I’m feeling pretty restless today. There is just something about staying at home all day long that leaves me unsettled. Dare I say it? I’m bored….again. This seems to be a reoccurring pattern for me; boredom. I remember being quite bored as a kid too. Home, school, it didn’t matter, I was bored. I like routine but get pretty bored with the routine quickly. This is where the dreaded “c” word comes in…change. I love change. It keeps things interesting. So here is the thing I need…routine that changes! 
Sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it….routine change.
I’ve been doing a lot of reading recently about what has been going on with my son. The book was awesome; “Living with Intensity.” It ties in with another book I’ve been reading called “Emotional Intelligence.” They are both written by PhD’s in psychology. The first is about gifted kids, adolescents and adults. How being gifted lends itself to over-excitability and intensity in character and determination. I related a lot to this book and have come to the realization that I was one of those overlooked gifted kids in school. The public school system didn’t classify me as gifted because I didn’t “perform” on standardized tests. I hate standardized tests much like my son does now and always felt pressure to achieve…leaving me anxious about not finishing on time. So it explains a lot about why I feel so INTENSELY over my son being “overlooked” at his school now. I feel the injustice being served to him and feel a need to protect him from what happened to me. I tell you…when you are constantly feeling like you are smart enough to do something but the “authority figures” tell you that you aren’t qualified or smart enough to do it…it really hurts your self-esteem. Something I’ve been dealing with for a long time…low self-esteem. I’m very thankful for this book because it has validated me. It has also turned my world upside down so I’m struggling with a lot of different thoughts about my past, present and future. I’ve been aiming too low in life…now just to get over my fear of failure and to aim a little higher.
The second book, “Emotional Intelligence” talks about another type of intelligence, possibly a more important intelligence than what our schools teach us. How to relate to others and yourself to successfully move through life. Being sensitive to your own needs and the needs of others…to empathize and identify with others lends to a more enriching life to live. The two books really go hand in hand. For if Emotional Intelligence were taught in schools today, kids would be much more successful in life (outside of academics) and many gifted children would not be overlooked. Gifted kids can exhibit highly intense emotions…emotions that need to be addressed in schools. Unfortunately many schools today just see the acting out of emotions they can’t put in words as “bad behavior” and are thus labeled as difficult or troubled kids. School administrators and teachers need to be schooled in emotional intelligence. I feel that until our public school system can adequately address the emotional needs of kids along with academic needs they are a failure and will never be able to truly identify kids with potential or help those in real trouble.
I’m still mentally sorting through all this since I’m struggling with how to help my son at his charter school. The big questions are: How do you educate the Educators? Can they look past me as a mere parent and see me as a gifted individual with a major handle on the issue concerning my son? or will they simply refuse to break free from their institutionalized thinking and only see me as interfering? The school at the moment can’t relate to or understand what I’m saying.
You see…I have a lot going on in my mind sometimes…so when I’m bored at home…I get pretty restless…like I need to do something! I need to do more than just sit at home with my lovely 3 year old…routine change…hmmmm…still thinking on that!
Whew! I am exhausted just thinking about all this! I don’t know how you do it, Krista.
Is this charter school your only option? It may be that the educators there are simply not the right team for you. I know a mom in our town who is the advocate for her son (different learning needs, but still non-standard) who found a teaching team to work with her. It took going to a different elementary school than the one she was assigned (we have like 5 in our town). Since finding the right team, everyone sleeps better at night.
The short answer, Allison, I don’t know! Michael and I have found this WONDERFUL school geared for gifted kids but the tuition is $9600 a year. (OMG!) We are going to an open house for the school in November and hopefully will find out if there is tuition assistance or scholarships available.
The biggest issue with “sonny boy” right now is that he just doesn’t care about what he is learning…he is immensely bored and under challenged at school. Unless the teaching team can come to some kind of understanding about how to reach our gifted child and how to engage him in the learning process this school is a bad match. We are giving them a little time to understand that it’s not our lack of parenting – jumping through their hoops so to speak – so we can come back at them with the evidence again. Honestly, this is their last chance to show me that they are going to try to teach my son within his abilities without labeling him as a “problem.” My patience is running very thin! So if nothing works out this year…I’m pulling him for next year. He may be better off at our public school less than 5 minutes away. Prayers are welcomed!