promoted by BooMan
For the longest time we had absolutely no idea.
When she was 16 months old she turned her hand over and over in the tub and asked “Mom, what is there in water that makes it wet?”
We thought that was cute- and took the time to answer her.
When she began read Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? we were thrilled! Our family has always enjoyed books. No biggie if she was just under 2.
She spent one day asking us about everything that burned. We tired of listing specifics, so when she asked again at supper we said “Things that come from plants.” She took one look at her peas and corn, then dove under the table- thinking she might combust if she ate them.
We began to look up and realize this was not the experience other parents seemed to be having. In fact, parents began to look at us like we were some sort of flashcard carrying pushers. Ha!
When we took her to the park she was disturbed by the entropy of gravel on the slides, so she took along her little broom to organize the park. We got some serious sideways glances for that!
At 4, she asked a lady at Barnes and Noble to step aside a bit so she could get to a thesaurus. The lady moved, startled, then visibly jumped when our daughter thanked her for “acquiescing.”
We had to cancel the newspaper at 3 because the headlines distressed her. She read Jonothan Kozol’s Illiteracy in America at 6.
This was our normal daily life, and her behavior was completely accepted in our house for being who she is. I have hundreds of such stories.
Then she was old enough that she started to move out of the sanctuary of our home and into the world.
She took a copies of Poisonous Plants in Your Home and Contagious Diseases: Lyme Disease and Malaria to the before school program. Parents subjected her to so much scrutiny that she began to hide under tables to read- and would refuse to answer when anyone asked what book she had.
We looked for friends. Not much in common with the other 5 year olds, so we became an even stronger family.
Then we got “the call”. It seems the preschool teacher thought our daughter was a sociopath because she once pushed a child out of the way for a drink, and (GASP) refused to count beads with the other kids.
And she refused to listen to directions all the way through.
This is a teacher who knew she was coming to math theorems on her own- “Mom, if you add any 2 even numbers or any two odd numbers the answer is always even.”
So we had her tested. The results of the test are hers alone, but I will tell you she is many standard deviations away from the norm.
The school didn’t care. They were worrried about her making friends with a peer.
Peer? Find me a peer with the same interests and we’ll run with it.
They were worried that she didn’t have any friends. That was the end-all of life to them.
So we left. I ended up homeschooling her in my classroom, where parents and children alike made her feel strange (not in front of me, mind you. That’s where sandblasting would come in.)
I had school administrators call her a freak.
She began to hide her work- even the books she read because she didn’t want to be different. All my low key years of acceptance were crushed under mass socialization. She crumbled- at 5.
What can you do when schools and common culture kill your children?
We moved to a state where we have family support and good colleges. I gave up my job to homeschool her- and try to bring back the joyful, intriguing child I love.
One year later-
She’s back. Now, instead of hiding, she proudly proclaims her desire to be a volcanologist- and archaeologist. She has a 2-3 year plan to get into a top college and study geophysics.
She sees every day that this society does not value intelligence- especially in women- but we purposefuly drown out the message by surrounding her with witty, well educated adults.
And horses. I can’t forgt the horses.