Think Your Kid Is Gifted? Join The Club!

It seems appropriate somehow that two days after my husband grilled me about our district's gifted program – "What grade does it start?  You're not sure?  Can you call and find out?" – Parenting.com posted an essay about the increasing number of parents that believe their cherished offspring are gifted, when in fact, they're not.

Statistically speaking, it's very unusual to have a child that tests as gifted:  only 2-5% of kids meet the requirements.  True prodigies – you know, the kids who go to Harvard when they're 9 years old – are much more rare – only 1 or 2 out of a million children qualify.  

Despite all those educational toys, videos and classes out there for babies on up, experts agree that none of those will help place your child on the path to gifted-ness.  Being gifted is pretty much hard-wired.  Pushing too hard will only frustrate you and your kid.

And finally, a note to those mums and dads of kids who really are truly, spectacularly gifted:  please don't brag about your wunderkinds under the guise of complaining about the difficulties of parenting a child who's so bored at school, because he's so much smarter than the teacher.  You never know – the parent you're moaning to at ballet class or at the neighborhood playground may have a child with learning disabilities, and would gladly swap their problems for yours.