Finding Their Niche Part III

Hi All,

I hope you are enjoying reading this blog so far. Today I wanted to talk about gifted kids and their friends. Do you ever wonder if our kids connect well with everyone?  I personally think they do connect but they hold back a lot. They cannot have certain conversations with their peers. They need to find their niche of friends who they can relate to. In order to do that it is very important to enroll them in some gifted program. My son is a part of Institute of Profoundly Gifted Kids. There they meet other individuals who share similar interests. My kid has a better understanding of other kids that may behave and think like him. Since this school is in Nevada it offers off site learning. It's a great institute and I highly recommend to apply. Criteria is difficult but that also means if your child does get in he/she will meet other kids that have also passed this high criteria to get it. Again I am not saying that the kid should only go to a gifted program but yes he should get supplemented by some means to fulfill his learning desires.

This is another reason I wish parents with gifted kids would put their kids in non gifted schools. So these kids would find their niche of friends everywhere. Now that my kid is in 5th grade I can see that he sometimes comes home and says mom I enjoy most of my friends in school but sometimes they have immature conversations. And yes, this is mainly for the boys, he says the girls are very mature. (I have noticed my kid plays with more girls than boys in school) I think he has better conversations with them. With the boys mainly he plays sports.  He is extremely picky about the boys he talks to. I am still trying to figure that out. But have stop beating myself about it now. As long as he is happy I am happy. And he has so many friends who are boys outside school so it does not bug me anymore.

 It's great he is a part of a regular school it brings out the humor in him. And he has learnt to take things lightly. But if there were a few kids like him it would make it so much more fun for him.  Example he really wants to participate in National Geography Bee but there is not enough interest in the kids so school cannot really do anything. But I know so many kids who are a part of Gifted Kids Institute are highly interested in Geography. Now if some of these kids went to regular schools they could spark up such high interest in to other fields of interest too.

I have also noticed my kid can hold up adult conversations about the stock market, politics, corporations, green energy to name a few.  Don't be shocked if your little gal/boy can do that? They are not trying to show off, it's just that they know this stuff and want to share with other's. And most of the time their age kids will not be interested in this so they feel the urge to talk about this to adults. Also encourage them to talk about this. Pick up a conversation about wars, politics, anything. You may think it might be inappropriate but you will be surprised how much your kid already knows and he/she might teach you a few facts.  It's again about finding their niche of people they can talk to about all this.

Also remember lots of people won't understand why your kid knows all this or talks like this but once you  meet other kids like your kid you won't feel alone. You will know there is a huge support system out there for gifted parents. And they all share the similar concerns. And I promise some smart ass once in a while will say something wrong for your kid. Remember they are just plain ass jealous. Yes sorry to say but if they can't appreciate a kid's talent they should not be your friend. You have to create a thick skin for yourself. Because people don't necessarily like to appreciate other's. We see that with adults too. Some people have a hard time giving compliments.

Finding kids with similar interest is important. They will enjoy all their friends. Kids are smart they will know what game to play with which friend and what conversations to have with which friend. But you will see that switch turn off and on. The minute they will know "hey this kid talks and thinks like me" their conversations will change completely. One minute they could be blowing bubbles to the next minute they have engaged themselves talking about communism, or green technology. You will be amazed!!!

Author: KG