Tall Poppies
Las Vegas Gifted Homeschooling Group

A man is working in the gardens... doing something else that I can't understand. Some of the tulips have grown faster than their peers so that they are taller: their golden heads stand higher than the others and the man is cutting off these heads so that the stalks stand bare, denuded, but now the same size as the other plants in the bed. I ask my mother, in puzzlement, why he is cutting down the tall tulips, and when she answers there is a trace of sadness in her voice. "He wants to make them all the same size, darling, so that they'll look tidier. But I don't think that's what gardening is all about, do you?"

--Miraca Gross, "Small Poppies: Highly Gifted Children in the Early Years"

Tall Poppies Message Board Come and talk to us, share your stories, set up a class or a book group, and let us know about you and your child! Resources for Nevada Parents This page has info about gifted education law in Nevada plus contact information for the CCSD GATE office and the Highly Gifted Program, Nevada organizations for gifted and highly gifted learners, AND reviews of gifted-friendly schools in the Vegas area. NEW!!Homeschooling Highly Gifted Kids Which teaching approaches work best for gifted children? Where do I find the best curriculum for my child? Are there online resources or people who can help me? The answer is "YES!" Message Boards and Online Communities This page contains a wealth of message boards and online communities having to do with everything from giftedness to profound giftedness. The people here are a tremendous help and resource! Articles on Giftedness Is my child gifted, or am I just being a pushy parent? How can I get my child tested? My child seems so sensitive -- how can I help him? Hoagies! Someone referred to Hoagies as "the gold standard of gifted websites," and it's true. Articles galore, resources on everything related to giftedness -- testing, identification, challenges in school -- you name it.

As Miraca Gross suggests with her story, uniformity often comes at the cost of individual growth. As Gross also points out, this is especially true of the highly gifted child in school. It's funny. Many of us as parents probably found our children's development to be literally astonishing. Many of us probably expected to have our kids' teachers to react with delight to learners who seemed to soak up knowledge as fast as it was presented to them. Unfortunately, this doesn't always happen. Bottom line, the "fit" between a highly gifted child and a school classroom tends to be a poor one. What works for a regular gifted class may simply be just not enough for a child who's further from the norm. Too often, the "tall poppies" in the system are encouraged -- often well-meaningly -- to get along, to fit in, to be like everyone else, even if it's at the cost of their own growth. Many parents in Nevada have chosen to homeschool their highly gifted children and this website and group are resources for us to use. The term "homeschool" is used VERY loosely. Everyone who is interested in working as an educator -- at home, after "official school," as a teacher, a parent, or gifted advocate -- is welcome here. Homeschooling a gifted child can sometimes be challenging. Some homeschooling groups welcome gifted children, but others seem less comfortable with the disparity between a gifted child's age and abilities. Working together, we can pool our resources, share our stories, and give our kids the chance to socialize and have fun with kids like them -- not just with kids as old as they are. Feel free to explore the links to the left -- they're some of the best resources on giftedness that exist on the Internet, and if you find new ones, let me know. Contact Me: Baudelaire66@hotmail.com