Blog Archives
The Purple Goldfish Theory: What Your Child Already Knows about Being Gifted
Jamie Uphold, Gifted Youth Programs Manager for American Mensa, joined us at Global #gtchat Powered by TAGT to chat about her “The Purple Goldfish Theory: What Your Child Already Knows about Being Gifted.” She described her role at American Mensa, “I’m a (recovering) educator with a passion for gifted youth. Now, I create programs, curate resources, and perform outreach for gifted youth.”
Jamie wrote an excellent follow-up blog post describing the theory on Mensa’s blog. In the post, Jaime writes, “Gifted kids are like purple goldfish. They spend all day swimming along in school with all the other goldfish. But unlike the other fish, they are purple — and they swim backward! They know they’re different from the other kids. No one has to tell them; they realize it on their own. And while purple goldfish know they are different, they don’t necessarily know they are gifted.”
Gifted children learn what it means to be gifted in many different ways. Many do not question the concept until they are identified at school and enter their school’s gifted program. They know they are different from other students around them. How knowledgeable their parent is about what it means to be ‘gifted’ and how they share what they know can have a powerful impact on their child.
Parents sometimes wonder if they should even tell their child they are gifted. Dr. Gail Post, Clinical Psychologist, stated emphatically, “Yes – it validates, provides clarity and perspective on what they already suspect and don’t understand. [Parents] need to explain it carefully, ensuring they [the child] don’t assume they are better than others, or take on undue burdens.” Jamie explained, “The value is in understanding how their brain is wired differently; not in an assessment received from a test. Information, for them, is received and perceived differently than their peers.” Telling a child they are gifted and/or talented should be accompanied by the ‘perspective’ as related by Dr. Jim Delisle that they at ‘better at’ rather than ‘better than’ their age-peers . Jamie believes that “early and honest communication about giftedness can mean the difference between arrogance and understanding.”
How should information about a child’s giftedness be shared with their educational team? If a gifted IEP is mandated, a formal process for sharing information through formal regular meetings with the team and a general understanding of who to contact will already be in place. The sharing of information is highly dependent on the personnel with whom you were sharing the information. Some teachers are more receptive and knowledgeable; making the whole process smoother. Jamie implored parents, “Don’t assume that teachers know what your child needs. They often don’t get the information necessary to make those assessments until later in the year. Simple outreach sparks dialogue.There’s no one-size-fits all approach. Every gifted child is different and has different needs. Giftedness doesn’t fit into neat check-boxes.”
What are the challenges of being ‘purple’ (gifted)? Jamie stated, “It’s hard to be the smartest kid in the room. Kids want to fit in, and GT kids often don’t — they think deeper, react stronger, and don’t transition as quickly. None of these traits are preferable in traditional school settings.” Being gifted is too often about simply being viewed as ‘smart’ when it’s usually much more complicated; it’s a ‘marching to the beat of a different drummer’ scenario. GT kids can be teased and bullied by other kids and adults to the point of wanting to hide their abilities or ignore them. This can lead to emotional challenges as they get older.
Justine Hughes, educator in Auckland, New Zealand, warned, “the quote that “All kids are gifted they just unwrap their gifts at different times” has become a dangerous mantra leading to needs not being met. Jamie added, “How many of those kids would return that gift if they could, just to be ‘normal’?”
There are many resources to help children learn about being gifted and for parents on raising a gifted child. Great organizations include American Mensa, Mensa for Kids, Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented (TAGT), NAGC, SENG, Davidson Gifted, Hoagies Gifted, Gifted Homeschoolers Forum, the Institute for Educational Advancement, the Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education, and WCGTC.
Gifted children need to associate with intellectual peers whether at school or socially regardless of what anyone else says. This doesn’t mean exclusively; but it must be a major consideration. They need to be challenged in the early years academically. Without it; they will have difficulty later on and it can result in innumerable problems.
“Purple goldfish have extra challenges. Often people assume that a gifted kid, and by extension their parents, have it easy when it’s often the exact opposite. Gifted children can struggle with social norming and are sometimes in stages of development and emotional maturity that make it harder to bond with their peers. Statistically, gifted individuals are 1 out of 100; this means that 99 percent of their peers are different from them. And this is before we add any additional diagnoses. It’s hard to be a purple goldfish! And these kids nevertheless want to find other purple goldfish – their people.” ~ Jamie Uphold, American Mensa
Check out the transcript of this chat at Wakelet to see what else chat participants said parents need to remember most about having a purple goldfish. Then, refer to the resources below which were shared during the chat!
Global #gtchat Powered by the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented is a weekly chat on Twitter. Join us Thursdays at 8E/7C/6M/5P in the U.S. and Fridays at Noon NZST/10 AM AEST/1 AM UK to discuss current topics in the gifted community and meet experts in the field. Transcripts of our weekly chats can be found at Wakelet. Our Facebook Page provides information on the chat and news and information regarding the gifted community. Also, checkout our Pinterest Page and Playlist on YouTube.
About the author: Lisa Conrad is the Moderator of Global #gtchat Powered by TAGT and Social Media Manager of the Global #gtchat Community. She is a longtime advocate for gifted children and also blogs at Gifted Parenting Support. Lisa can be contacted at: gtchatmod@gmail.com
Resources:
Mensa for Kids (website)
American Mensa (website)
Inspiring Self-Efficacy in Gifted Kids
Coloring Outside the Lines – Growing Up Gifted
Jim Delisle Presentation – Parenting Gifted Kids: Tips for Raising Happy and Successful Children
Identity Development in Intellectually Gifted Students
How to Create a Gifted Individualized Education Plan
Gifted Advocacy: What’s the Point?
Improving GT Parent-Teacher Communications
Unexpected Challenges of Being a Gifted Kid
Social Emotional Needs of Gifted Students
Cybraryman’s Growth Mindset Page
Should we tell them they’re gifted? Should we tell them how gifted?
Resources from Jamie’s blog post:
Pros and Cons of Telling Children They Are Gifted
What to say to your gifted child…about being gifted
Is your kid really gifted? Probably not
Should we tell them they’re gifted? Should we tell them how gifted?
Talking about Giftedness: The Elephant in the Room
Your Kids Are Gifted. Should You Tell Them?
Image and graphics courtesy of American Mensa.
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Effective Grouping of Gifted Students with guest Lisa Van Gemert
This week #gtchat welcomed longtime friend, Lisa Van Gemert, the Youth and Education Ambassador for American Mensa, to tackle the tough questions surrounding effective grouping of gifted students. Lisa explained to us the many different types of grouping that were possible, but reminded us “it’s important to keep groups fluid – allowing movement with achievement and progress.” She went on to say, “Teachers need to teach the skills of working in groups. It doesn’t come naturally to anyone, especially the gifted.” A valid point often overlooked by critics of grouping.
One of the biggest complaints that gifted students have about grouping is having to do the majority of the work. Lisa told us, “It is *critical* that a student never be graded on another student’s effort (or lack thereof). Instant frustration. It’s unfair to set up GT kids for social failure by putting them in groups in which they have to take over in order to succeed.
An oft heard criticism of ability grouping is that it undermines less-able children. However, Lisa pointed out that this is just an excuse to deprive GT kids of the opportunity to work with their peers. Her philosophy ~ “I believe that best serving all children best serves all children. The end.” We couldn’t agree more! A full transcript of this chat may be found here.
Lisa Van Gemert will be presenting at this year’s TAGT Conference in Fort Worth, December 3rd to the 5th. You can register for the conference here. Check out the conference schedule here.
Global #gtchat Powered by the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented is a weekly chat on Twitter. Join us Fridays at 7/6 C & 4 PT in the U.S., midnight in the UK and Saturdays 1 PM NZ/11 AM AEDT to discuss current topics in the gifted community and meet experts in the field. Transcripts of our weekly chats can be found at Storify. Our Facebook Pageprovides information on the chat and news & information regarding the gifted community.
About the author: Lisa Conrad is the Moderator of Global #gtchat Powered by TAGT and Social Media Manager of the Global #gtchat Community. She is a longtime advocate for gifted children and also blogs at Gifted Parenting Support. Lisa can be contacted at: gtchatmod@gmail.com
Links:
Amazing Classrooms: Engaging the High Achievers (YouTube 14:35)
Why Separate Classes for Gifted Students Boost All Kids
To Track or Not to Track via @jeff_shoemaker
Grouping Students by Ability Regains Favor in Classroom
Differentiation Class Poster – Free Download from Lisa Van Gemert
Lisa Van Gemert’s Profile at eSpeakers
Lisa Van Gemert’s website GiftedGuru.com
Grouping without Fear from Lisa Van Gemert
The Resurgence of Ability Grouping and Persistence of Tracking
Effective Classrooms, Effective Schools: A Research Base for Reform in Latin American Education
What Educators Need to Know about Ability Grouping (pdf)
The Relationship of Grouping Practices to the Education of the Gifted & Talented Learner (pdf)
Grouping Gifted Children at Hoagies Gifted
The Schoolwide Cluster Grouping Method (SCGM) A Paradigm Shift in The Delivery of
Gifted Education Services by Susan Winebrenner (pdf)
Your Favorite Grouping Strategy Creates Bullies from Ginger Lewman
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Locating Age-Appropriate Books for High Ability Learners
Young Reader*
Locating age-appropriate books for high ability learners can prove difficult for several reasons. Asynchronous development may mean that a very young child could comprehend reading material well beyond what may be considered appropriate for their age. As Lisa Van Gemert of American Mensa pointed out, interest levels and sensitivities also play important roles when finding appropriate yet challenging books for these children. Jo Freitag of Gifted Resources commented that material deemed appropriate for a child’s chronological age might be considered too simplistic and unsatisfying to the child. Leslie Graves, President of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children, noted that the depth of thought embedded in the content and the pace of information offered would also make many leveled offerings inappropriate as well.
Child Reading**
Reading patterns found in gifted readers can be different than those of typical readers. These kids often start reading earlier than their age peers and demonstrate deeper comprehension of what they read. Kate B. stated they may be self taught, read faster and be voracious readers. Justin Schwamm, Latin teacher at Tres Columnae, related that many gifted learners read and enjoy multiple books at once; which can drive others crazy. Moderator, Lisa Conrad, added that it’s still important to respect the developmental process and allow a child to enjoy reading at various levels. Parents should resist the urge to ‘push’ a child to read simply because they excel in other academic areas.
Parent Reading to Child*
Reading to children was still considered an important role of both the parent and teacher even after children were reading well on their own. Jerry Blumengarten, well known content curator Cybraryman and former teacher, remembered family reading time as enjoyable and an important time to be set aside even after children were reading. When he taught Language Arts, his 9th grade students loved when he read dramatically to them. Jayne Frances reminded us that reading aloud is important for pronunciation of words and sharing more precise or alternate definitions than those gleaned from context. Many also related the importance of emotional bonding that occurs when adults read to children whether it was a parent or teacher.
The popular school reading program ‘Accelerated Reader’ did not fare well in the opinions of many at this chat. This program seemed out-of-sync with high ability learners. Justin Schwamm told us that he was not a fan because extrinsic rewards for an intrinsically-valuable task are problematic at best.
Questions for this chat are here and a full transcript of this chat can be found at Storify. Links from the chat and additional links are below. Thank you to all chat participants who shared links with us.
Global #gtchat Powered by the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented is a weekly chat on Twitter. Join us Fridays at 7/6 C & 4 PT in the U.S., midnight in the UK and Saturdays 1 PM NZ/11 AM AEDT to discuss current topics in the gifted community and meet experts in the field. Transcripts of our weekly chats can be found at Storify. Our Facebook Pageprovides information on the chat and news & information regarding the gifted community.
About the author: Lisa Conrad is the Moderator of Global #gtchat Powered byTAGT and Social Media Manager of the Global #gtchat Community. She is a longtime advocate for gifted children and also blogs at Gifted Parenting Support. Lisa can be contacted at: gtchatmod@gmail.com
Links:
Search Book Titles by Conceptual/Vocabulary Difficulty Age from Armadillo Soft
67 Books Every Geek Should Read to Their Kids Before Age 10
Some of My Best Friends Are Books: Guiding Gifted Readers (Amazon)
Guiding the Gifted Reader (1990)
Reading Lists for Your Gifted Child from Hoagies Gifted
Best-Loved Books: A Unique Reading List for Gifted Students Grades 6-12 (pdf)
Book List for Very Young Precocious Readers (link on bottom right of page)
Book List for Pre-teen Gifted Readers from Suki Wessling
The Challenge of “Challenged Books” Gifted Child Today Magazine Spring, 2002
Books for Young Readers from the MN Council for the Gifted & Talented
Appropriate Content for Gifted Readers from Duke TIP
13 Age-Appropriate Books for Young Gifted Readers
Gifted 101: Choosing Books for Your Young Gifted Reader
3 Reasons I Loathe Accelerated Reader from Lisa Van Gemert, The Gifted Guru
Dear Google, You Should Have Talked to Me First from Jen Marten
Reading Lists from Jo Freitag of Gifted Resources
Appropriate Expectations for the Gifted Child from SENG
Slow Down and Look at the Pictures
Early Literacy Page from Cybraryman
Mensa Foundation Excellence in Reading
Reading List for Key Stage 1 Gifted Readers (pdf) from Potential Plus UK
Reading and Literacy Skills Page from Cybraryman
Books Page from Cybraryman
Newbery Medal Winners 1922 – Present
Caldecott Medal and Honor Books 1938 – Present
Additional Links:
Orientation (The School for Gifted Potentials Book 1) by Allis Wade
Revelations (The School for Gifted Potentials Book 2) by Allis Wade
Gifted Readers and Young Adult Literature: A Perfect Match from Duke TIP
Book Lists from Davidson Institute for Talent Development
The Gifted Reader’s Bill of Rights (pdf) by Bertie Kingore
Mind the Gap: Engaging Gifted Readers
Resources for the Middle School Gifted Reader
Books for Gifted Readers (Middle School)
Reading Projects for Gifted and Talented Students
*Photos: Courtesy of morgueFile
** Photo: Courtesy of Pixabay
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What Do Parents Want from a Gifted Organization?
This week, participants at #gtchat on Twitter had the opportunity to tell gifted organizations what they wanted to be offered to parents. A full transcript may be found here.
Missed the chat, but still want to make your voice heard? Below are the questions. Feel free to leave your answers via comments on this post!
Questions from chat:
Q1) Do you belong to a gifted organization or group at any level –local, state, national?
Q2) What do you look for from a gifted organization – information, support, advocacy?
Q3) How do you prefer information to be categorized – by age, grade. or level of giftedness (G, HG, PG)?
Q4) Are you interested in the latest research on topics such as neuroscience, executive functioning, etc.?
Q5) How do you prefer information delivered – email, digital magazines or mobile apps?
Q6) How often would you use online components – Twitter chats, webinars, Google Hangouts?
Q7) Do membership fees play a role in your decision to join a gifted organization?
Q8) How likely would you be to attend a conference & what would influence your decision?
Q9) How can organizations foster an atmosphere where parents and teachers can come together?
Links:
National Association for Gifted Children
NAGC’s State Affiliate Association Web Sites
Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted
World Council for Gifted and Talented Children
Texas Parents of the Profoundly Gifted
