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Gifted Parenting - Parenting a Gifted Child

 
Chronicling my journey as the mother of a gifted child.

Gifted Parenting - November 2006

Piano Prodigy

November 30th 2006 01:23
This is Chelsea, a piano prodigy. This video was taken when she was 6, i believe she's now 9 years old. Her playing makes mine look like child's play



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Do you remember this?

November 29th 2006 13:16
Sesame Street is one of my favorite shows as I was growing up. Actually I learned how to read by watching this show and I was quite an advanced reader. By age 7 I was already reading classic books such as "Little Women", "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "Gulliver's Travels".

Yes, I loved this show and I still do. It's amazing to see some of the original cast members are still there like Maria and Bob. What's more amazing is that I can now share this show with my own child.

I found a clip via our beloved YouTube, this clip is very memorable to me because I remember when I first saw it I asked my father to buy me exactly what was shown. But of course he couldn't because our finances wouldn't permit it so he just bought me a plastic tea set instead. Nevertheless I still appreciated his gift and just created a dollhouse out of shoeboxes.


Aaaah, the memories....

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Review of Hasbro's Baby Alive

November 28th 2006 06:00
In the early 1970's Hasbro created a doll that could eat and poop, yes poop. It was very popular back then. Check out an old commercial for this doll here.

Fast forward to 2006, Hasbro has revived the doll lots of girls fell in love with (well, at least i did). Baby Alive still eats and poops but of course with today's technology she does a whole lot more.

Where to Purchase and How Much

I wanted to buy this doll for my daughter because she loves to play with baby dolls and also because her grades are good. I went to Hasbro's website to see how much it costs, the doll sells for $49.99. It has three kinds - Caucasian, African-American and Hispanic. Each doll comes with a dress, 2 diapers, bottle with nipple and cap, spoon, bowl, 4 packets of doll food, a bib and it comes with 4 AA batteries.

Unfortunately the doll is out of stock via Hasbro's website and after checking with our local toy store and being told it wasn't available in our area, I went to another online store. Where else but ebay? I know a lot of people are wary of shopping at ebay but I have bought several stuff there since 2004 and fortunately the sellers I bought it from are all trustworthy.

Anyway, I'm not a big fan of online bidding, I 'd rather go for Buy It Now items provided it's priced reasonably. I was able to locate a seller which was selling Baby Alive with a bonus pack which includes 2 toys, a bib, 2 party hats and 2 party invitations. She was selling it for $65.00 inclusive of shipping. I thought it was a good deal so I bought it and the doll arrived yesterday.

What It Can Do

The doll has a play mode and a silent mode. On play mode the doll can eat the doll food , simply pour it on her bowl and add water. The spoon is magnetic and it triggers the doll to chew. The doll can also drink water from her sippy cup, the cup also is magnetic. The Baby Alive tells you when she's hungry or thirsty or if she needs to be changed. She giggles, cries, sings and plays peek-a-boo. She also says other stuff such as "excuse me" after she burps, "I love you" and "nighty-night". You can also activate the doll by pressing the bracelet on her wrist. On silent mode the doll will not say anything (of course) or do anything but her eyes will remain open.

What I really like is when she gets sleepy and yawns, flutter her eyelashes and say "nighty-night". She then closes her eyes,snores softly and sleeps.

Additional Items

Hasbro is taking full advantage of the selling point of this doll by creating additional items such as a travel set and a bedtime set. They also have additional diapers and doll food in case you use up your supplies.

Awards Received

Creative Child Magazine
Seal of Excellence Award
Dolls for Preschoolers Category

NAPPA Awards
Honors Family Fun
Grand Prize Winner & Top 10 list

Comments

My daughter really enjoys this doll the only comment I have is that the doll will exclaim she's thristy or hungry or needs to be changed even after you just did so. I guess it would be wonderful if they came up with a doll which can actually tell you when its' diaper is wet or when its' really hungry. Then again maybe that would be too life-like, it's gonna be creepy and i'd rather have a real baby.

All in all if you're looking for a Christmas gift for your little girl, this doll may become one of her favorite toys.

To Learn More

Watch the commercial or visit the website.
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Thinking of Dad

November 27th 2006 00:26
My late father used to say "You should treat everyone with respect, regardless of their status in life, because the people you meet as you go up are the same people you will meet when you go down." He told me this when I was very young and of course I didn't know what in the world he was talking about.

My dad passed away when he was only 52, I was 19 at that time and it was one of the worse days of my life. At his funeral service I remember feeling astounded at the number of people who were there, most of them we didn't even know. One person in particular caught my eye because he was standing in a corner, wearing an old shirt and run-down shoes, his skin dark from countless hours under the sun. He must've noticed I was looking at him so he approached me and with a smile he said, "I read about your father in the paper, I don't really know him but I remember his name. My child was very sick and I needed to take him to the hospital but i had no money. I saw your dad one day and I asked for his help. He gave me some money and told me to keep it. I've always remembered him." (not verbatim)

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I was watching tv today and they aired the movie "The Family Man" featuring Nicholas Cage and Tea Leoni. In this movie Nicholas Cage (Jack) is rich and successful but there is something lacking in his life, although he didn't know it at first. Enter a "being" that enabled him to experience a glimpse of what might have been if he stayed and married his college sweetheart.

Great film and it made me think about something quite similar which happened to me and my husband.

[ Click here to read more ]
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I ask this because I was wondering if there is such a thing as anonymous blogging. Perhaps if your blog is not getting a lot of hits, then the chances of you being "uncovered" is smaller compared to those who are getting hundreds of hits to their blog/s each day. In my case I am writing under a pseudonym simply because my blog revolves around my daughter. Yes, I'm a bit paranoid when it comes to my daughter, aren't all moms?

When I was doing my usual web surfing last night, I chanced upon an article about two female bloggers whose identity was uncovered. One was fired from her job because her boss found out about her blog and the things she wrote relating to her work and officemates. Even though she didn't name names she was axed because of her blog posts.

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Which among these high-profile celebrity couples do you think are good parents and why?

Brangelina (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie)
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Books for Parents

November 22nd 2006 09:56
Photo by Gary Tamin (Royalty Free)
If there is one passion I have in my life (aside from my family of course), I'd say it is books. I have hundreds of them, most I started collecting when I was a kid. There's a vast amount of knowledge to be discovered in well-written books.

Here are several books aimed at parents of gifted children:

[ Click here to read more ]
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Random Acts of Rudeness

November 20th 2006 06:57
Photo by Ruth Strong (Royalty Free)
Kids nowadays can be rude and mean, I had a dose of that this afternoon while I was picking up my daughter from school. Two older kids (probably third graders) were walking in front of us, then they started to run and as they looked over their shoulder they shouted "Hurry up losers!".

My daughter was very upset, especially because according to her "They shouldn't speak to older people like that." I felt I'm probably doing something right if I was able to teach my child how to be respectful. This is something we as parents should teach our children - how to be polite. The world would be a better place if there are more kids who know the value of self-respect and respecting others.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Cool Finds

November 17th 2006 05:00
Copyright by Hohner
One of the things we love to do on a weekend is to drive around in hopes of discovering a great view we haven't seen before or a place we haven't visited before. This is what happened to us this morning as we drove aimlessly around town.

We found a warehouse outlet which carries educational toys and other materials for kids. It was really cool and we bought some equally cool toys for our kid that costs under $15.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Top Toys for 2006

November 16th 2006 22:11
Wikipedia Image under GNU Free Documentation License
Christmas is upon us so I thought I'd share this list of Top Toys for 2006. These are the winners of the Toy of the Year Awards organized by the Toy Industry Association, Inc.

Toy of the Year: FLY™ Pentop Computer from LeapFrog Enterprises, sells for $99.62 at Walmart. Recommended for ages 8 and up.

[ Click here to read more ]
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The Icarus Effect

November 15th 2006 05:00
The Fall of icarus - Greek Mythology
Public Domain Image
As parents we all want what's best for our children. Unfortunately society has had a huge impact on us, especially when it comes to raising children. Nowadays there is much stress in producing so called "superkids", kids who can do amazing things at such an early age.

Although there are many gifted children who grow up to be happy and fulfilled adults, there are those who, despite their talents and intelligence, suffer from severe depression and are even suicidal. Perhaps this is because the people around that child failed to nurture him/her emotionally and just focused on developing his/her intellectual abilities.

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This Week's Booklist

November 14th 2006 02:02
Here's our book list for this week (Nov. 13 to Nov 19):

1. The Berenstain Bears' Trouble At School by Stan & Jan Berenstain
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Public Domain Image
Every child is different and as parents our role is to adjust our parenting methods to suit the personality and characterr of each child. For example, children who are outgoing and those who are very shy have varying needs.

The same applies to gifted children. Since I've started my blog I've written mostly about the positive side of parenting a gifted child. But we all know that everything in life isn't always tied up in a pretty little bow.

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Copyright Universal Studios
So I finally got to watch the Vaughn-Aniston movie "The Break Up" on DVD. I was actually sure I wouldn't like it cause i read the reviews when it first came out in theatres. But surprisingly I really enjoyed the movie and related to Aniston's character on some level. I could also see some of my hubby's personality in Vaughn's character. For those who don't know, the ending of the movie was actually a reshoot but they included the alternate ending in the DVD. I like the reshoot better but the alternate ending is amusing.

Anyway, I was able to watch "The 12 Dancing Princesses" with my daughter. It's also available now on DVD, it's a Barbie movie by the way. My daughter collects the Barbie movies, she also has the dolls but most were gifts to her. I think she enjoys the movies more than the dolls which is fine by me since the movies are quite well made.

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Here's another lawsuit filed by a parent of an extremely gifted child. Levi M. Clancy enrolled at Santa Monica College when he was 7, passed the proficiency exam for high schools at age 9, entered UCLA at 13 where he is about to graduate with a degree in microbiology. Levi plans to obtain a PhD at Stanford University.

His mom sued Jack O’Connell, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and his department on the grounds that free public education at the college level should be given to her son while he was a minor under 16.

[ Click here to read more ]
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This is Sad

November 8th 2006 03:37
Gracia MalaxEtxebarria, a gifted child, is in the midst of a court battle. In 2003, when she was just 9 years old she was refused by the education system of Queensland to advance to high school due to their concerns over her social development if she was allowed to do so. What ensued next is a lawsuit based on discrimination. In April the court ruled that no discrimination occurred but last October 4, Supreme Court justice John Helman granted Gracia's appeal. A new hearing has been set. More details here.

What makes this sad is that it had to end up in court. In the meantime I wonder how Gracia is doing.
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Great Board Games for Children

November 7th 2006 01:29
Wikipedia Image under GNU Free Documentation License
We love playing boardgames, not only is it fun it's educational as well. Here are some of the boardgames we have at home:

Candyland - This is the first boardgame my daughter played. it's very simple to play and it teaches color recognition. It features the Candyland characters by Hasbro.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Quotes About the Gifted

November 7th 2006 01:08
Creative Commons Image
Here are several quotes I found about individuals who are gifted and issues concerning them:

"Adult surveys of gifted individuals reveal that they do not regret their acceleration. Rather, they regret not having accelerated more." – Lubinski, Webb, et al.

[ Click here to read more ]
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I'm Back!

November 7th 2006 00:47
Yay! After days of being away from the internet, which incidentally is something I greatly missed, I'm now back online. We are in our new home, it's bigger and nicer than our last residence and we still have tons of unpacking to do. I was supposed to be online last Friday but the cable guy didn't show up so I had to wait another 2 days to get connected.

The hardest part about moving is carrying all the stuff from our old home into our new residence. I had a good workout though, my leg muscles were sore from the countless trips I made. For those who are planning on moving here are some points which may be of help:

[ Click here to read more ]
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