
I really can't see why you'd think this. The content of my posts is not something you would expect from a 13-year-old if you were in touch with reality. My vocabulary size is much larger, I read much faster, write much faster, type much faster, I care more about the real world than about some freaky fad, I am actually fairly well-educated on politics.
Spoken like a true 13-year old. I was the same as you when I was 13. Wait till you're 23 -- you'll realize you don't know shit.

- Warren

Originally posted by chroot
Wait till you're 23 -- you'll realize you don't know shit.Wait till you're 41 -- you'll realize you don't know shit. :)

When you are on your death bed and reviewing your life at 91, you'll realize that you even know less shit than you thought you knew at 13, 21 and 41....grandpa (PHD professor) used to say you're born stupid and die feeling even *stupider* because you realize at 91 you haven't even begun to scratch the surface of available knowledge known to mankind. :bugeye:

Damn, F2W! I was hoping Chagur or some other geezer would jump in and
chastise me! Or did they, and you're just not admitting to your geezerness? :DOriginally posted by fox2wolf
...because you realize at 91 you haven't even begun to scratch the surface of available knowledge known to mankind.Whenever I was playing the smartass, my grandmother would draw a big circle on a piece of paper and say, “This is everything that can be known in the entire universe. Please draw a circle inside of it that represents what part of it you know…”

Sharp old gal.

Originally posted by goofyfish
Wait till you're 41 -- you'll realize you
don't know shit. :)
You got that right! :D

Well thats ok for you lot but i know everything!! DO YOU THINK IM FUCKING JOKING???? WHY DONT U EVER LISTEN TO ME???
I
KNOW
EVERYTHING!!!

Damn, F2W! I was hoping Chagur or some other geezer would jump in and ..........


LOL goofyfishyyy....as a female, the rules say I don't have to authenticate any such thing as "my geezerness"..but I do admit to harboring a lot of experience and knowledge..you know "been there, done that, seen lots" theory. :D :cool:

..and don't know anything about Chagur etc...but would have loved to meet your granny!

Well thats ok for you lot but i know everything!! DO YOU THINK IM FUCKING JOKING???? WHY DONT U EVER LISTEN TO ME???


turn down the volume...no one listens to loud static noise that doesn't make sense and is obtrusive

be good and you won't get patronized or ignored

:D :D

what doesnt make sense in what i have said?? my answers are the truth!! u know thats true too wolfman

Oh, yeah... your truths have changed my life.Originally posted by p_ete2001
UMBAGUMBA RUBBER LIPSHeady stuff, man. :rolleyes:

Originally posted by chroot
Spoken like a true 13-year old. I was the same as you when I was 13. Wait till you're 23 -- you'll realize you don't know shit.

- Warren

Where did I say I knew everything?

All I said is that I know more than most 13-year-olds.

What is your problem? :confused: