The gift doesn't fall far from the giving tree

This week I had a chance to meet the parent of one of the gifted students with whom I am working. What a treat! As we were chatting over lunch, we discussed how similar kids were to their parents - specifically gifted kids.

The conversation reminded me of a quote by Linda Silverman. She states:

"Where one child in the family is found to be gifted, the chances are great that all members of the family are gifted. Brothers and sisters are usually within five to ten points in ability. We studied 48 sets of siblings and found that over one-third were within five points of each other, over three-fifths were within ten points and almost three-quarters were within thirteen points...Parents IQ scores, when known, are usually within ten points of their children's; grandparents' IQ scores are often within ten points of their grandchildren's."

(Silverman, Linda in a paper What have We Learned About Gifted Children, published in 1997)

It seems to me that God knew what he was doing in making families; often gifted people can feel very alone, but right from the start God has put us in relational groups of people that are remarkably similar to us - we have a built-in support group, a group that can spur us on, challenge, debate with and encourage us, sympathize with us, people who have gone down the path we are going, at least to some degree.

I know it doesn't always feel like that - I know I felt so totally different from my family that at times I wondered if I was adopted. True story. I was also the only blond. Very suspicious. Sometimes, when we are in a family and looking at each other from an individualistic point of view we see only the differences - he is musical, I'm into art, she's the brain, I'm more social - but viewed from the outside and as a group, you see how very similar we all are to our family. And it's a good thing. A finger-of-God good thing.

And so, I invite you to join me this week in being thankful for family.