Effective advocacy is built on relationships, so communication must be ongoing and begin long before there are any problems. Waiting for a crisis to arise is an ineffective way to ensure that the best decisions will be made. When parents need to talk about their child's needs or they want to influence a pending decision, it will be easier if they…

Student motivation is highly influenced by the general context in which the student lives, ranging from the norms and influences of the culture at large to the experiences within the family. For students who have high interest and passion on a selected task, motivation seems to be a very internal process. Without effort, the student persists in…

The media calls them the wizards of tomorrow, the fix-it-kids, athletes of the mind, star players, and champs. These are the young people who compete and win academic, artistic, leadership, and service related competitions. Competitors spell words as difficult as autochthonous, make new scientific discoveries, compose poetry, publish their short…

Gifted students tend to be drawn to summer gifted programs because of their high level of motivation and their drive to experience an academic challenge (Olszewski-Kubilius & Lee, 2004). Concurrently, academic summer programs yield numerous social-emotional, educational, and family benefits for gifted young people. One of the most beneficial…

In this article, the author talks about the responsibility of parents to help kids to become financially educated. The author contends that it is the parents' responsibility to insure that their children learn important financial skills. If it is not happening in school, it is time to add financial education to parenting priorities. For parents…

In this article, the author talks about Destination ImagiNation (DI), the world's largest creative problem solving (CPS) program, and describes how this program helps students. In many schools and communities, DI supplements or even serves as the talented and gifted program. CPS is also popular and appropriate for homeschool families because it…

Founded in 1983, the Center for Gifted at National-Louis University in Evanston, Illinois "www.thecenterforgifted.com/" offers outside-of-school classes for bright children. Through its 15 programs in 10 Chicago suburbs, the Center now serves more than 3000 talented young people in pre-kindergarten through 10th grades. Although not required, most…

The world was a different place when "Understanding Our Gifted" introduced "Surfing the Net" in 1994 as a regular feature. Since then, technology and the Internet have become part of people's culture, permeating almost every aspect of their lives. The Internet has greatly changed the way they conduct business and communicate with friends, it helps…

Greater opportunities exist now for meeting the needs of gifted and talented students than ever before. Even though the Internet is still in its infancy, the depth and breath of available information that it offers make it a versatile and extensive resource for developing talent. While individuals often view the Internet as a giant library, its…

During the past 10 years, the level of technology in schools has increased with tremendous speed. Accessible through that medium is a body of information that will double in 6 years and quadruple in 12. Before teachers have mastered one type of technology, school administrators are stacking old computers in workrooms or behind stage curtains. Just…

Distance learning has been around for a long time and can be defined as any situation in which the teacher and the student are separated by geographical space. Over the years, a variety of tools have been used to bridge that distance between teacher and students, but today, the term "distance learning" almost always implies the use of the Internet…

To effectively differentiate instruction, a teacher needs to: (1) collect information about students; (2) manage all the data; (3) plan instruction based on the students' readiness level, interests, and/or learning profile; and (4) communicate with students, other teachers, and parents. Formative assessment is a key component of differentiated…

More than eight years ago, the Internet was a new frontier with a limited number of visitors. Websites on gifted topics were few and far between. With a new interest in the world of gifted children, the author needed more, and it seemed that others did, too. So, to serve her own needs, she created "Hoagies' Gifted Education Page." During this…

In their new book, "Genius Denied" (2004), Jan and Bob Davidson paint a bleak picture of the educational scene for gifted and talented children in the United States. They also do a thorough job of presenting and describing the many school programs and services available and the good research bases for those programs and services. What they fail to…

Biographies are an important resource for extending and differentiating the curriculum for high-ability learners. To include biography in curriculum, educators need answers to the following four questions: (1) How are commercially available biographies located?; (2) What criteria are useful in selecting biographies for high-ability learners?; (3)…