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Winter 2001Page 4Volume VI, Number1


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Suggestions for Parenting Gifted Children

by Joann Watts

No one person can be more exhilarating or more frustrating than the gifted child. The adults who deal with these wonderful children can often be described in a single word: Exhausted.

Gifted children have two primary needs. First, they need to feel comfortable with themselves and with the differences that both open possibilities and create difficulty. Second, they have a strong internal need to develop their abilities. Parents are wise to remember that the healthiest long term goals for their children may not be fame, fortune and a Nobel Prize, but a child who becomes a happy well adjusted adult who has found productive uses for his gifts.
Stephanie S. Tolan in "Helping Your Highly Gifted Child" uses a microscope analogy that may be helpful as you prepare to help your child deal with his awareness of being different. All of us look at the world through lenses, some with cloudy or distorted lenses, some clear and some magnified. Gifted people often view the world through a microscope lens and highly gifted people view it through an electron microscope. They see ordinary things in very different ways and often see what others simply do not see. Although there are advantages to this heightened perception, there are disadvantages as well. When dealing with your child:
  • Do not over-organize her time. Remember that all children need time to mess around, dream and do "childish" things.
  • Help your child to develop in many directions. Talent development should not crowd out intellectual, moral, social, physical or aesthetic development.
  • Do not laugh at things that she does that are different. Fantasy, originality, or unusual ways of looking at things can be discussed without disapproval. Laugh with your child ­ not at her.
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  • Praise her efforts. Bright children expect a great deal of themselves. Help her to be realistic about her abilities.
  • Know when to help and when to stay out of the way. Helping to break an activity into manageable parts may be all that is needed. Help your child to learn good work habits.
  • Support AAGC and other groups working to ensure that all children receive an appropriate education that helps them fulfill their potential.
  • Enjoy your child. The curiosity, energy, and constant questions may be wearing at times, but this enthusiasm and excitement are irreplaceable treasures.

    Only a few issues have been covered here, however the most important help you can give your gifted child is a safe loving home. Give them a home that is a refuge where they feel love and genuine acceptance, even of their differences. As adults with a safe home in their background, they can put together lives of productivity and fulfillment.


    AAGC Election of Officers

    The term for the current officers and members-at-large expires in the year 2001. In keeping with the by-laws, nominations for new executive board members were sought at the annual business meeting held during the july 18, 2001, annual conference in Birmingham. We are pleased to announce that the following slate has been nominated and because there are currently no other nominations, the proposad slate is considered elected by acclamation.

  • President: Nancy Johnson, Coordinator for Gifted and Talented Education for Huntsville City Schools, Ed.S in Gifted Education, Currently working on certification in Educational Administration
  • Vice President: Roberta Freeman, Parent and Teacher of Gifted Children, MA in Gifted Education
  • Secretary: Amy Smith, Parent and Teacher of Gifted Children, MA in Gifted Education
  • Treasurer: Colleen Laymon, Parent and Teacher of Gifted Children, Currently working on Ed. S in Gifted Education
  • Member-At-Large: Karen Lynn, Parent of Gifted Children
  • Member-At-Large: Cam Scales, Parent of Gifted Children
  • Webmaster: Shirley Farrell, Teacher of Gifted Children and School-Wide Enrichment, MS in Elementary Education and Gifted Certification at Masters level.
    		•  Congratulations to our newly elected executive board members. Listed below is the leadership platform they have developed to guide their activities as officers of AAGC.

    Platform - Huntsville Slate of Nominees

    We believe that gifted children have special academic, social, and emotional needs that must be met through quality, research-based gifted education within a framework of support from the regular classroom teachers, administrators, parents, and the community at large. We also believe that gifted children may have multiple exceptionalities and are found within diverse populations. We recognize that because gifted behaviors may be demonstrated in a variety of domains, children should be evaluated and identified for gifted services based upon multiple criteria and served in students areasas of strength.
    We therefore propose the following platform:
    The Alabama Association of Gifted Children should encourage the education and involvement of students, teachers, adminstrators, parents, and the larger community to assure that the needs od gifted children are addressed through differentiating programming.
    The Alabama Association of Gifted Children should seek to increase its membership among teachers, administrators, aprents, and post-secondary students.
    The Alabama Association of Gifted Children should disseminate research and information concerning the special identification and service needs of gifted children with multiple exceptionalities.
    The Alabama Association of Gifted Children should continue to support research for and the refining of new state guidelines for identifying gifted students using the matrix model.
    \Furthermore, AAGC should continue to support the development of appropriate programs to meet the needs of the diverse gifted population.

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