Monday, October 1, 2007

Gifted Resources

I've been asked to put together a list of resources about gifted kids, so here they are. Online, the best place to start is hoagiesgifted.com. It's full of tons of info. You could read there for days. I'd start with http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/identification.htm There are lots of essays and checklists to help determine if a child is gifted (as opposed to just smart.)

There's a Gifted Homeschooling email list called TAGMAX. Go to
http://www.tagfam.org/ and click on mailing lists. There is a lot of mail from this but it's a great place for finding out about homeschooling resources. It's also a great place to openly discuss your child's abilities and challenges. If you tell most people that your 9 year old is reading Harry Potter 7 and making his own illuminated manuscript of a medieval bestiary they think you've lost your mind. On TAGMAX no one would blink an eye.

Some books I've found useful are:

Creative Homeschooling: A Resource Guide for Smart Families by Lisa Rivero

http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Home-Schooling-Resource-Families/dp/0910707480/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-1319639-7392860?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190988783&sr=1-1

This talks about all the different approaches to homeschooling and how each might be used for gifted children.

Some of My Best Friends Are Books by Judith Wynn Halsted

http://www.amazon.com/Some-Best-Friends-Are-Books/dp/0910707510/ref=sr_1_1/002-1319639-7392860?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190988894&sr=1-1

This book lists many books for different ages and different subjects. But I found it most useful for the discussion of the emotional needs of gifted kids.

Raising Your Spirited Child: A Guide for Parents Whose Child is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent and Energetic by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka

http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Your-Spirited-Child-Rev/dp/0060739665/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-1319639-7392860?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190989043&sr=1-1

This is a parenting book which doesn't claim to be about gifted kids but many gifted kids fit the "spirited child" profile. This is by far the most helpful parenting book I've ever read.

Also, here's a "gifted selftest" for adults.

http://www.rocamora.org/gift_selftest.html

There's lots more but these are good places to start.

Well look at that, I actually posted something else that wasn't about food!

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