This article is an important reminder of the impact that anxiety can have on the life of gifted individuals.
https://www.nicoletetreault.com/single-post/2019/02/15/Neuroscience-of-Anxiety-in-the-Bright-Brain
Tuesday, 22 October 2019
Awesome Neuroscience of Anxiety in the Bright Brain
https://www.nicoletetreault.com/single-post/2019/02/15/Neuroscience-of-Anxiety-in-the-Bright-Brain
Who Are The 'Gifted And Talented' And What Do They Need?
"Estimates vary, but many say there are around 3 million students in K-12 classrooms nationwide who could be considered academically gifted and talented. The education they get is the subject of a national debate about what our public schools owe to each child in the post-No Child Left Behind era.
When it comes to gifted children, there are three big questions: How to define them, how to identify them and how best to serve them."
Read the complete article by ANYA KAMENETZ at the below link.
Wednesday, 25 September 2019
Science Mentoring at Marist
3 students from St Mary's enjoyed their first day at Marist meeting with their Year 7 mentors. We're looking forward to their presentations at our Newman Symposium on November 6 where they will show us some of their research into, and offer solutions to, problems such as; How can we create and use safe nuclear energy? What building materials can withstand natural disasters? How can superworms help decompose our garbage?
Thursday, 19 September 2019
Some great books for helping kids understand emotional and learning challenges
https://childmind.org/article/
This is a list of the best books for helping kids understand emotional and learning challenges put together by the clinicians at the Child Mind Institute. The books address mental health and learning disorders and other common challenges, like dealing with painful experiences and coping with strong emotions. The list includes books for kids up to 12, picture books to be read with preschoolers and chapter books for independent reading by older children. Let us know any you find particularly enjoyable and helpful.
Bright and Quirky - A wonderful resource to explore!
Bright and Quirky is a wonderful learning community providing information and support to those raising and educating gifted kids with Learning, Social Emotional or Behavioural Challenges including ADHD, Autism, or Anxiety.
Friday, 13 September 2019
Information about The Best of Friends Workshops
The Best of Friends™ (BoF) program is a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) tool combines engaging materials with practical techniques to help participants overcome social and emotional issues. To find out more about the programs run by The Quirky Kid Clinic click here - https://childpsychologist.com.au/
Are you looking for some useful resources to provide support to your children?
These associations have wonderful links to resources, both online and physical resources, along with great communities that you may wish to connect with.
AAEGT - Australian Association for the Education of the Gifted and Talented http://www.aaegt.net.au/
Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted
Thursday, 22 August 2019
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
I've recently become aware of these online courses and can't believe the learning opportunities that are available! Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are free online courses available for anyone to enrol. Do you know someone who would enjoy one of these courses? I'd love you have your feedback on any courses that you or your kids complete.
Thursday, 20 June 2019
July GERRIC Student Programs
Do you know a student in Year 3 – 10 who is bright, intellectually inquisitive and looking for something more challenging, more intellectually demanding, and more fun than they may sometimes experience in school?
GERRIC offers a range of school-holiday programs for gifted and talented students for students from years 3-10. The GERRIC holiday programs will open students’ minds to abilities they may have not suspected they possessed, and opportunities to use those abilities to the fullest during a 3 day program run by our industry experts and educators qualified and experienced in gifted education.
Program Dates: Tuesday 9 - Thursday 11 July, 2019
Daily times: 8:45am - 3:30pm
Venue: Matraville Sports High School
Cost: $365 per child (some workshops vary)
Daily times: 8:45am - 3:30pm
Venue: Matraville Sports High School
Cost: $365 per child (some workshops vary)
Program details and available workshops for July can be found here. Places are popular and limited, so get in fast.
Email gerric@unsw.edu.au if you have any questions, or would like to know more about what GERRIC has to offer.
Email gerric@unsw.edu.au if you have any questions, or would like to know more about what GERRIC has to offer.
Monday, 10 June 2019
What do you do if you meet a gifted kid in the wild
I came across this article that I feel is definitely worth reading - http://thisundeservedlife.
If you don't have time to read the whole article, I have included some of the keys points that caught my interest. Some worthwhile reminders:
- Giftedness has more to do with how a brain works than what a brain holds.
- Recognizing giftedness in one child does not negate the abilities or gifts in another. Gifted is a category, in some cases a diagnosis. It relates to IQ score and asynchronous development, not competition and elitism.
- Do not, under any circumstance, utter the phrase, “Every child is gifted”. Yes, every child is A gift, and yes, all children have gifts, but no, not every child is gifted.
- Giftedness does not make a child better or worse than the neurotypical kid next to them. It’s just how their brain works, and it’s who they are.
- Because the pool of gifted people is so small and characterized by being so far removed from the intellectual norm, they’re all vastly different from one another. There are characteristics that can be recognized as typical, but remember that you are dealing with an atypical group. They don’t travel in pods or have a secret handshake. They can struggle. They can have learning disabilities, mood or personality disorders, sensory issues, physical disabilities, or none of the above. Some gifted kids get along fine in life and others wage internal battles. Some gifted kids get all A’s and some fail classes. Some love museums and some are so overwhelmed by anxiety that they can’t bear to visit one. Giftedness doesn’t look like a stereotype.
- Take in their creativity and ability to think outside of the box. Note their intense emotions and, while they can prove mercurial at times, how they inspire change and empathy and passion. Drink in their humor, their sarcasm, the language that far exceeds their years.
- Let yourself appreciate just how beautiful and unique and cool they are the next time you find yourself face to face with a gifted kid in the wild.
100 RESOURCES FOR GIFTED KIDS (FROM THE ARTS TO THE SCIENCES AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN)
A re-post as this is a fantastic resource with wonderful links to all sorts of amazing websites - 100 of them, in fact. Talk about rabbit holes worth exploring!!
Feel free to send me some reviews from the kids (or yourselves) to share on the blog.
Tuesday, 26 March 2019
MindQuest 2019 Workshops
To find out more about the 2019 courses click here.
Thursday, 21 March 2019
Differentiation in Action - Parent Information Session
At St Mary's we believe in providing an education that suitably challenges and engages all of our students. As an accredited Newman Selective Education school we embrace the philosophy of Cardinal Newman through:
- fostering a classroom environment where ALL students are challenged and engaged through creative and critical thinking and academic rigour
- where the students engage with the world through authentic learning experiences and where they are encouraged to deepen their passions
- fundamentally, we foster collaboration and independent learning to instil a lifelong love of learning in our students
Click here to access a copy of the slides presented at the sessions.
Saturday, 16 March 2019
Raising Awareness through memes
In celebration of Gifted Awareness Week here are a few of my favourite memes around at the moment.
Is there one in particular that speaks to you?
Is there one in particular that speaks to you?
Gifted Awareness Week - March 17 to 23
Belonging.
When it comes to gifted education, what does belonging mean? Does it refer to a sense of connectivity with ones’ tribe? Does it call into question how and where gifted education fits into our education system?
According to Mind Matters, a sense of belonging provides young people with purpose, meaning, self-worth and social control, all of which are contributors to positive mental health. Students with a sense of belonging are more motivated to participate actively in the life of the classroom than those students who do not have this kind of experience. Conversely, the feeling of not belonging or social isolation can lead to a range of negative — and under some circumstances, long term — consequences, both physical and psychological.
We invite you to come on a journey of belonging this Gifted Awareness Week.
Melinda Gindy
National Facilitator- Gifted Awareness Week Australia
National Facilitator- Gifted Awareness Week Australia
For more information about Gifted Awareness Week click here.
Saturday, 9 March 2019
Friday, 15 February 2019
Joys and challenges of raising a gifted child
Here's another great article and blog that discusses the joys and challenges of raising gifted children along with offering supports and suggestions.
"Often people think of gifted kids as high achievers. They assume if a kid gets good grades, is bright and working ahead, he or she must be gifted, right? This is a common misconception. One is not necessarily an indication of the other. One measure of giftedness is IQ. A person can be in the gifted range of intelligence (IQ over 120) and struggling academically for various reasons. And a person can be of average intelligence (IQ of 80-119), but be highly motivated and working very hard, and excel."
Full article - click here
Let's Talk About Emotional Overexcitability
"Emotional overexcitability is easy enough to take notice of. The child who is so nervous they make themselves sick. The child who doesn’t want you to leave because they’re so attached to you. The daughter who screams when her brothers laugh at her. The child who hides behind the couch and sobs when Bing Bong disappears in Inside Out. The child who wakes up at 2:30 am every single night just to come get a reassuring hug. The child who cries two months after watching a movie where a character was bullied. The daughter who clings to you, soaked with tears, and cannot stop crying because she just loves you really much. The child who takes offense, builds strong attachments, leaps with joy, holds grudges out of pain and forgives quickly out of hope. The daughter who cries daily, hourly, but also laughs loudly, deeply. The child who is compassionate, angry, loving, fearful, frustrated, annoyed, embarrassed, elated. The child who just has a lot of feelings."
To read the full article, click here.
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