The Differences Between Bright and Gifted
/ The Bright Child, Gifted Child ContinuumThis worksheet will help you see where your child might fit on the scale between "bright" to truly "gifted." Try printing this chart out and plotting your child's talents along each row of dots. Whatever your child's place on this continuum, celebrate her enthusiasm, curiosity, and talents!
The Bright Child / The Gifted Child
Knows the answers / Asks the questions
Is interested / Is highly curious
Is attentive / Is mentally and physically involved
Works hard / Plays around, yet tests well
Answers the questions / Discusses in detail, elaborates
Is in the top group / Is beyond the group
Listens with interest / Shows strong feelings and opinions
Learns with ease / Already knows
Needs 6-8 repetitions for mastery / Needs 1-2 repetitions
Understands ideas / Constructs abstractions
Enjoys peers / Prefers adults
Grasps the meaning / Draws inferences
Completes assignments / Initiates projects
Is receptive / Is intense
Copies accurately / Creates a new design
What to Look for in a Gifted Program
[Finding the Right Fit
How can you be sure that your child's class or school is the right fit? This series of questions will help you decide. If you don't know where to begin, here's a tip: Start by thinking about your child's habits, strengths, and interests, then pay a visit to the classroom.
Your Child Comes First
No two gifted kids are alike! A program that's the best match for your gifted child might be entirely unsuitable for another. So the first rule is know your child.
What are your child's academic strengths?
Are there subjects that are more difficult for her?
How does he learn best -- step by step or by taking huge bites of a subject?
Does she prefer to learn when the room is quiet or full of life?
Does he "get the job done" when he works alone or with others?
With a good handle on your child's personal strengths and style, you're ready to visit the school and classroom. Listen to what is said, look around carefully at the learning environment, and examine the curriculum with these questions in mind.
Listen
As a silent observer, you'll get a good sense of the classroom environment.
Try to visit the classroom before it's filled with kids. Listen carefully to what is said about gifted kids and their learning. Your goal is to find out if the program has the support of the principal as well as the teacher.
Is there an obvious commitment to cultural diversity? Will they be studying civil rights, Native American cultures, or celebrations from other countries? Your child's need for diversity in the learning environment is directly related to views on differences and tolerance.
Visit again when the kids are there. Does the classroom sound happy? Are kids listened to and treated with respect by both their peers and the teaching staff?
Look
With just your eyes, you can tell a lot about how well your gifted child will be received and educated.
Is the classroom a warm, friendly place to be? Is it interesting?
Do you see work hanging in the classroom that reflects children's individual interests?
Does the amount of structure in the classroom match your child's needs? Can all of the students see the blackboard and other material from their seats? Is work on the blackboard structured so that students have to read and work in a specific order? Are homework assignments and time lines displayed clearly?
Are there materials and resources for different styles of learning: looking, talking, writing, doing? Are sequential and spatial learners considered? Lists and pictures can represent the same information for both types of learners.
Are specialized materials (books, software, etc.) available for gifted learners?
Is your child grouped with other kids by interest or ability for at least part of the day?
Examine
The curriculum -- what kids study and how they study it -- has to be changed and individualized for your gifted child. These steps are the primary tool, the heart and soul, of any gifted program. A curriculum can be changed in three ways: through the content, the process, and the product.
The topics and subjects can be modified to keep your gifted student challenged. He can go deeper into the topic and subtopics at hand; study more on related, spin-off topics; or learn at a faster pace.
How subjects are learned can also be modified. Many gifted kids get impatient with too much drill and rehearsal when they can already visualize it all in their heads. They often think abstractly, in tangents, and relate the details to the big picture. Finding the right way to frame questions is often the key to challenging their critical and creative thinking. A great example of open-ended questions can be found in our article, Improving Your Child's Thinking Skills.
The product, or the way students show the teacher what they know, should be each student's choice from a project list developed by the teacher. The list might include individual or group projects such as a diorama, an original rap tune, a game or story board, portfolios, subjective and objective tests, oral presentations, simulations, or other ways that a student can show her knowledge and skills, and reflect her strengths and interests. When teachers are flexible and creative, their students are likely to develop products that truly reflect the knowledge and skills that they've gained.
Finally, the larger-picture questions for a gifted program are:
How much time will my child spend in receiving gifted education services?
Can the regular education students do this work? If the answer is yes, the program or modifications should not be considered exclusively for gifted students.
Above all, share your child's and your own excitement and enthusiasm for learning with your teacher. Let the teacher know you are supportive. Knowing that most classrooms include a wide variety of abilities and needs, ask this final question of the teacher in the spirit of that support:
"How do you plan to manage this wide variety of needs?" Listen carefully and thoughtfully to the answer, then ask, "How can I help?"
When all of your questions are answered, and you've become a resource for your teacher, you'll be off to a great school-year start.
Brought to you by the
Council for Exceptional Children
The Many Sides of Being Gifted
The Other Side of Giftedness
Life's not always a bowl of cherries for those golden, "gifted," young teens. Many are beset with problems ranging from overcompetitiveness to difficulty in getting and keeping friends. Tremendous pressures and the usual developmental issues combine to leave many young gifted teens adrift in a sea of changes and choices. Once parents and teachers become aware of this side of "giftedness," they can support their gifted teens and help them to cope. Let's take a look at some of the obstacles these teens face and some of the ways they handle them.
Challenges
Esteem issues
Your gifted child may realize that she has been "blessed," but at the same time may be suffering from the "imposter" syndrome -- "Am I really that good?" crops up as a constant refrain. Some gifted kids deny their talents, burying them under a guise of "goof" or "know-it-all"; many of these kids have trouble with self-acceptance.
"Giving" issues
Some young gifted people feel an overwhelming and constant need to give back, because so much has been given to them.
Perfection issues
Talented adolescents will tell you they are perfectionists. Standards are set so high (by themselves, usually) that abilities may not match, so the gap between what's expected (perfection) and what really happens (reality) causes a dissonance that teens just can't reconcile.
Control issues
When the gifted child was young, she didn't think twice about taking risks. This ability diminishes with age, perhaps because she becomes more aware of the consequences. Her responses become measured and weighed and the need to maintain control becomes paramount.
Expectation issues
Many gifted kids experience the "push-pull" of what they want and what others want of them. They are keenly aware of not wanting to fall short of the expectations of others, yet this gives them precious little time to pole-vault into their own "field of dreams." They believe they have to prove themselves again and again -- there's no slacking off.
Impatience issues
Like most young teens, gifted students are impatient -- they hope to find the easy or cleancut answer to questions; they have little tolerance for the "gray area," and they dislike living with ambiguity. Some are naturally impulsive, yet this can work against them, making them seem immature at times. Most need to learn that investing time, whether it is in friendships, schoolwork, outside commitments, or relationships, is truly of the essence.
Identity issues
Looking at all the issues imploding around these gifted kids, it's not surprising that many catapult into premature adulthood, choosing paths or careers that short-circuit the usual identity crises and lead to dissatisfaction or frustration later on down the long road of life.
Ways that Gifted Kids Cope
So, you think life in the "brain lane" is fun? Not always. Here's how some kids cope.
- Pretend not to know as much as you do
- Act like a brain so people will leave them alone
- Disguise their abilities
- Avoid gifted/talented programs altogether
- Take part in community events
- Use their talents in places other than school
- Excel at school but not in academics
- Spend more time with adults
- Join only gifted/talented programs
- Select their own group of (gifted/talented) friends
- Accept and share their talents to help their peers
As they grow older, students taking part in gifted programs are less likely to hide their abilities.
Source: Adapted from Helping Adolescents Adjust to Giftedness by Thomas M. Buescher and Sharon Higham, ERIC EC Digest #E489, The ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education (ERIC EC).
Resources for Teachers with Gifted Students
Gifted and Talented Expert Advice from Rita Culross, Ph.D.
Question: I am a new gifted-and-talented teacher, coming in from the regular classroom. My county puts gifted-and-talented kids into the different academic areas, as well as creativity, leadership, G.I., and drama. I am looking for a good list of resources to use in these areas for small, pull-out groups.
Answer: Welcome to the world of gifted-and-talented education! Teaching these kids is a stimulating, challenging task -- one that you may well find to be fun. As a starter, I would recommend several books.
Susan Winebrenner's Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom is filled with practical activities and general information for working with gifted students in small groups or on an individual basis. The book also contains a list of other resources that are geared toward the classroom teacher.
A similar book for teachers is Teaching Gifted and Talented Learners in the Regular Classroom, edited by Robert Milgram.
A great general resource on the gifted is Barbara Clark's classic Growing Up Gifted. Clark's book does an excellent job of describing the gifted with particular attention to their developmental stages.
For curricular information seek out Joyce Van Tassel-Baska's Planning Effective Curriculum for Gifted Learners.
The journals Roeper Review, Gifted Child Quarterly, and Journal for the Education of the Gifted can provide additional valuable information. Your local (public or university) library may carry these journals.
Beyond readings, do check to see if your state department of education or district office has a gifted program specialist. That person may have additional materials or may offer in-service workshops for teachers of the gifted. Your state may also have a gifted education association composed of parents and teachers of the gifted. Such organizations often hold annual meetings where teachers present examples of lessons they have developed for use in their classrooms.
The National Association for Gifted Children (nagc.org) will hold its annual meeting in Cincinnati in early November. The NAGC convention is packed with excellent sessions for teachers and includes an exhibit area featuring the latest instructional resources. The Council for Exceptional Children (cec.sped.org) holds a similar meeting in the spring. The upcoming meeting will be in New York in early April.
Finally, don't overlook your colleagues at school. If there are other teachers of the gifted, talk to them about their experiences. They may be willing to share resources they have used over the years.
Rita Culross is Associate Dean, College of Education, and Adjunct Professor of Psychology and Curriculum and Instruction at LouisianaStateUniversity. Culross has served as the consulting school psychologist for a public school elementary gifted program, and has written a book and several journal articles on gifted education.