Solomon's Academy llc

06/20/2024

06/07/2024

EXCEPTIONALLY GIFTED CHILDREN AND ADULTS HAVE AN INABILITY TO CONCENTRATE ON A TASK THAT IS NOT INTELLECTUALLY CHALLENGING, (involving repetition or a task that presents material in bite-size pieces, without the (necessary) overarching conceptual framing in play, from the outset)

EXAMPLE:

I observe Harry in a grade three classroom where his classmates learn elementary arithmetic.

Harry is self-taught and proficient at college-level calculus, advanced algebra, and number theory. He attends this class with his same-age peers because his elementary school faculty believes it is “necessary socialization.” I am astounded that they cannot see how ill-fitting this classroom placement is for Harry, on the whole, but especially for academic subjects such as Mathematics, Language Arts, Science, or Social Studies.

Harry is a voracious reader who is well-versed in world affairs and a student of astrophysics, chess, and many other advanced subjects. Five minutes into the lesson on single-digit addition, Harry comes unglued, flailing his arms as he states repeatedly: “I can’t stand it, I can’t stand it.”

He is sent to the principal’s office with an educational assistant whose job it is to help Harry fit in. I feel sick at heart and intensely motivated to change things for Harry. Intensely motivated.

The following week at the clinic, I asked him if he could demonstrate what being under-stimulated feels like.

In response, he asks me: “Are you sure you want to see that, Sue?” I say: “Please.”

He then throws himself on the ground, pounding his arms and legs on the carpet while shouting incoherently. It is disturbing to witness, and I feel enormous compassion for him.

I wonder how often Harry exercises super-human social-regulation skills as he attempts to stay focused in lessons many years beneath his natural learning propensity.

I wonder how often he goes home from school absolutely drained from the lack of appropriate stimulation and the effort to maintain his equanimity in the face of colossal boredom and the ham-fisted misappropriation of his genuine learning needs.

P. Susan Jackson, AUTHOR
From "Excuse Me, Where Do I Park MY Whale? The Extraordinary Journey of the Exceptionally and Profoundly Gifted." RELEASE 2024 (It's in edits; we're working super hard, I Promise. We've had enormous health challenges at home which we are (thankfully) working through!

07/30/2023

07/30/2023

07/25/2023

Rosalind Franklin was born in 1920. She was a chemist and crystallographer who made a key contribution to the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA: https://www.compoundchem.com/2017/07/25/franklin/

07/24/2023

Heading to a wedding this summer? The chemistry between the married couple isn't the only chemistry present at the ceremony – check this graphic for a run-down of the properties of different materials used in wedding rings: https://www.compoundchem.com/2018/09/12/wedding-ring/

07/02/2023

This is huge!

06/27/2023

John Goodenough, Nobel Prize-winning chemist and pioneer of lithium-ion batteries, died this week at the age of 100. Here's a reminder of how his research contributed to the batteries we use in devices today: https://www.compoundchem.com/2019/10/09/2019nobelchemistry/