Parents may be wondering how to find out if their children are gifted. Whether your child is gifted or not, several of the resources listed throughout this article can enhance any child's educational experience. Give them a look!
There are several places to start looking for help with testing and assessment of your gifted child. Each state has a gifted program coordinator. For example, in 2005, Missouri passed a law that schools would have to provide programs for gifted children by 2012 (many districts have already complied). Here are some ideas to find testing:
Contact the State's Gifted Organization
For help in finding a gifted program in their area, parents should first contact The Gifted Association of their state. The people in these organizations are very knowledgeable and may have information about qualified testers in their state. Mine is David Welch – State advisor, in Jefferson City, MO. His phone number is (573) 751-2453. The website given earlier is, is www.mogam.org
The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) sponsors annual conventions for children in November each year. You can register online at http://www.nagc.org. They hold a Parent Day, there. You can contact Karen L. Yoho, CAE, Senior Director, Marketing/Membership, at www.nagc.org National Association for Gifted Children, 1707 L Street NW Suite 550, Washington DC 20036, and 202-621-5771. Or email her: kyoho@nagc.org
Contact the School Administration Office of the Nearest Large City
If parents are lucky enough to live in or very close to a large city, school systems in large cities usually have a psychologist who does the testing for their gifted program. These psychologists have private practices and often specialize to some degree in gifted children.
Many universities have gifted assessments. Check your state’s universities. The University of Missouri has an Assessment Resource Center (ARC), Robert Mullen – Director, in Columbia. His phone number is 800-366-8232. http://arc.missouri.edu. Universities might be able to help with testing for giftedness and programs for gifted children.
Parents can see if a nearby university has charter-school or gifted-child programs and coordinators. They often have free resources, and sponsor math and reading competitions, too.
Charter schools are public schools that run like private schools for bright students. Check your school district for charter schools. In the Kansas City area, there are a few charter public schools that act like private schools, but without a tuition fee. Children must submit an application and be approved, but it’s worth it.
The Brookside-Frontier Math and Science School (BFMASS) is a tuition-free, college-prep, public school. BFMASS is a secondary school for grades 6 – 12.
There are also two elementary schools under this same tuition-free charter public system: the Brookside Charter and Day School for grades K – 5, and the Frontier School of Innovation for grades K – 5.
Contact information at http://www.bfmass.org and email byasar@bfmass.org.
1. Brookside-Frontier Math and Science School, 5605 Troost Ave, Kansas City, MO 64110. Phone: (816) 822-1331 or (816) 822-1332
2. Brookside Day and Charter School, 5220 Troost Ave, Kansas City, MO 64110.
3. Frontier School of Innovation, 6700 N Corporate Dr, Kansas City, MO 64120. Phone:
(816) 363-1907. http://www.kcfsi.org or email info@kcfsi.org.
For classical education in a private school setting, check out schools like Faith Christian Academy at http://www.fcaclassical.com/academics/elementary-scope-of-coordination. The emphasis on the classical education is the wonderful thing about this school.
There are also the Accelerated Schools of Overland Park at http://acceleratedschoolsop.org.
You may be able to find similar curricula for your area on http://www.local.com. Find your state and search with the keywords: private school.
For teens, my state has The Missouri Options Program, offered through Valley View High School (Blue Springs School District), with no more than 10 students per teacher. Each student works 3 hours per day, at a computer terminal and progresses at his/her own pace (no extra-curricular activities are available; it's pure academics). When the coursework is completed, the student takes the G.E.D. exam and is awarded an actual H.S. diploma from Valley View H. S., NOT a G.E.D. diploma.
To be eligible for this MOP program, the student MUST either be taking full time classes at a community college or mix: taking some credits at the community college AND be working part time. The Missouri Options Program is administered by Julie White, jwhite@bssd.net. She may be able to help you find something similar in your state.
Parents can tap into public schools that partner with the gifted program from the K12 Company. We previously discussed the K12 commercial company for home tutoring that is paid for with public school funds. They also offer gifted testing.
The K12 Company has home curricula for gifted programs and works with the public school district. They have regular curricula for any child whose education would thrive better at home. This also may be a good way to go if parents would like to home school their children but don’t know where to start. http://www.k12.com. Unfortunately, Missouri law - at this time - does not allow for K12 programs in my state. But maybe yours does!
“In many states, the inspired K¹² curriculum is available to families at no cost through virtual public schools and distance-learning programs. These are not tutoring programs — they're full-time, tuition-free, public schools using K¹² ’s award-winning curriculum.
“K¹² has partnered with these schools in the belief that all kinds of kids — from gifted children, to those needing a more flexible pace than what is possible in a traditional school — can achieve mastery of the key concepts and skills they need to succeed. It is this mastery that allows children to reach their personal potential.
“Parents in these home-based public schools benefit from the leading research in education and cognitive science.”
Here are several resources for parents of gifted and talented children:
Note: there are several more resources for wonderful math enhancement ideas in Vol. 10 of my It's Not Rocket Surgery! series.
Educational helps for parents and bright children (in age order):
For help with breastfeeding issues and questions, the La Leche League USA is the best source. All the chapters and contacts can be found at this website: http://www.lllusa.org.
The LLL philosophy can be found on the international site: http://www.llli.org, which quotes,
“The ideals and principles of mothering, which are the foundation of LLLI beliefs, are further developed in THE WOMANLY ART OF BREASTFEEDING, the most comprehensive handbook on breastfeeding and parenting ever published. It has provided needed answers to three generations of nursing mothers on every aspect of breastfeeding.
Baby Your Baby http://www.dhss.mo.gov/babyyourbaby/resources.html
Many articles have been written on the subject of how tobacco and alcohol affect fetuses extremely negatively. One quick reference is: http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-smoking-during-pregnancy-affects-you-and-your-baby_1405720.bc?page=1.
Juniper Gardens Children’s Project, Kathleen M. Baggett kbaggett@ku.edu, (913) 321-3143, Ext. 237
ParentLink, sponsored by the University of Missouri-Columbia, provides support for parents through an information line, lending library, and community development activities. ParentLink's mission is to help parents provide safe, healthy and nurturing environments for their children. For more information, call 800-552-8522, or visit the ParentLink website, http://education.missouri.edu/orgs/parentlink.
Author Shannah B Godfrey (me) is available to help any parents of young children learn how to give them cognitive stimulation and emotional support through The Godfrey Method. Contact her at (816) 886-7904, http://thegodfreymethod.com, and shannahbgodfrey@gmail.com
Jolly Phonics Learning
Parents as Teachers (PAT) is a parent education and family support program that is free to all pregnant women and parents of children up to kindergarten age. PAT focuses on the early years to help parents understand what to expect during each stage of their child's development. The program offers personal visits, group meetings, and developmental screenings. It helps link parents to a network of community resources.
It is available all in most of the U.S. and U.K. Certified parent educators offer parents practical ways to encourage learning, to manage challenging behavior, and to promote strong parent-child relationships. For more information or to find a PAT program near you, visit the National Parents as Teachers website. http://www.parentsasteachers.org.
Since children remember things better when they are put to music, a good way to facilitate your child’s character development is with Brite Music® CDs and follow-along books, http://www.britemusic.com/about-brite-music.
“Reading Through Tears”, by Byron Harrison & Jean Clyde. Visual Attention Span (VAS) Theory Research, http://www.vasresearch.com/index.html, is Tasmania's leading remedial center and is regarded by many to be one of Australia's finest remedial methods. VAS Theory explains the need for synthetic phonics to prepare for school and to augment giftedness:
"Guessing is inherently inaccurate… Knowledge of sounds needs to reach the stage where, when you see a letter, you automatically associate it with its most common sound.” [Note: this is exactly what The Godfrey Method does for young children.]
Libraries are a great place for parents to enhance their children’s learning. There are so many activities at the library branches. In the Kansas City area, the Mid-Continent Library has many branches with fun and stimulating things to do on the Calendar of Programs.
Besides story time, there are many programs to choose from. Go to http://mcpl.lib.mo.us or your state’s library website for info.
Museums are also a great way to enhance your child’s mind with art, exhibits, galleries, and learning activities. Check out the museums in your area. There are many different kinds.
YMCA locations with children’s activities can be found online for your state. Mine is http://www.kansascityymca.org
Wouldn’t it be much better to prevent much of dyslexia (and possibly autism and ADHD) by starting phonics early at home than to have to try to fix it later? Wouldn’t it be better to help a savant be well-rounded in all areas of intelligence from the beginning? http://www.dyslexia-parent.com/news.html has many resources.
The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential: Dr. Glenn Doman classifies dyslexia, ADHD, ADD, epilepsy, and other brain disorders as fixable with his methods. http://www.iahp.org or http://www.gentlerevolution.com for products.
Scientific Learning: Dr. Michael Merzenich, who was featured in, The Brain That Changes Itself, by Dr. Norman Doidge. Dr. Merzenich's breakthrough brain mapping discoveries help a myriad of brain functioning. His method helps repair speech and reading problems, autism, social awkwardness, and sparking giftedness, showing that brain mapping can change for the better. Here are some links to more info about
Dr. Merzenich’s methods: www.scilearn.com or www.brainsparklearning.com. Or call TOLL FREE 888-358-0212 ext. 1239. Dr. Merzenich offers a 5-day free trial of the BrainSpark software to use at home. Check the website.
Don’t forget the MENSA group’s resources for Bright Kids, as mentioned before. Contact the Gifted Children Coordinator email at giftedchildcoord@mamensa.org.
There is a great publication in many areas called Mother & Child Reunion. This pamphlet helps put the parents back into education and is full of ideas. It has stories, tips, activities, coupons, and community events, as well as interesting articles. It is distributed free to families of school children. Articles include your child’s learning style, homeschooling help, teacher tip, and common sense way to childproof a home. There are even lists of parent support groups for just about everything and anything. To check it out online, go to http://www.motherandchildreunion.com.
Animal Planet: Some home activities to expand children's minds at home can be found online at Animal Planet. http://animal.discovery.com. Animal Planet provides activities, games, videos, and features about animals. Learn all things animal.
Amazing Space: Here is something to stretch your child's imagination: Amazing Space, http://amazing-space.stsci.edu. This NASA site of astronomy and space science education offers activities and videos for children. There are online space explorations for topics like telescopes, galaxies, comets. Tonight’s Sky is a narrated video of the current month’s sky features.
Parents may opt to home-school their children rather than subject them to being bored, antsy, and in trouble at school every day. In this way, parents can declare their home a private school, which is not under the jurisdiction of public school laws. Note: there is a list of more homeschooling websites in the appendix of Vol. 7 of my It's Not Rocket Surgery!
One amazing curriculum that I use is the A-Beka system from Pensacola, FL. Of course parents must purchase the curriculum materials for each grade level. http://www.abeka.com or http://www.homeschool.com/resources/ABeka/default.asp.
http://www.fhe-mo.org - Most important link for MO homeschool legal info! There are similar groups in each state.
http://www.aop.com - Great online or traditional curriculum! Alpha Omega Productions: Switched On Schoolhouse and also their online accredited Academy. This is what I use with my teenage son.
http://cdis.missouri.edu/high-school.aspx - Mizzou high school curriculum from the university.
http://www.umkc.edu/hscp - University of Missouri KC high school curriculum.
http://www.ce.BYU.edu/is/site/courses/highschool.cfm - Another great high school curriculum from a university!
http://www.sonlight.com - Christian curriculum and list of homeschool conventions nationwide.
Kumon: One company that advocates starting children early is the Kumon after-school, math and reading program. Kumon suggests enrolling children early in preschool age. “It’s always preferable to start young and begin developing skills early to get the greatest cumulative benefit.” http://www.kumon.com/about/default.asp?language=USA. There are many campuses nationwide.
Enroll your child in your area’s spelling bees http://www.spellingbee.com. The spelling bee sponsor for my locale is The Examiner. Contact Sandy Turner at sandy.turner@examiner.net or 816-350-6314.
Teen years can be a great time to help your gifted child explore unconventional careers. There are a lot of ideas at http://giftedkids.about.com/od/giftedadolescents/Gifted_Teens.htm to help you help your gifted children be proud of his/her abilities.
Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) immerses young women (6th – 8th grades) in hands-on experiences in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Professional women from STEM careers facilitate workshops and serve as the young women's role models.
The EYH gives the young women who attend the EYH Conference an extended opportunity to explore the science, technology, engineering, and math careers in hands-on workshops. The conference features a women keynote speaker, too. EYH presents science in a way that is exciting, educational and relevant to daily life, while fostering career-opportunity awareness.
There are EYH programs in most states. http://www.expandingyourhorizons.org.
Science Pioneers, in conjunction with the Girl Scouts of NE Kansas and NW Missouri, conduct this event in Science City at Union Station in Kansas City, MO. http://www.sciencepioneers.org. Search for EYH. Or phone: (816) 460-2261.
Check out these books from the bibliography of Linda Kreger Silverman. Gifted Child Development Center in Denver, 1-888-GIFTED1:
- Families of gifted children. Cornell, D. G. (1984). Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press.
- Caring for the gifted. Dickinson, R. M. (1970). North Quincy, MA: Christopher.
- Hereditary genius: An inquiry into its laws and consequences. Galton, F. (1869). London.
- Gifted children: Their nature and nurture. Hollingworth, L. S. (1926). New York: Macmillan.
- Thoughts on giftedness. Understanding Our Gifted. Johnson, L. (1993). 5(5A), p. 15.
- What happens to the gifted girl? Silverman, L. K. (1986).
- Critical issues in gifted education, Vol. 1: Defensible programs for the gifted (pp. 43-89). C. J. Maker (Ed.) Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
- A feminine perspective of giftedness. Silverman, L. K., & Miller, N. B. (2007).
- The international handbook on giftedness. L. Shavinina, (Ed.). Amsterdam: Springer Science.
- Commonalities between the intellectual extremes: Giftedness and mental retardation. Zigler, E., & Farber, E. A. (1985).
- The gifted and the talented: Developmental perspectives (pp. 387-408). F. D. Horowitz & M. O'Brien (Eds.) Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
- The Conundrums of Success, a keynote address by Rosemary Cathcart
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