The Everyone is Gifted POS, again.

The Everyone is Gifted POS, again, yellowreadis.com

I’m going to start this post with a link. It’s to the Authentic History Centre in the US on common excuses for stereotypes. In this case, specifically linked to racism. Go have a look at the images. In many ways, they say it better than I can, but I’m going to try anyway, again.

Many of you have read Momastery’s post about ‘Every Child is Gifted’. Many of you argued with her, reasoned with her on her forum, on the gifted help-groups where she came to ask questions. Many of you read her apology (which did not appear on her website, only her facebook page*). I, along with a lot of other people, thought that was the end of it. But no. Her ‘positive’ image is out in force again, and a lot of people don’t understand why it is so offensive.

So I want you to go and have a look at those historical images. You know, many of them were purported to be ‘positive’ depictions too, at the time.

And so, the stereotypes of gifted get trotted out yet again. Sure, she changed one word in her article – but the blurb and title around the reprinting in the Christian Science Monitor shows exactly how skin deep that change is.

You can go read the article if you like, here’s the link. Maybe you’ll get a warm glow – a positive story!

Then come back here and let’s deconstruct the narrative.
Continue reading “The Everyone is Gifted POS, again.”

Homeschooling My Gifted Kid, Part 3: The Twice Exceptional Wrinkle

Homeschooling My Gifted Kid Part 3: The Twice Exceptional Wrinkle, yellowreadis.com Image: Old Map

In this third part on our convoluted journey to homeschooling, I’d like to talk about what twice exceptional means – and a bit about what it feels like to parent such kids!

This is not meant to be a definitive guide for people trying to discover more about twice exceptional kids. This is just our personal journey, and a few of the curious signposts along the way.

Continue reading “Homeschooling My Gifted Kid, Part 3: The Twice Exceptional Wrinkle”

Homeschooling My Gifted Kid, Part 2: What the Bleep is PG!?

Homeschooling My Gifted KId Part 2: What the Bleep is PG? yellowreadis.com Image: Old map

In this second part on our convoluted journey to homeschooling, I’d like to talk about the crazy slippery slope of figuring out what ‘gifted’ and ‘PG’ actually mean.

This is not meant to be a definitive guide for people trying to discover more about gifted kids, or IQ. This is just our personal journey, and a few of the curious signposts along the way.

What is high IQ?

This is actually pretty tricky to define. Is it ability? Talent? Potential? How do you define it? What does it mean? Is there more than one type of intelligence? Western society has been tying its metaphorical knickers about this for over a hundred years, and there’s still no end in sight.
Continue reading “Homeschooling My Gifted Kid, Part 2: What the Bleep is PG!?”

Homeschooling My Gifted Kid Part 1: How Learning Happens

Homeschooling My Gifted Kid Part 1: How Learning Happens, yellowreadis.com Image: Old map
 

The path we have taken to get to homeschool the way we do has been rather convoluted. It is a path that has had some peculiar turns, as I have discovered more about the nature of the way children learn, and the differences between how most children learn and the way my two bundles of joy learn.

I thought I might, in the next few posts, take everyone on a journey to a few of the sign-posts along the way that have led us to our own personal homeschool experience.
This is not intended to be a guide for anyone interested in homeschooling. There are many upon many resources for that. This is just a personal journey. Continue reading “Homeschooling My Gifted Kid Part 1: How Learning Happens”

How to Read Science Journalism

I have decided to write a piece on how to read articles on science. Because, quite frankly, most (but not all) science journalism sucks. The more mainstream the website / newspaper / TV the news appears in, the more the contents are awful and removed from reality.

It doesn’t matter what the topic – climate change, GM foods, vaccines, or ‘gee whizz we’re going to the stars!’, journalists by and large are science and maths illiterate, and will usually get it wrong. Even the good ones are prone to exaggeration and hyperbole.

The thing is, it’s really, really easy to make sure you’re getting the truth. And this is how to do it:
Continue reading “How to Read Science Journalism”