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Articles from
December 2008
Profoundly Gifted
There are many different levels of giftedness. Profoundly gifted kids are so advanced that they may have a very difficult time finding peers. They often skip several grades and/or begin college before they enter adolescence. This group of students makes up a very small portion of the population and resources are difficult to find. Here are some that you may find helpful:
- To better understand various levels of giftedness, read What Is Highly Gifted? Exceptionally Gifted? Profoundly Gifted? And What Does It Mean? Carolyn K. helps us better understand the meanings of each of these terms and how they are determined.
- Exceptionally and Profoundly Gifted Students: An Underserved Population by Miraca U. M. Gross explains the developmental differences of this group of young people, pressures they feel, and provides recommendations for addressing their academic needs.
- Raising a profoundly gifted child can be a real challenge. In Profoundly Gifted Guilt, Jim Delisle discusses the frequent concerns of parents of profoundly gifted children.
- In Tips for Parents: Helping Parents Understand Their Profoundly Gifted Children, Barbara Clark applies brain research to profoundly gifted children and recommends ways to work with them.
- The Davidson Young Scholars program provides free services designed to nurture and support profoundly gifted young people. Students and their parents receive assistance through consulting services, an online community, annual get-togethers, the Ambassador Program, and guidebooks.
- The Texas Parents for the Profoundly Gifted provides both planned and spontaneous activities. The organization has an informational e-mail loop to discuss topics of importance.
- PG Retreat: A Gathering Of Families With Profoundly Gifted Children is an annual event that provides opportunities for children to meet, socialize, play with, and learn from others who are developmentally advanced. While the children are engaged in their activities, parents listen to speakers. The 2009 retreat will take place July 2–6, 2009, in Colorado Springs, CO.
Free Math Tutorials for Gifted Kids
The Khan Academy is a great, free resource for those students who need help understanding math concepts or for those who want to work beyond what is offered to them at school. The academy was founded by Salman Khan (Sal) with the hope of using technology to foster new learning models. Sal currently is an investment professional in Palo Alto, CA and has held positions in venture capital, product management, and engineering. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School. He also holds a master's degree in electrical engineering and computer science, a BS in electrical engineering and computer science, and a BS in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has worked with students of all ages.
Posted on his Web site are more than 600 videos covering everything from basic arithmetic and algebra to differential equations, physics, and finance. Singapore Math is included as is SAT preparation. And these videos will cost you nothing. For an overview of the video offerings, check out this YouTube video. This is a great resource for kids who love math or who need a little help or reinforcement.
More and more individuals are posting legitimate math tutorials on YouTube. I found that, when searching, it helps to add the word “tutorial” to your search. For instance, if you search for “calculus tutorial,” you will be more successful than if you just search for “calculus.”
Great Resources for Gifted Education Teachers and Administrators
Whether you are new to gifted education or you are experienced, but looking for information to support your teaching, program development, and parent communities, you will find that there is a plethora of information available on the Internet. Here are just a few.
The Davidson Institute Educators Guild
This is a free, national service for professionals committed to meeting the needs of highly gifted students. The Guild offers
- An electronic (email) discussion group where members interact with one another to share experiences and ideas, receive advice and resource recommendations, ask questions, and increase their knowledge about gifted education.
- Consulting services based on members’ needs. Information may include lesson plan ideas, differentiation strategies, assessment tools and options, GT program design, tools for advocating, and staff development opportunities.
- eNewsletters delivered to your mailbox, plus archived newsletters.
- A host of resources, including lesson plans.
Hoagies’ provides links to professional reading lists, reading lists for kids, classroom resources, and basic information on gifted education.
Here you will find gifted program and teacher preparation standards, plus extensive resources on many aspects of gifted education.
As the title implies, this organization has an emphasis on the emotional needs of the gifted. It offers an articles library, audio library, and a bibliography of recommended readings.
The Teaching Gifted Children’s section of Prufrock Press Inc.
There is lots of good information here, including
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information for teachers new to gifted education
-
an introduction to gifted education and teaching methods
-
gifted education events, organizations, and resources
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links to the two Prufrock blogs: Gifted Children Information Blog and Gifted Education Blog
Great Resources for Gifted Education Teachers and Administrators
Whether you are new to gifted education or you are experienced but looking for information to support your teaching, program development, and parent communities, you will find a plethora of information available on the Internet. Here are just a few sites:
The Davidson Institute Educators Guild
This is a free, national service for professionals committed to meeting the needs of highly gifted students. The Guild offers:
-
An electronic (email) discussion group where members interact with one another to share experiences and ideas, receive advice and resource recommendations, ask questions, and increase their knowledge about gifted education;
-
Consulting services based on members’ needs. Information may include lesson plan ideas, differentiation strategies, assessment tools and options, GT program design, tools for advocating, and staff development opportunities.
-
eNewsletters delivered to your mailbox, plus archived newsletters.
-
A host of resources, including lesson plans.
Hoagies’ Page provides links to professional reading lists, reading lists for kids, classroom resources, and basic information on gifted education.
Here you will find gifted program and teacher preparation standards, plus extensive resources on many aspects of gifted education.
As the title implies, this organization has an emphasis on the emotional needs of the gifted. It offers an articles library, audio library, and a bibliography of recommended readings.
The Teaching Gifted Children’s Section of Prufrock Press Inc.
There is lots of good information here, including
-
information for teachers new to gifted education;
-
an introduction to gifted education and teaching methods;
-
gifted education events, organizations, and resources; and
-
links to the two Prufrock blogs: Gifted Children Information Blog and Gifted Education Blog.
A Parent's Introduction to Learning Options for Gifted Kids (Podcast)
Parenting gifted children can be a challenge. Parents are often presented with a menu of learning opportunities for talented kids. From special accelerated classes and dual-enrollment college programs, to homeschooling and online courses, the decisions about quality learning opportunities can seem endless.
 Last week, I sat down with Carol Fertig, the author of the new book, Raising a Gifted Child: A Parenting Success Handbook, in order to help make sense of some of these many options.
In addition to authoring her new book, Carol is the editor of the periodical Understanding Our Gifted, which is published by Open Space Communications. She is also the author of Prufrock Press' very popular "Gifted Child Information Blog." She is a parent and has been involved in gifted education as a teacher and administrator for more than 20 years.
In our interview, Carol and I touch upon a wide range of learning options for gifted kids and ways that parents can become involved in sorting through those options.
In her interview, Carol makes reference to four important Internet resources:
Listen to the Podcast
 Click here to listen to the podcast
(approximate length: 17 minutes)
Click here to listen to or subscribe* to this podcast in iTunes
(requires that you have iTunes installed on your computer)
* If you wish to be receive notifications when new podcasts are posted, you need to subscribe to Prufrock Press' "Gifted Education Podcast" in iTunes or subscribe to the "Podcasts" RSS feed in the left column of this blog (see "Categories/RSS"). Click here to read instructions on using RSS feeds.
ADHD—A Good Thing or a Bad Thing for Gifted Students?
Many gifted students have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
A New York Times article, A New Face for A.D.H.D., and a Debate, questions whether attention deficit is a good thing or a bad thing, giving experts a chance to thrash out the argument. The viewpoint that ADHD may be more blessing than curse has been brought to the forefront since the world learned that Michael Phelps, the Olympic superstar, was diagnosed in elementary school.
“Children with the disorder typically have trouble sitting still and paying attention," the author states. "But they may also have boundless energy and a laserlike focus on favorite things — qualities that could be very helpful in, say, an Olympic athlete.” Some doctors now pushing for a new view of the disorder that focuses on its potential strengths rather than solely on its challenges cite that, often, children with ADHD are highly creative.
If you do a search on “ADHD Famous People,” you will find long lists of historical figures who are thought to have had difficulty focusing coupled with very high energy. Of course the compilers of these lists can only have made assumptions that the people they included had the disorder.
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