In the moment I was first told my daughter's IQ I was excited, proud - and fearful all at the same time. My daughter placed squarely in the middle of the 'highly gifted' range in her IQ. My scores fall more in the 'bright' range. So my first thought - along with all those underlying emotions - was, "Oh crap!"
I had a fear of eventually being intellectually overpowered by my daughter. How could I 'control' a child that is intrinsically smarter than me? I know - highly selfish thoughts there - but then I am only human.
After my initial selfish thought I then thought --- but what about her? I remembered the 'smart kids' at school, and how some of them could never get social nuances. I also worried about an onset of a perceived arrogance (i.e. the creator of Facebook) and the possible struggles this will create in her life. Immediately I purchased the book, Smart Parenting for Smart Kids: Nurturing Your Child's True Potential. Granted I was really looking for A Bright Parent's Step-by-Step Guide to raising a Highly Gifted Child, but since I could not find exactly that - I thought this would work.
Right away this book spoke to some issues my lovely daughter had exhibited, such as intensity in emotions and perfectionism.
After reading this and doing some research on line I started to realize I had a list of concerns, both current and future, and I need an action plan for. Something that works for both of us.
- Hitting an Academic 'Wall;
- Patience in Communication
- Conformity/Peer Pressure
- Polite Correction vs. Arrogance
- Perfectionism
- Promoting Ingenuity While Creating Realistic Expectations
- Creating Challenge/Fighting Boredom
- Tempering Emotional Intensity without Supressing Personality
