Gifted Children - By Category

Gifted 101 -- Getting to Know and Understand Gifted Children

People tell you that your child is smart. You think so too. But how smart? Is your child gifted or just bright? Is there a difference? Find out as you learn how the experts define giftedness. Explore the characteristics of gifted children and learn how to use them to determine if your child is gifted.

Myths about gifted children abound. Learn what these myths are and how they may be affecting the way your gifted child is treated.

Nurturing Gifts and Talents

All parents want the best for their children and parents of gifted children are no different. Parents of gifted children sometimes feel a heightened sense of responsibility to help their children make the most of their abilities. As the parent of a gifted child, what can you do to do nurture your child's abilities?

Social and Emotional Issues

In many ways, gifted children have the same social and emotional needs other children have, but their needs are often intensified by the characteristics that make them gifted. If we fail to understand their needs, if their needs are not met, gifted children can be at risk for academic underachievement, social isolation, and depression.

Understanding Tests and Testing

So you think your child is gifted. Should you have him or her tested? What kind of test? When? How old should your child be?

IQ tests, achievement tests, standardized tests, normed tests, off-level tests... Trying to understand all these tests can be confusing. Learn what these tests are, how they are used, and what they can tell you about your child.

Education Options

Many parents of gifted children find that their children are not being challenged in school. Work is too easy, the children are bored, or they simply aren't learning anything new. What is a parent to do?

Several options are available for these children. Some of them depend on the school the children attend, but others are available outside of school or even in a different school.

Discover what these options are and how to determine which ones are best for your child.

Issues of Gifted Children in the School Environment

Gifted Children often have problems socializing with their age mates at school. In addition, if these children are not challenged in school, they may become underachievers or they may misbehave. Learning how to talk to your child's teacher and advocate for your child is critical to his or her success.

Gender Issues Concerning Gifted Children

Gifted boys and gifted girls face different problems in school, at home and elsewhere. How does gender affect gifted children as they grow up?

Young Gifted Children

Parenting a young gifted child can be as puzzling as the children themselves! They seem to race through many of the developmental milestones of their first months and years of life. Looking for guidance in the typical child rearing books doesn't seem to help much. The children described in those books don't always sound like our children and the tried-and-true parenting advice they give doesn't always work.

Gifted Teens

It isn't easy being a teenager and that's as true for gifted teens as it is for all teens. Sensitivity, perfectionism, social isolation, and pressure from adults can add to the stress gifted adolescents feel.

Gifted Children from Minorities

Gifted children from language or racial minorities are often not identified for gifted programs, not because of prejudice or discrimination, but because of problems with identification.

Profoundly or Extremely Gifted Children

Not all gifted children have the same level of abilities. Like average children, they represent a wide range. Extremely gifted, also known as the profoundly gifted, are on the highest end of the gifted ability range. They are at least as different from gifted children with an IQ of 130 as those children are from children with an IQ of 100. Their exceptional abilities present some special challenges for parents and teachers alike.

Gifted Children with Learning Disabilities

Gifted children with a learning disability are probably the most difficult children to identify. Their learning disability hides their giftedness and their giftedness hides their learning disability. For this reason, these children often appear to be average children. As a result, they do not get the services they need for either their learning disability or their giftedness.

Family Life with Gifted Children

Being a parent is never easy, but being the parent of gifted children can make home life even more complicated than usual. Sibling rivalry, too many activities, and even parental disagreement over a child's giftedness and what to do about it can create household tension.

Books, Toys, and More for Gifted Children

Gifted Children can quickly tire of toys that other children seem to enjoy. What kinds of toys appeal to gifted children? Learn what to look for when buying toys for gifted children and which toys are highly recommended. Certain books are more appealing to gifted children than others as well. What kinds of books do they like and how do you know which books are appropriate for them?

Where to Find Help

Raising a gifted child can be fun and exciting, but it can also be frustrating and exhausting. Where can you go for help?

If you are lucky, you know other parents of gifted children with whom you can share stories -- without worrying that they think you are bragging. It's also reassuring to be able to get advice and support from parents who know what it is like to be the parent of a gifted child.

If you don't know other parents, learn how to find them, both online and in person.