Gifted Children: Understanding and Nurturing Their Unique Talents

At Covington Latin, we often get asked about the term gifted and talented. Our child is doing well in their classes and seems to come by it naturally. How do we know if our child is gifted? The answer isn't always clear but by definition, gifted children are individuals who possess exceptional abilities or talents in one or more areas, including academics, creativity, leadership, and athletic skills. They often perform at a level significantly higher than their peers and require specialized educational and social support to reach their full potential. So how do you know if your child might be gifted?

Identifying Gifted Children:

Gifted children may demonstrate their exceptional abilities at an early age and continue to excel throughout their school years. However, not all gifted children are easy to identify, as their talents and abilities can take many forms. Some common characteristics of gifted children include:

• Advanced problem-solving skills

• Early development of language and communication skills

• A wide range of interests and intense curiosity about the world around them

• Advanced reasoning and abstract thinking abilities

• A tendency towards perfectionism and high standards for their own performance.

Nurturing the Talents of Gifted Children:

While gifted children have unique abilities, they also face unique challenges, including feelings of isolation and boredom in traditional classroom environments. To nurture their talents and support their overall development, it is important to provide them with:

• A challenging educational environment that fosters their intellectual and creative growth

• Opportunities to pursue their interests and passions

• Encouragement and support for taking risks and trying new things

• A supportive community of peers and mentors who understand and appreciate their unique abilities

Gifted children are unique and there is not a one size fits all approach to how best to fill their needs. As parents and educators, it is our responsibility to identify and support their talents. By providing them with the appropriate resources and opportunities, we can help them reach their full potential and make meaningful contributions to the world. This support might be in the form of acceleration either by subject or by grade skipping. It could also be by expanding their experiences beyond the classroom through enrichment classes.

In the coming weeks, we will be sharing information about giftedness, the challenges they may face, and the options that are available. Covington Latin School is committed to being a resource for your child at any age.

Podcasts: Listen to learn! All the cool kids are doing it!

Let's face it, most of our kids have some sort of electronic device or another.  Why not put them to good use?  We give you.... the podcast. It's probably one of the least used features on the smartphone. We love podcasts because they are especially useful for our auditory learners.  Auditory learners can remember an amazing 75% of what they hear so they can be a fantastic resource for them. ExploreMore! has listened to hours and hours trying to find the best ones for you. The podcasts that we feature vary in length from 15-35 minutes which is a perfect amount of time- not too long, not too short. All of these podcasts can be accessed through Apple, Android or through the website listed.  We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Here are ExploreMore!'s top picks:

Tumble Science Podcasts for Kids

Tumble is a science podcast for kids to be enjoyed by the entire family.  They tell stories about science discoveries with the help of scientists.  Join Lindsay and Marshall as they ask questions, share mysteries, and learn what science is all about.

www.sciencepodcastforkids.com/home

Shabam!

Shabam is a new type of science show that blends fictional stories with real science.  If you love science but hate those awkward scientist interviews that involve graphs and confusing metaphors, you're in luck.  First off, Shabam! is an audio program- so no graphs.  And second, through the magic of sound effects and music, you'll hear stories that reveal the awesomeness in the world around us- like cellphones and vaccinations.
www.shabamshow.com

The Book Club for Kids
This is a podcast where young readers meet to talk about a book.  The show includes a celebrity reading from the book.  Plus, the author joins us to answer your questions.
www.bookclubforkids.org/new-blog

Shakespeare Retold
Ten of William Shakespeare's most famous plays become the inspiration for a collection of stories by leading children's writers and read by some famous voices.  Writers include Frank Cotrell Boyce, Pamela Butchart and Jamila Gavin; readers include Simon Callow, Shirley Henderson and Julian Rhind-Tutt
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03dwshd

Stuff You Missed in History Class
This podcast is from the authors of HowStuffWorks.  The hosts of this show look at stories from history that you may not have heard about in class.  This podcast is geared for students in grades 6-12.
www.missedinhistory.com/podcasts

We hope you enjoyed our selections. What podcasts do you and your children listen to? We would love to hear from you!

Best Tech for Back to School

Technology for technology sake isn't always a good thing.  In fact, I dare say there is some validity in not using them in every classroom setting. However, there is a time and place for technology. Throughout my life time as a student, teacher, homeschooling mom and tutor, I have seen technology evolve tremendously.

To give you an example of how things have changed, I give you Exhibit A:  the term paper.  The process we had to go through would startle those who grew up in a digital world. First, we had to use index cards.  Not one pack, mind you, but three or four.  We had to write one fact per card that we actually looked in BOOKS to find.  Gasp! No internet!  Do you even know how many facts go into a research paper?  SO MANY INDEX CARDS! Each of these index cards then would be spread across your bedroom in an attempt to organize them into some sort of coherent paper which we then had to type on a  TYPEWRITER!  And once you finished your paper, you had to do your works cited page. I swear I have PTTPD (Post Traumatic Term Paper Disorder).  This was an exercise in torture.  The minutia that went in to a properly cited page was unbelievably painstaking and then to have to do it on a typewriter. Yikes! I am twitching just thinking about it.

Then we hit the modern age.  Kids just don't know how lucky they have it!   I am a firm believer of work smarter not harder especially since I never want my children to suffer as I did.  So I give to you bibme or easybib.  Both are excellent for creating fast and easy work cited pages. In some cases, all you need is the ISBN number to complete the citation.  Cue the choirs of angels.

While I am on the subject of index cards, let's save some trees!  Quizlet and Studyblue are two flashcard websites and apps that allow your child to create flashcards and quizzes to help them study. While there is value in handwriting flashcards, these two apps make studying on the go a snap.  I love these for busy families.  I recommend these to the kids that I tutor so they can study in the car on the way to soccer practice and school.

Another website I recommend is Hoopla.  Hoopla is a free app that allows you to borrow all types of media through your local library.  I ran across this app when my daughter was struggling with reading comprehension. She was able to download audio books and read along and highlight passages in her book.  I have to admit that I am reintroducing myself to some of the classics via Hoopla.  And for those that question the legitimacy of listening to books on tape, I ran across this article that defends its use.

Next up is a collection of websites that engage those who want to learn more.  TedTalks, Great Courses and Khan Academy are excellent resources.  TedTalks is a free resource with over 2000 videos on a myriad of subjects that last less than 20 minutes.  Its purpose is to spread ideas and knowledge to whomever wants to learn it.  Khan Academy is similar to Ted in the sense that they have 1000's of lessons, but it is more academic in nature and is for all ages.  I love that if you are struggling in math, you can be taught by professionals.  Or if you are wanting to move ahead in a subject, you can find classes that can accelerate you in a particular area.  Finally, Great Courses is an unbelievable resource for those looking for advanced studies from science to philosophy.  The downside to Great Courses is that it is paid site but access can be gained for free for a month and they often run really good sales.  

I hope these apps and websites help your child this year.  What tech do you like?  We would love to hear from you.  We are always on the look out for cool new ideas.

This blog was submitted by one of our ExploreMore! parents.  She is a 7-12 teacher, homeschool parent and private tutor.  If you would like to contribute to our blog on educational or parenting topics, email amy.darpel@covingtonlatin.org.