Madelaine's Ideas

There are so many myths about giftedness out there. Some are factually incorrect, some are just silly, some can be easily brushed off, but some can be hurtful and confusing for gifted kids and their families. I asked my MindPlus classes what, if any, myths about giftedness they had heard, how these myths affected them, and what they think in response to myths. Buckle up, here we go... - gifted kids are walking calculators ( go on, give us a hard maths problem, NOT!... not all gifted kids are into maths, and even those who really are don't so much like solving equations on the spot) - gifted kids know everything ( everything???.... really???....what does 'knowing everything' even mean? It just isn't possible to know 'everything' and it's not fair to expect something impossible from gifted kids ) - gifted kids have an advantage over everyone else (nope, we don't, some gifted kids learn faster and more easily than other kids, but not all, but som

Gifted Awareness Week 2019 is all about myth-busting and I am happy to blog my thoughts again in celebration of this auspicious week and this fascinating theme. What a great opportunity we, those of us in the gifted education community, have to highlight myths and truths about gifted learners, giftedness and gifted education. The difficulty I have is where to start with this? There are SO MANY myths about gifted learners. If you hop on over to Myth-Busted you can read about the myths that gifted students say they are contending with every day, and what they think about these myths. For me, as a teacher of gifted students, as a parent of gifted kids, as a gifted adult, the one, all-encompassing, over-arching, epic mother-ship of a myth that I want BUSTED once and for all is anything that starts with this: This seemingly innocuous phrase is often put at the front of mythical statements like: - I believe every child is gifted - I believe giftedness represents