Earlier today, a parent posted a comment related to an entry on this blog asking about quality educational activity books for her gifted child.

I have a 6-year-old boy and have observed in him the urge to keep busy in some kind of mind-challenging activity. I see a great potential in him, and since I am running out of home grown ideas to help his little mind grow, I would like to know whether anyone can recommend some good activity books that address problem solving, critical thinking, language, etc.

I'll offer my response. However, as the publisher at Prufrock Press, I'm a bit biased. For this reason, I would like to invite our readers to post resources they would recommend regardless of who publishes the materials.

Finding Quality Thinking Skills Activity Books

There are a lot of companies that develop educational activity books. However, there are not nearly as many companies that develop quality educational activity books. Avoid the big companies that just churn out low-cost products. Most of these companies are more concerned with publishing lots of inexpensive booklets than offering much in the way of real challenge and motivation for gifted children.

Stick with companies that have made a commitment to serving parents and teachers of gifted children over the years. They know these kids and have a strong reputation in the field of gifted education to uphold. In addition to Prufrock Press, I recommend Pieces of Learning and the Critical Thinking Company as sources of quality thinking skills materials for younger students.

Prufrock has a line of great thinking skills books that are perfect for younger gifted children. Our online catalog includes sample inside pages from our books, so you can review the content of the books before you buy. Some books will be more or less interesting to your child depending on his or her interests. Let the inside pages and your child be your guide in selecting which books are best.

Here are a few of our products I would recommend.

• Analogies for Beginners (grades 1-3)
• Attribute Block Thinking Activities: Analogies (grades K-3)
• Attribute Block Thinking Activities: Sequences (grades K-3)
• Extra! Extra!: Advanced Reading and Writing Activities for Language Arts (grades K-2)
• First Time Analogies (grades K-2)
• Lollipop Logic (grades K-2)

Evaluating Quality Educational Activity Books

• Make sure the book is teaching a specific skill. Any quality activity book will clearly identify the skill being taught. For example, developing the ability to logically postulate a sequence of events, objects, or numbers is an important skill for any young thinker. Our book, Attribute Block Thinking Activities: Sequences (mentioned above) makes it pretty clear that it teaches sequencing skills using shapes. A responsible publisher tries to be very clear about the skill-set being addressed.
• Check the reading level. You may want your child to look at the book and test its reading level. The greatest book about improving logical thinking will do little good if it is above your child's reading level. Don't assume that the level listed on the book cover is accurate for your child. Quite often, gifted children read above-grade-level, so you may have to experiment a bit.
• Let your child's interests guide your choice of topics. It's important to focus on your child's strengths, abilities, and interests. For example, if your child loves mysteries, look for books that incorporate mysteries in their activities (see our book, Detective Club: Mysteries for Young Thinkers).
• Finally, don't assume that all learning comes in an "educational" package. For example, kids who complete the wonderfully complex K'NEX building sets are learning as much about sequencing as they will in any activity book. Be creative as you search for learning activities that will challenge your child.

I love Jim's common-sense ideas about gifted education and his sensitive, intuitive beliefs about gifted children. Over the years, Jim's column "Au Contraire" has become one of the journal's most popular features. Often controversial, Jim's ideas are always thought-provoking.

I'm proud to announce that Prufrock Press will soon release Dr. Delisle's newest book, Parenting Gifted Kids: Tips for Raising Happy and Successful Children. A middle school teacher, parent, and Kent State University professor, Jim offers warm, funny, and down-to-earth advice for parents of gifted kids in his new book. The book will ship in mid-March.

Recently, I asked one of my editors, Lacy Elwood, to interview Jim. At one point in the interview, Lacy asked Jim what would be the most important piece of advice he could offer parents.

Jim's response says a lot about his respect for gifted children:

I think the best advice I ever received from my son, even though he never told me directly, was to follow his lead. When you have kids who are really bright, they have a lot of directions they want to go in, usually simultaneously. I think the more we, as parents, try to pigeonhole our kids to go a certain route because they're smart or because they're strong in a certain area, that's when it becomes an artificial fit. I'd rather ask my son or my students, "What are you interested in and how can I help you get there?"

And, that's really what we've done with our son. His major in college was creative writing and film studies, and I can't tell you how many adults would kind of look at us and say or think, "What's he ever going to do with a degree in that? How's he going to earn a living?" And, that is certainly the wrong question to ask. If you're passionate about what you want to do, you will find a way to make it work. There are too many parents who make the mistake of trying to take that away. You have to give them that freedom. It's their life to live, not ours.

Read the entire interview with Jim Delisle, Ph.D. It offers a unique perspective on a powerful advocate for gifted children and those who touch the lives of those children.

his week, the New York Times ran a story titled, "U.S. Trade Deficit Hits All-Time High." The article explained that "American appetites for all things foreign, from oil to cars to clothing, pushed the trade deficit to yet another record in 2005." This article concerned me and sparked me to do a bit more research on the topic. What I discovered has some powerful implications for how this country invests in gifted education.

"Dark Matter"--America's Unrecognized Export

Recently, two Harvard professors, Ricardo Hausmann and Federico Sturzenegger, offered a new perspective on the trade deficit issue in their published paper, "U.S. And Global Imbalances: Can Dark Matter Prevent A Big Bang?" In his December 28, 2005, BusinessWeek blog article, "Dark Matter," Michael Mandel summarizes the paper's findings:

• The international trade statistics are great at tracking flows of goods, and OK at tracking flows of services.
• The trade statistics are terrible at tracking cross-border flows of intellectual property. For example, when Intel sets up a chip fabrication plant in Ireland, that country reaps the benefit of Intel's designs, and all of Intel's accumulated wisdom about how to run a fab successfully. In effect, a massive amount of intellectual property has been exported to Ireland, without showing up in the trade statistics at all.
• These massive and unobserved exports of intellectual property--"dark matter"--imply that the U.S. is actually running a much smaller current account deficit than the official data shows.
• In addition, U.S. assets abroad are really worth a lot more than we thought, because the official calculation doesn't include the value of the intellectual property.

Hausmann and Sturzenegger write:

In a nutshell, our story is very simple. The income generated by a country’s financial position is a good measure of the true value of its assets. Once assets are valued accordingly, the US appears to be a net creditor, not a net debtor and its net foreign asset position appears to have been fairly stable over the last 20 years. The bulk of the difference with the official story comes from the unaccounted export of knowhow ...

We Are Underinvesting in Gifted Education

The point of this paper is quite clear. In the new global economy, America's most powerful advantage is our intellectual property--what Hausmann and Sturzenegger call "dark matter."

If "dark matter"--intellectual knowhow, innovation, and talent--is America's most important asset in the new global economy, why isn't gifted education--the education of our most intellectually able, innovative, and talented children--this nation's top priority?

Why is our only national education mandate, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), void of even a reference (much less financial investment) to gifted children and their education?

Personally, I support gifted education on more humanistic grounds--every child deserves an appropriate education. However, if an economic reason is required, we certainly have one in Hausmann and Sturzenegger's paper. As a nation increasingly immersed in a global economy, our political leaders need to begin tending to this country's most important economic asset by properly investing in gifted education.

I got a call today from a producer at BBC-America (the US branch of the British Broadcasting Company) about a really interesting opportunity for kids between the ages of 7-11. TLC (The Learning Channel) and the BBC are seeking 7- to 11-year-old children of all backgrounds and personalities from across the U.S. to film a video diary of their lives for approximately 3 months. The producer I spoke to said that they are seeking gifted and talented children of all kinds to participate.

Are you the parent or teacher of a 7- to 11-year-old gifted and talented child who might find this intriguing? Know a gifted child who has an interesting story to tell, a wonderful imagination, or a unique view of life? Whether the child you have in mind is shy or outgoing, funny or serious, stubborn or cooperative, the BBC would love to learn more about them!

This innovative documentary series aims to capture American life through the eyes of 7- to 11-year-olds who film video diaries of their lives for approximately 3 months.

BBC and TLC will train the kids to use the camera and then give them the freedom to decide what to film and what to discuss. If you are interested in learning more, please call the BBC's My Life as a Child office at (212) 974-9050, ext. 221, or e-mail them at mylifeasachild@bbcnyproduction.com.