My Child Is Gifted, Now What?

According to the National Association for Gifted Children:

“Gifted individuals are those who demonstrate outstanding levels of aptitude (defined as an exceptional ability to reason and learn) or competence (documented performance or achievement in top 10% or rarer) in one or more domains. Domains include any structured area of activity with its own symbol system (e.g., mathematics, music, language) and/or set of sensorimotor skills (e.g., painting, dance, sports).”

Giftedness in a student is commonly characterized by an advanced pace of learning, quality of thinking or capability for remarkably high standards of performance compared to students of the same age.

You may notice the voracious appetite for learning your student exhibits. They are quite often bored in the regular education classroom. They have areas of expertise which amazes everyone they meet. The Perry County School District Gifted and Talented Program strives to offer intense enrichment to challenge the students to master the programs standards.

Students will be evaluated by themselves and the facilitator using but not limited to the following tools: PCSD #32 Student Assessment and Evaluation.

Perry County School District #32

The Gifted and Talented Program Curriculum

The gifted program strives to guide students towards self-actualization. They will be engaging in various activities during their class to master the following skills.

Thinking Skills

Thinking skills may be divided into the following three major areas: Organizational Thinking Skills help one manage and systematize items, ideas, or concepts. Analytical Thinking Skills help one to break down ideas, concepts or data into their most basic components to see how they relate to one another. Critical Thinking Skills help one to use information to make decisions and formulate solutions.

Creativity

Creativity is the ability to generate and/or produce items, ideas, and solutions using imaginative skill. The basic components of creativity are fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. A variety of techniques are available to enhance creative / divergent thinking. These include brainstorming, synectics, and idea checklists. Evidence of creativity may be seen in original products such as visual art, performance pieces, and written work.

Research Skills

Research is a studious inquiry aimed at the gathering, discovery, and interpretation of information as well as the revision of accepted theories in the light of new information. Knowledge of basic research skills and research methodology is essential in an ever-changing, information age society.

Creative Problem Solving

Creative Problem Solving is a process that combines divergent thought, convergent thought, and research to yield new solutions to scenarios/problems.

Its basic components are:

Mess Finding

Data Finding

Problem Finding

Idea Finding

Solution Finding

Acceptance Finding

Interpersonal Skills

Interpersonal skills deal with the ability to understand and relate to others. These skills may be divided into the following three major areas: Communication is the art of effectively expressing ideas, feelings, and concepts, and correctly interpreting those of others. Group Dynamics specify abilities needed to positively function as a group member. These include working toward group goals as well as recognizing and responding to the social and emotional needs of the group and its members. Leadership is the ability to determine a common goal and direct / motivate others to move toward it. Leadership requires the effective use of communication and group skills.

Affective Skills

Affective Skills deal with an ongoing attention to one’s internal states: the ability to access one’s own feelings, discriminate among them and draw on them to guide behavior. Students must develop these skills in order to: • Move beyond extrinsic motivation to intrinsic motivation • Manage emotions • Experience personal growth • Accept and appreciate selves • Effectively use what has been learned in all areas of the curriculum to become self-directed, autonomous learners.

Self-Directed / Autonomous Learning

In addition to metacognition, the ultimate goal of the intellectually gifted program is to increase students’ capacity for and skills in autonomous learning, which includes components from all previous curricular strands.

Field Trip Information

Gifted Program Field Trips

There are approximately four trips available to your child during the school year. All of these activities not only fulfill numerous components of the Missouri Learning Standards for education (our prep work follows the reading standards for literature, informational text, speaking and listening, and writing), they also fulfill two important requirements of our gifted education curriculum:

-to provide our intellectually advanced students with enriching exposure to the fine arts

-to provide our intellectually advanced students with learning opportunities in “real world” settings

Fourth Grade PACE/Challenge Field Trips

There are at least two trips to The Repertory Theatre (on the campus of Webster University) in St. Louis, Missouri. Please see our Gifted Program calendar for specific dates. Money for each trip is due three weeks prior to each trip. The tickets for all four of these presentations were ordered/reserved in May the previous school year, so I have a LIMITED number of adult tickets. If you would like to reserve a ticket for any/all of these exciting adventures, please email about this for the specific upcoming trip(s). Adult tickets are granted on a “First-Come-First-Served” basis. The approximate cost per student/adult is $20-$30. Students will need to bring a sack lunch on trip day. Students are responsible for any regular class work missed on these days. CHECK WITH TEACHERS EARLY IN THE WEEK!

Challenge/PACE Gifted Program Annual Overnight Trip May

Challenge Program Students sell food every Friday morning before school at PCMS to offset the cost of this overnight excursion. The final cost per person will be determined at the end of April. Our goal is to have 100% of this trip paid for by our fundraising efforts. This trip is an integral portion of our Gifted and Talented Program for our students. Every year we plan a trip for the following year to meet our gifted goals of leadership, responsibility, interpersonal skills, affective skills, problem solving and creativity. Parents are welcome to attend.