Social-emotional development is a fundamental part of a child's overall well-being. Healthy development forms a critical foundation for building positive relationships and a strong self-esteem. Social-emotional development includes the ability to express and manage emotions and to establish secure relationships. All children have a natural desire…

Children who are intellectually gifted are often emotionally mature for their ages. For a variety of reasons--including an unrewarding curriculum, preference for others of the same intellectual ability, or a feeling of social rejection--this maturity is sometimes masked at school. This can lead to what the author calls a "forced-choice" dilemma.…

Reports on the growth and achievement of gifted girls and women in the past decade have been encouraging. Certainly, more women today feel encouraged to achieve, assume leadership, and pursue careers formerly dominated by men. The women's movement and the programs it inspired have helped promising girls plan and act on deeply held interests and…

Raising gifted children is both a joy and a challenge. How does one survive and thrive living in a gifted family? Parents play an essential role in helping children develop appreciation and respect for the world and their place in it. Intellectual development and emotional reactions begin at an early age, and many major behavioral patterns are set…

Over the past eight years, the author has had the pleasure of facilitating discussion groups with gifted middle and high school students. These groups focus on affective concerns, giving students the opportunity to talk about issues they have in common and how life looks and feels through the lens of giftedness. The best school situation for…

Learning style, emotional health, and short term memory all act in concert to affect one's capacity to learn on any given day. However, with a few simple rules, lessons can be structured and delivered to meet more kids' needs more often. Current brain research gives teachers a new way to understand the "best practices" they have been taught. The…

Gifted kids often share a list of common traits, but ultimately, they are individuals. They have their own strengths, their own weaknesses, and their own needs. One trait that many gifted children "do" share is asynchrony. In other words, gifted children may not follow a typical age appropriate time line. They may be markedly advanced, average, or…

This article discusses the obstacles one parent faced in advocating for her gifted children and the positive outcomes of her persistence. A list of strategies for parenting gifted children is provided that include model lifelong learning, nurture strengths and interests, and listen and respond compassionately to your child's emotional needs. (CR)

This article describes key steps parents can take to develop an achievement orientation in gifted children: heal the gifted child within the parent; give consistent messages; develop early independence; utilize encouragement; develop multiple self-definitions; set challenging but realistic goals; and model persistence. (Author/CR)

Six necessary program components to prepare gifted students with disabilities for productive adult lives are identified: provide challenging educational experiences along with supports, facilitate passion learning through enrichment activities, empower students through student-centered planning, develop self-advocacy, enhance positive social…

This article discusses how explanatory style, an individual's perspective on the experiences of success and failure, can contribute to gifted students' vulnerability or resilience. The three dimensions of explanatory style: permanence, pervasiveness, and personalization are explained, and case studies are provided. Tips for helping students become…

The parent of a gifted child provides the following recommendations for parents: encourage learning and growth in areas of the child's passion; explain to the child that the way he feels is normal for him; make available resources written for children that explain giftedness; and educate yourself. (Contains 3 references.) (CR)

This article describes the creation of the "Breakfast Bunch," a multi-age program for gifted students that met on a bi-weekly basis before school for 30 minutes. The group gave students a risk-free forum for expressing their feelings and provided an opportunity for students to realize that others shared their feelings. (CR)

Discussion of the affective development of gifted students who are underachieving considers external stresses including a feeling of invisibility and mixed messages from the environment, internal stresses such as self-image, unrealistic self-expectations, and the possible co-existence of a learning disability. (DB)

This brief article on emotional development of gifted students identifies key intrapersonal and interpersonal skills including self-awareness; the ability to regulate thoughts, emotions, and behaviors; self-acceptance; the ability to desire and demonstrate basic social skills; the ability to respond to the needs of others; and the ability to…