By Evelyn Metcalf.
Kahlil Gibran’s poem, On Children, frequently comes to my mind when I speak to gifted parents of gifted children: “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and the daughters of a life longing for itself.” When I was in India several years ago making a cross-cultural metaphor quilt, a young boy drew a kite. When I asked him to explain, he said simply: “I am a kite. I want to go high, but my parents are holding me down.” Listen to your children! Be in the present! Living for “academic potential” oftentimes misses the mark of emotions now. Emotional well-being is the foundation for all growth!
________________________________________________________
Evelyn King Metcalf, MAT, currently teaches second grade at the Barringer Academic Center, Charlotte, NC. She has taught in regular and gifted education for the past 20 years in both Ohio and NC. Evelyn is a facilitator for SENG Model Parent Groups and represented SENG as NC’s state liaison. She has presented at OAGC and NCAGT conferences, in addition to the New Hanover County School system in Wilmington, NC. For the previous four years she taught third grade at a charter school for highly gifted in Charlotte, NC and served on its Vision Committee. Evelyn earned her master’s degree and gifted license at Kent State University. She is a SENG board member.