Advanced verbal ability is a trait associated with giftedness, and as a teacher, the author observes that many high-ability children flourish in the classroom when they are encouraged to explain their thoughts and reasoning. Engaging children in discussion helps students gain knowledge, think creatively, and develop critical thinking skills.…

Today's gifted children in middle school truly need advocates to ensure that school remains challenging through the middle grades and that the actions related to learning and talent development are positive experiences. Middle-grade advocates need a reason, a bit of prep, and a plan in order to be super advocates for children. As Chair for the…

In this article, the author shares the story about her son who has advanced intellectual ability and how she used science to motivate him. She says for advanced learners, the study of science encourages them to ask those deep questions without feeling as though they are out of step with their peers. Parents can support their children's natural…

How can parents help their children develop the sensitivity and compassion of people like Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi, Rachel Carson, and Martin Luther King, Jr.? Participation for gifted students in service-learning programs, both in and out of school, may be one helpful method. In the last two decades, there has been a resurgence of…

There are many "E" words that relate meaningfully to giftedness at home, school, and beyond. In this article, the author expands upon some explicit examples--with an emphasis on the essence of giftedness, and on external and experiential elements.

Many intellectually gifted children have equally compassionately gifted hearts. They care deeply about the well-being of others around them and throughout the world. These caring children innately live the guiding principle of brotherhood and interdependence among all life. They worry for themselves, and they worry for others. Some days they…

Young gifted children can become passionately interested in social justice. It makes sense that children who are astutely aware their own differences could and would become interested in the well-being of others. It seems that preschool programs have been slow to recognize the value of service-learning to their students, but Freeman and King…

Empathy is the ability to understand and feel for the situation of another human being and is shaped by seeing others react when distressed; by imitating what they see, children develop a repertoire of empathic responses. When children see other people in pain, their brains become active in the same regions that process the experience of pain…

The term "twice-exceptional (2E)" is representative of a diverse group of individuals who have a wide range of gifts, talents, and accompanying disabilities. These children have the characteristics of gifted students along with the characteristics of children with disabilities. The gifted characteristics can mask the disability, or the disability…

Discovering that a child is gifted can be both exhilarating and daunting. Parents watch in amazement and awe as their 3-year-old reads a first-grade-level book flawlessly, or they might listen to their preschool child's distress over seeing a homeless person on the street. Parents observe as their 6-year-old dismantles a broken CD player and…

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than half of marriages have ended in divorce since the mid-1970s. Nonetheless, schools and community organizations continue to be inclined to act as if nontraditional/neo-traditional families are an anomaly. Despite the reality of new family structures, popular television, movies, and books continue to…

Talent Development Centers are just one of many tools every family, teacher, and gifted advocate should have in their tool box. To understand the importance of Talent Development Centers, it is essential to also understand the Academic Talent Search Program. Talent Search participants who obtain scores comparable to college-bound high school…

Successfully navigating the road from elementary to high school only means that planning for college is the next route on the destination to post-secondary education. With the most elite colleges' acceptance rates hovering around 5-8 percent, it's never too early for parents to start educating themselves and their child about college planning.…

The rapid growth of the Talent Search movement from its early roots with the work of Julian C. Stanley's Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY) unquestionably resulted from strong partnerships with schools. In this article, the authors share some of the early obstacles that had to be overcome in order for partnerships to be established,…

How can parents and teachers foster individual abilities and facilitate foundational supports so children will flourish? There is no fast or flawless formula. However, readers can use these F words to flesh out, fill in, fine-tune, or formulate a particular framework of factors they might want to think about in relation to supporting and…