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Profoundly Gifted Parenting

The Ins and Outs of Parenting and Educating a Profoundly Gifted Child

Gifted Parenting, Radical Acceleration/Early College

What Grade Are You In?

May 3, 2020

Anyone with kids will inevitably meet someone in public and be greeted with the question, “so what grade are you in?”. I can recall squirming in my skin when that happened to us. Gifted education can really take a student on a different journey.

I think it’s important to know that when someone asks your child what grade they are in, they aren’t actually asking what grade they are in. They are really making small talk and wondering how old they are. It’s up to you to decide who you let in on your secret… or if it’s a secret at all.

Our answer took many forms over the years, especially as we got more comfortable with the place Elliott was in at any given time. The answer also depended on the person asking. If it was just some random person at the grocery store, the answer would typically be, “Oh, I’m 7!”. Or, “I’m homeschooled”. Sometimes, if Elliott was in the mood, he would say, “It depends on the subject!”. That always raised some curious eyebrows. I typically let Elliott answer the question exactly how he felt best to answer it any given day.

How much time we want to put into these conversations is up to us. If you or your child aren’t comfortable sharing, you don’t have to! If it was someone we were interested in developing a future relationship/friendship with, we might go a little further into the answer while still guarding it a tiny bit. When random-person-in-public is making small talk, they don’t expect to get into our life story either. Sharing their age or that they are homeschooled typically is sufficient. Only a couple times did someone dig further in for an expedition.

Once Elliott started college full time, we took pause and reflected on how to answer this question. We wanted Elliott to know he can be just who he is without having to hide anything. We knew there would be questions and some people who think that we are bragging or doing wrong by him. While radical acceleration is rare, we certainly aren’t the only ones. You just don’t hear a lot about it. Part of advocating for our community is sharing our journey and taking the taboo out of it. This helps people to see that every person can be on their own journey and that it’s ok to be proud of who you are! It can also help open doors for other kids that need acceleration as well.

Today Elliott is proud to answer, “I’m a junior at the University of Minnesota!”. He’s earned that answer and we’re very proud of who he is!


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ACT & SAT Testing for Students Under 13
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Trying to Keep it All Together

Recent Posts

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  • What Grade Are You In?
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  • Patience
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michelletanner

My other sweet valentine! ❤️ My other sweet valentine! ❤️
Forever my valentine. ❤️ Forever my valentine. ❤️
This kid. The coolest. This kid. The coolest.
I sure have missed this. I haven’t ran sound or I sure have missed this. I haven’t ran sound or hauled gear since October 3rd. Everyone got back to work tonight (safely!) and I’ve never been so excited to load out! It feels bizarre to be back at it even for a night. Hopefully we will have them back up and running to 250+ shows a year again. Live music, wrapping cords, lifting anvils. Took it for granted and even cursed it a time or two. Missed every ounce of it.
7pm showtime, sit down, no dancing but at least it 7pm showtime, sit down, no dancing but at least it’s live music tonight! 

 #gbleighton #livemusic #nodancing
6 years ago during an extended stay in Mexico when 6 years ago during an extended stay in Mexico when our lives were at a crossroad. But the universe had plans that we weren’t considering. @patrik_tanner took the band director/lead guitar position with GB that kept us in Minnesota and we returned home to dive in. This will always be one of my favorite pictures of us because of where we were in our lives and relationship.  Now we wait for the universe to tell us what’s next. ❤️
2/3 of my guys. 😍 #snuggles 2/3 of my guys. 😍 #snuggles
Elliott received a Johns Hopkins Grand honors awar Elliott received a Johns Hopkins Grand honors award for his high SAT scores under 13. He scored somewhere in the top .02% of 18,000 test takers! No ceremony due to Covid but fun mail to receive!
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