Search

Just Tie A Couple of Concrete Blocks Around His Neck And Toss Him Back in the Pool . . .

That's the advice I was given by The Boy's Guidance Counselor.

Okay. Not literally, but that was the essence of her advice.

Slow him down.

Have him use simple, monosyllabic words.

Listen to what the other kids are saying, and use their language ("It's like he's speaking Russian or Greek.")

"He's a very intelligent, creative child. Does he like the computer?"

** blink ** blink **

"Er, sort of."

"How are you utilizing the computer at home?"

"Um . . . er . . . we're working with Squeak."

"Oh, is that a mouse game?"

"Um . . . it's an object-oriented programming environment designed for middle school kids."

"Oh."

Silence.

"It's an open source, visually based program designed to produce results without an extensive knowledge of coding."

Silence.

"Does he like video games?"

"What platform?"

"What do you mean?"

Apparently I'm Russian or Greek, too.

The Husband would like to know why his kid is expected to dumb down while everyone else gets to maintain their comfort zone.

This post may be replaced once I calm down and gather my thoughts. You really need to hear about what's going on, and the rest of the conversation with Guidance Counselor.

1 comments:

Anne said...

Actual Conversation:

Principal: "So, Boy, did you have a good day today?"

The Boy: "Yeah, everything's much better since I started pretending to be stupid and boring."

Me: ** eyebrow raises ** smirks at principal ** "Yeah, Guidance Counselor was very helpful."

Twinmama -- it's considered a socialization issue. And you can't jump a grade or three if you are having socialization issues, even if those issues involve being ahead of your time. Weird, I know.

Snowball -- if we're ever wandering that way, it's definitely a play date. Knitting date. Something, preferably involving chocolate.

And Corvus -- I would have thought you would already know about Squeak. It's a lot of fun, and all the developer/programming people connected to it are just wonderful.