Hide not your talents.
They for use were made.
What's a sundial in the shade?
--Benjamin Franklin


The most gifted natures are perhaps also the most trembling.
--Andre Gide, Nobel Prize Winner
Assessment and Support for profoundly and exceptionally gifted children
Gifted Children Need Acceleration
"According to A Nation Deceived, academic acceleration is grounded in strong empirical evidence of positive academic and social development of students." Duke University
http://www.accelerationinstitute.org/nation deceived
Types of Acceleration include:
- Early admission to kindergarten/elementary/middle/high school/college
- Grade skipping
- Continuous progress (teacher controls pace of progress)
- Self-paced instruction (student controls the pace of progress)
- Subject matter acceleration (eg. fourth grade student taking sixth grade math)
- Combined classes (eg. grouping multiple grade levels together that leads to academic interaction with older students) and Curriculum compacting less time spent on things like introduction, review, and practice)
- Telescoping curriculum (eg. completing a year's math class in a single semester) and Mentoring (partnering with a student with an expert for more in-depth learning experiences)
- Extracurricular programs (courses and instruction that occur outside the normal school day)
- Correspondence courses (these are now typically online courses)
- Early graduation
- Concurrent/Dual enrollment (enrolling in college courses while still in high school)
- Advanced Placement
- Credit by examination (eg. skipping algebra by taking the final exam and scoring sufficiently high)
- Acceleration in college (often achieved through dual enrollment, Advanced Placement or taking additional classes)
Is My Child Gifted?
If you read the list below and find yourself nodding, recognizing your own child here, give us a call. (510) 219-9410
Gifted children need exposure to multiage gifted peers, strong social-emotional support, hands-on experiential learning, and the ability to work at their own pace and level.
Gifted children also need strong parent advocates to help them find the learning environment that truly works for them.
- Reasons well (good thinker)
- Morally sensitive
- Learns rapidly
- Has strong curiosity
- Has an excellent memory
- Perseverant in their interests
- Has long attention span (if interested)
- Has high degree of energy
- Sensitive
- Prefers older companions or adults
- Shows compassion
- Has wide range of interests
- Perfectionistic
- Has a great sense of humor
- Intense
- Mature for age
- Concerned with justice, fairness
- Is a keen observer
- Has a vivid imagination
- Is highly creative
- Tends to question authority
- Has facility with numbers
- Good at jigsaw puzzles
Asynchrony
This is an excellent video that clearly describes the Asynchronous Child - probably the most telling sign of giftedness:
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=jkEvmUDf9Vw&feature=youtu.be
Here is another video on asynchrony by Dr. Dan Peters from Summit Center:
Specific Articles:
What We Have Learned About Gifted Children
http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/What_is_Gifted/learned.htm
The Loneliness of Genius
http://blog.beliefnet.com/roddreher/2010/06/the-loneliness-of-genius.html
Is Your Child Gifted? What To Look For And Why You Should Know
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/gifted-kids/201105/is-your-child-gifted-what-look-and-why-you-should-know
What Is Twice Exceptional (2e)?
http://summitcenter.us/about/what-is-twice-exceptional-2e/
Those 2e "Bad Kids"
http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10437.aspx
Myths About The Gifted
http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/Articles/advocacy/g25.pdf
Dabrowski's Theory
http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/Articles/dabrowski/c55.pdf
Gifted Kids At Risk: Who's Listening?
http://www.sengifted.org/archives/articles/gifted-kids-at-risk-whos-listening