Previous research shows that student educational experiences influence their learning as well as their future success. Beyond offering opportunities for academic acceleration and ability grouping, what can be done to help make sure talented students are learning and developing? … [Read more...] about Putting Learning Principles into Practice in Gifted Education
Gifted 101
Is My Child Artistically Gifted?
The youngest artist-in-the-making I ever met was six years old. Carson Rutter arrived at my office carrying a folder of his work in one hand and holding his mother’s hand with the other. Drawings of cowboys dominated his portfolio. I asked him to tell me about them. With a critical eye, he told me how he had improved since those drawings were made and that their inspiration was The Magnificent Seven. Six other art teachers later evaluated Carson’s work as that of a middle-school student. "Where … [Read more...] about Is My Child Artistically Gifted?
What Happens To Students On The College Fast Track?
Most of us spend four years in high school, but every once in a while you’ll hear about some prodigy who enters college earlier than typical. For example, Murray Gell-Mann, the Nobel Prize winning physicist, entered Yale University at age 15. Gell-Mann turned out pretty successful, but what about people who entered college early as a whole? What happens to them later in life when they grow up? A study by Nancy B. Hertzog and Rachel U. Chung published in Roeper Review attempted to address this … [Read more...] about What Happens To Students On The College Fast Track?
Defining Giftedness and Its Goals
Researchers in the field of giftedness face a major struggle: they can’t agree on a definition of giftedness. If you were to ask 10 giftedness researchers for a definition of giftedness, you’d likely get 11 different answers! This becomes problematic within the field when we try to determine who is gifted and what we should do for them. And from outside the field, this disagreement on things as “simple” as definitions makes us look like we don’t know what are talking about. After all, physicists … [Read more...] about Defining Giftedness and Its Goals
Giftedness: A Motivational Perspective
True or false? Some people are born gifted, and others are not. You can tell who will be gifted from early on. Gifted children should be labeled and praised for their brains and talent. All of these statements are accepted by many as true. However, as evidence has accumulated over the past decade, another view has been gaining credence that portrays giftedness as a more dynamic quality that can grow or stagnate. … [Read more...] about Giftedness: A Motivational Perspective
The Renzulli Learning System: Assessing and Developing Children’s Interests
Every parent has had the satisfaction of seeing their child “turn on” to a topic or school experience that demonstrates the true joy and excitement of both learning and teaching. Parents are also painfully aware of the boredom and lack of interest that their child may express about so much of the work they do in school. … [Read more...] about The Renzulli Learning System: Assessing and Developing Children’s Interests
What Do You Say to Gifted Children?
Being in a school environment that does not understand, support, or value giftedness is frustrating for many gifted children and teens. Recently, you may have seen a story in the news about a 12-year-old boy attending college in California. News media across the country reported on this impressive child and his need and desire to attend college at a young age. Some journalists presented the positive aspects of this child and his abilities, but others poked fun at him and made negative comments. … [Read more...] about What Do You Say to Gifted Children?
Asynchrony: A New Definition of Giftedness
Asynchrony, a relatively new way of looking at giftedness, has deep historical roots. Leta Stetter Hollingworth, the foremother of gifted education, viewed giftedness as a set of complex psychological issues arising out of the disparities between these children’s mental and chronological ages. Hollingworth established that the farther removed children are from the average in intelligence, the more pressing their adjustment problems become. As IQ increases, so do difficulties with peer relations. … [Read more...] about Asynchrony: A New Definition of Giftedness
A Guidebook for Parents
Ever wish you had a manual for that extraordinary, perplexing child of yours? Take heart, a new book, A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children, by James T. Webb, Janet L. Gore, Edward R. Amend, and Arlene R. DeVries, Great Potential Press (release date: March 1, 2007), may be just the reference you need. This helpful guide concisely explains the complexities of gifted children, addresses the challenges they face, and details practical strategies for parents to support their gifted children in all … [Read more...] about A Guidebook for Parents
Questions that Parents of Young Gifted Children Ask the Most
The American Association for Gifted Children (AAGC) is the nation’s oldest advocacy organization for gifted children and receives numerous calls and e-mails from parents who are seeking information to help them understand the unusual abilities that their children are displaying at an early age. Parents ask most often about identification, testing, school placement, and local resources. They seek advice on having their child’s intellectual ability evaluated and want help understanding the … [Read more...] about Questions that Parents of Young Gifted Children Ask the Most