Parents are the first teachers of children and learning occurs in children at all points of development. Environmental stimulation increases the ability of the brain and a lack of stimulation results in limiting the growth of the brain. Expose your children, whether gifted or not, to experiences that foster creative thought. Nurture their growth so that all of them may reach their full potential (Clark, 2013).
Welcome! Please use this page as a jumping-off point from your child's Urbandale High School Extended Learning Program experience to information from many respected sources.
Parents work together to support changes in legislation, implement special curriculum and promote individualized education for students. It is important to be informed of the district’s policies and potential changes that may affect gifted education. Ask important questions. Serve on a state or regional committee. Communicate frequently with teachers. This page can help connect you with ways to advocate in these ways for your child.
A fellow parent has organized a support group for Urbandale parents of gifted children. If you are interested in this group, please email Mrs. Forristall at bairdforristallc@urbandaleschools.com.
Some highly useful sources of information for and about gifted children:
According to Barbara Clark in Growing Up Gifted, many of the most important factors in identifying and developing special ability are squarely in the hands of parents:
*Excellent early opportunities with encouragement from friends and family.
*Families who greatly value arts, music, sports, or intellectual activity and engage in it often so children learn that language.
*Families who believe in work ethic.
Clark provides very specific suggestions in her book, helpful for parenting all children but especially your gifted child:
*Create open communication. Keep it open from birth forward. "Listen, listen, listen."
*Create one-on-one time with your child, and not just when there is a problem to deal with.
*Enjoy your own pursuits and include your child in them.
*Give them individuality and enjoy them for who they are (not who you want them to be).
*Help them appreciate differences in themselves and in others.
*Allow your child to make decisions.
*Accept your own mistakes, modeling how you keep trying even when things aren't perfect.
*Allow your child to simply explore projects and not require completion every time.
*Enjoy life with your child!
Growing Up Gifted reports a plethora of research on brain development in gifted children. See Barbara Clark's text to learn about recent research findings, including the most opportune points of development for children and the impacts of an increasingly electronic world on our brains.
Here I place a link to one of my favorite speakers and teachers about issues related to giftedness, "The Gifted Guru" Lisa Van Gemert. Many of her ideas align with my teaching philosophy. This article is her foundational advice to politicians, teachers, parents, and gifted students.
If you've ever participated in a job interview process, then you know what kind of impact your e-footprint can have on your life. Your children are creating their own footprint every day they engage online. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and you can help them create a positive digital image which can open doors to opportunities in their future. Help them manage their electronic image to the world by sharing content that shows their interests and skills, not just pictures their friends thought were funny. The article "Centennials: The World Is Waiting!" from NAGC contains many useful tips for students and parents in curating electronic footprints.
Connecting a gifted child and sports can sometimes open a whole new set of challenges for parents. Sometimes gifted kids may struggle to relate to their same-age peers and might develop an aversion to sports. However, physical activity supports brain development as well as general physical health and is of vital importance to our kids. In this Parenting for High Potential article, "Sports that Work for Gifted Children", Scott Lutostanski provides helpful questions to ask yourself and your child as they navigate the world of athletic engagement while being intellectually gifted.
The statistics on underachieving gifted students are sobering and worsening: in 1993, 15-40% of gifted students were underachieving. By 2000, 63% of students with an IQ above 130 were underachieving. Often, this has to do with disengagement, or the fact that students simply don't enjoy what they're learning in school. Teachers work very hard to try and create engaging lessons, but parents can help with this problem as well. In "Engagement for High Potential Children," researchers show how we can contribute to student success by focusing on engagement at home as well as in school.