Gifted fascinates and destabilizes. To find out more, we spoke with Isabelle Champagne, the mother of Elliott, a gifted 8-year-old child with a wonderful and unique background.
Natural History Museum, Oxford, England
How did you discover that your son, Elliott, was a gifted child?As Elliott has an older brother who was found to be gifted in early age, we were a little slow to realize what was going on. I would say that we started to see some signs in Elliott around the age of 2 and a half. At this age, he was fascinated by geometric shapes, moreover his first words were "circle", "triangle" and "square". He could concentrate for long periods of time and could spend hours doing very advanced puzzles for his age. He started to read around the age of 3 (which, for us, was quite late since his big brother was reading at 2!) and he quickly became interested in various and sometimes unusual subjects for children. at an early age: mathematics, the periodic table and its elements, paleontology and classical music. He had an insatiable thirst for learning and he poseda lot of questions. It was finally when he started school that we really realized the extent of the gap with his peers and that we began the process of having him evaluated.
Many people imagine giftedness as a chance, a gift: but is it true that this situation can prove difficult for the principal concerned?En Indeed, giftedness, despite the observable advantages, can prove to be a source of problems in several spheres of a child's life. A gifted child experiences enormous isolation since he has few interests and skills in common with his peers. The gifted child has great difficulty finding his place in a class group. Because he is different, he may be bullied, teased or rejected by others. In the case of Elliott, if he is placed in a group of children his age, the academic level is not adequate. If the academic level is adequate, age and maturity are not there to be able to participate and complete certain projects. The school system, as we know it, is not made for gifted students. The programs are designed within a general training framework and teachers receive no training to work with students who present a profile of giftedness. Unfortunately for many, they wait for the day to pass: they are under-stimulated and demotivated. There is a very high dropout rate among gifted students and that is what worried us the most about Elliott. How muchtime he came home from school asking us: “Do you think that tomorrow I will finally be able to learn something? That's what made us do the most to keep him academically interested.
Giftedness is directly linked to the expectations of the gifted child, but also of the people around him. These expectations sometimes turn into a source of anxiety for the young person since he is afraid of failing, disappointing or not succeeding as he is used to. It is often difficult for these children to accept error since they are rarely confronted with it. They are demanding of themselves, but also of everyone around them.
Encounter with birds of prey (Elliott is a fan of birdwatching!)
And for the parents, the family?For our part, Elliott's giftedness makes us live through ups and downs. We have the extraordinary good fortune to carry out, through our son, fascinating and sometimes surreal experiences. His rather stunning unusual journey is certainly a source of pride, but also of concern. In recent years, we have had to make difficult decisions regarding the path of Elliott. We are always afraid of making the wrong decision, of leading him down a path that will get him into trouble instead of helping him develop to his full potential. Having a gifted child is a heavy responsibility. We must constantly ensure that he is adequately stimulated at home and at school andwe are involved in all stages of his journey. Elliott's journey may seem exciting and more than positive, but when we look at everything behind his journey, we can realize the magnitude and complexity of the situation. We had to do a lot of research and reading to learn more about a world that was totally unknown to us. Very few parents experience what we face day in and day out, and we are often ill-equipped or ill-informed to move forward. In addition, we feel a certain guilt at thinking that what is happening to us is complex and trying, when we know very well that other parents live in much more difficult and distressing situations than ours.
We must also ensure a family balance. Elliott's older brother sometimes has difficulty accepting that his little brother succeeds and progresses at the same academic level as him. As Elliott has a very strong personality, we need to make sure that his older brother, who is more reserved, finds his place and can be just as proud of his achievements. We avoid comparisons and do our best to celebrate each other's successes.
In the past few years, we've had to accept that Elliott is different and more advanced than us in some ways, even if it's sometimes embarrassing to admit it!
Elliott started playing the cello at the age of 4
Could you tell us about the unique courseElliott?
Elliott began reading at age three and his interests in science and math quickly took over much of his reading and questioning. He started playing the cello at the age of 4 and at 5 he had his first audition for a youth orchestra. He has been composing music for a few years now and it is always a pleasure to listen to his musical creations. It was also around the age of 5 that he began to take an interest in chess, and after only 6 months of play, he qualified for the provincial championship, where he finished 6 e. He skipped two school years, his 1st and 4th year, and was recognized under the policy of gifted and talented students of the Marguerite-Bourgeoys school board, there is now three years old.
This year marks his second national level competition in cello and he has won several regional and provincial level competitions over the past few years. He is currently the first cellist of the Dolce Musica ensemble in Westmount, and has been giving concerts with his brother, a violinist in Montreal and Quebec for several years now. Last year, he wrote a book, A Little Guide to Dinosaurs, as part of his gifted and talented student project, which he presented at the annual conference of Canadian paleontologists. This 48-page book will be published by the MultiMondes publishing house and is scheduled for release in October 2015.
Last fall, he followed acourse at McGill University in biodiversity as part of the mini-training offered to adults. Finally, he has just launched his website, through which he can continue to inform young people about what really fascinates him: paleontology!
Elliott will be at the Montreal Book Fair in November 2015 and in Quebec City in April 2016 to sign autographs and chat with people about his experience as a young author.
How are you supporting your son through this journey? Does your role change as he grows?Our job as a parent is to provide our child, regardless of his or her potential, with the tools to succeed and be happy. From the very beginning, we have listened to Elliott's needs and tried to help him follow a path that suits him and that respects our values and our ideals. Now that Elliott is older and his academic and musical abilities are recognized, we need less to explain and prove that Elliott requires certain special accommodations to be stimulated and continue to progress.
We are always looking for new projects to keep him stimulated and we try to get him interested in a variety of subjects to become a balanced adult. It is sometimes easy to forget that he is a young child and we try to ensure that he can live, despite the whirlwind that surrounds him, activities with young people of his age.
Favorite activity, dinosaur museums. (Lyme Regis, England)
As parents, you don't always have to feel well equipped to support your child. Did professionals support you?We had the assessments done privately by a psychologist who specializes in giftedness. We hesitated a long time before having him take the tests, but we are finally happy to have done so since it allows us to make more informed decisions about his academic and personal path.
As parents, we also experience isolation. It is not always possible for us to share what Elliott accomplishes, for lack of sounding like swollen heads. We have few resources available to advise us and enlighten us in the decisions we have to make. As Elliott is now part of the Mensa association, we hope that we will have the chance to meet, within this group, parents who are going through the same experiences as us and professionals who can support and advise us on Elliott's journey.
Outdoor chess
You mentioned that schools were not ready to receive gifted children. We are very lucky to be part of the CSMB since we t is the only school board in the province to have a policy for gifted and talented students. Projects submitted and accepted are paid by the commissionschool, which gives us a little financial break. The teachers and principals with whom we had the chance to work demonstrated a great deal of openness and flexibility with regard to his educational path.
Currently, Elliott is doing the Grade 5th program in a Grade 4th class to minimize group and teacher changes in the middle of the year and to ensure that the age gap does not pose a particular problem. Next year, however, he will begin the year with the cohort of 6e students, at the age of 9! For now, year skipping and projects for gifted and talented children keep him motivated and stimulated. Since he is self-taught and the only student in the class to take the Grade 5e program, he organizes his schedule and adds certain elements to his week, such as learning Latin or writing periods for his book and website.
What is the most positive thing about Elliott's giftedness?The most beautiful thing in all of Elliott's history is probably the effect he has on the people around him. He is a great source of motivation and inspiration for all those around him. From the start, as parents, we decided to accompany him on this adventure. We have to admit, it's almost embarrassing to have an 8-year-old taking a college course! Let's say that his accomplishments have inspired us a lot to undertake several new projects. His father and mewe both went back to university, we started learning a string instrument, we studied classical music, Mandarin, Latin, chess, paleontology, science and many other subjects which were unfamiliar to us. Elliott's grandmother, meanwhile, was inspired by the publication of her grandson's book. She began her research last year and is now working on writing a biography.
Elliott has given a few talks in schools over the past few years and each time, we have the impression that his presentations inspire in his listeners a desire to go further and think bigger. In class, many students are very motivated by Elliott's efforts, perseverance and accomplishments and they apply themselves in a more sustained way to their success.
One thing is certain: for Elliott, every passing second is an opportunity to learn and push the limits of what is possible. We are sure it will continue to amaze, inspire and wear us down for years to come!
