<p>The grade school school GT teacher said in our parent-teacher conference that S was reading the newspaper in her class (which didn’t surprise us because he had been reading it cover to cover since 2nd grade). We asked her if she wanted him to continue to do so or to stop doing it and she couldn’t decide (and was wondering why she was having so much trouble with S & his friends in that class). I politely informed her that as soon as she decided whether or not she wanted him to read the paper in class or to STOP reading the paper in class, we would reinforce whatever she wanted. Until then, we and the kids were confused about her expectations and preferences.</p>
<p>The pediatrician kept telling me I was overstimulating S because he only took 2 very brief naps and then slept at night from the time he was very, very young. By the time he was 2, he took only one or NO naps! He was just very alert and interested in the world. He taught himself to read at 3 and upset the preschool director when he was trying to help her improve the nationally standardized placement test she was trying to administer to him.</p>
<p>Sadly, he was made to partner with all the ‘troubled’ kids in grade school and be their personalized tutor. He really got tired of that and it didn’t help address any of his interests.</p>