My name is Harriet M. Welsch. It is not, of course, my real name. It is the name of one of my favorite childhood literary heroines, a name that's served as my favorite pseudonym since I started blogging at spynotes four or five years ago. I'm a musician and a writer trying to complete a Ph.D. in musicology and ethnomusicology. AJ is my five-year-old son. We live in the Chicago suburbs. You can read more about us at spynotes, which I continue to update more-or-less daily.
AJ demonstrated early that he was going to be a tough kid to keep up with intellectually. He learned to read at age 2. He knew all the state capitals and nicknames by age 3 (I still don't know all the nicknames). He loves to play baseball and you can't say a word against the White Sox in his presence. He knows more about space and human biology than I do. He plays basketball two days a week and is learning to play hockey. He loves math and science and playing the piano. He regularly beats me at chess and demands quizzes with his breakfast Cheerios.
Our public school says he has no intellectual peers in his grade. Our public school has labeled him "gifted." But as for me, I see a pretty normal kid with a wide range of interests and an incredible curiosity and drive for learning. AJ's school has a great attitude about giving him what he needs, but they have few resources. My intention is that this page become a place where we report on some of the activities, websites, projects, etc. that we've found particularly interesting, challenging and fun. I'd also love it to become a place where parents of similar kids (or kids themselves) can share their experiences and resources and educational philosophies.
I'm tired of reading books and websites that whine about the plight of the gifted child in school. What I'd like to read is something more practical. I hope my experiences can help some of you. And I hope you'll share what works for you with me.
I plan to begin by trying to update once a week or so or whenever I have something to report. If you might be interested in becoming a regular contributor, drop me an email to the username harri3tspy at gmail.
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AJ is a third fourth-grader who's been labeled "gifted" by his public school. Harriet is his mom. You can read about their daily escapades (and other stuff) at spynotes. This blog will, I hope, become a resource for parents of bright and curious kids looking for tools to help their kids explore the world.
3 comments:
Hey! I am quite interested in this. Katie is thriving in Montessori and is this close to reading, and she's bright and articulate. Liz's best friend has a son in a G & T program in Wichita and he's thriving in it.
They have G & T here starting in first grade, but that's in the elementary school across town near my old neighborhood, and our nearby school is two blocks away, so we don't know what we're going to do yet.
Glad to help with literature and art. I've been thinking about books by Eleanor Estes lately that are fabulous in many ways. Dusty gets evaluated maybe this month by G&T. She is no math whiz but her reading and art skills are well above her peers. She's the yin to AJ's yang. Or something like that. Lemme know if I can help.
I don't have anything to contribute, but I'm glad you have cracked open a new blog with this topic!
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