is 优蜜视频鈥檚 Academy Coordinator. A British import, Louise graduated from the University of Manchester with a B.A. Honors Degree in English Literature and Language, completed her post-graduate teacher training at The University of Cambridge, and has recently completed her dissertation in Educational Leadership and Innovation with the University of Warwick. Louise has 20 years of experience in education as a high school literature teacher, lead teacher, administrator, adviser, and consultant. 优蜜视频鈥檚 Academy program, described here, provides elementary and middle school students with challenging enrichment classes that focus on exploration and application of knowledge.

鈥淣ow, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts….Plant nothing else, and root out everything else… nothing else will ever be of any service,鈥� declares Mr. Gradgrind in Charles Dickens’ novel Hard Times. Gradgrind is, of course, a grotesque parody of all that education shouldn鈥檛 be. Ingrained in his face, Gradgrind, like the educational system he advocates, is 鈥渋nflexible, dry and dictatorial,鈥� demanding only closed-answer responses with absolutely no space to think, let alone enquire. Inexorable in his approach, Gradgrind looks at his room of students and sees 鈥渆mpty vessels,鈥� vessels he must fill to the brim with the facts he determines most useful. The one thing needful in this context is a 19th century industrialized utilitarian view of education: keep it if it’s 鈥渦seful,鈥� lose it if it’s not, and let’s not think about who decides what’s useful. Furthermore, it’s an educational system where the distance between the teacher and the students is a steadfastly vast unexplored wasteland, devoid of personal interaction, engagement or 鈥� dare we say it 鈥� enthusiasm for teaching and learning.

In 1992, my younger self was being interviewed for the Post-Graduate Certificate in Teaching Training in the UK. I was asked which 19th century novel I could imagine teaching to a class of restless teenagers. I identified Hard Times as the best text to help illuminate, as I argued then, to restless teenagers how much 鈥渂etter鈥� the education system was for them now. In 2013, my thoughts are different, and I wonder if we have made any progress as all around us nations battle out their place in international performance tables with what seems, at times, little thought given to what and how we should be teaching our 21st century youngsters. In the face of such performativity, I find myself thinking more about what is 鈥渘eedful.鈥� Coordinating the Academy program at 优蜜视频 prods me to contemplate this on a daily – and nightly – basis. We are fortunate that we are unencumbered by grade-level and state standards and that classes are not defined by a child’s chronological age. We are fortunate to be able to harness the talents of amazing teachers who take fascinating, intellectually challenging content and telescope it into teaching and learning experiences for these, our youngest, learners. Unencumbered we may be, but we are also determined to provide the best service possible. And so, as the fall session draws to a close, now is a good time to consider the one (or more) things needful for our gifted and high potential Academy students. What follows are observations, not solutions….

What do they need?

1) They need feeding, intellectually speaking.

Without fail, our students arrive because they just want more. They are curious, sometimes for the parents, exhaustingly curious. They have questions no-one else seems able to answer. Their minds need feeding, not always at a rapid pace, but with a sense of challenge and high expectation. They take pleasure in applying their codes in Neuro-Energy II; they relish grappling with structures in Molecular Biology. At the same time, they need to be encouraged to take risks and find the resilience to face a challenge, to practice scansion and learn their lines for Shakespeare, to present their ideas in Astronomy II. They need feeding, but they also need encouraging.

2) They need teachers who are mentors.

Academy teachers could never be mistaken for Gradgrind. They are Rose, Ronnie, Cindy, Miss Megan, Andre, Josh and Warren. They are full to the brim with knowledge, but they are patient, respectful, reflexive, sensitive, caring and unrelenting in their enthusiasm. They see remarkable individuals, not vessels. They respond to questions, they listen and they give their students the space to learn comfortably. They are positive role models and mentors to each and every each child.

3) They need emotional reassurance and encouragement.

优蜜视频 prides itself on providing educational experiences which serve the whole child. We acknowledge the part emotions play in learning, especially intense for gifted and high potential youth. A caring, emotionally nurturing culture permeates throughout the organization. We understand this need and we do our best to offer a warm welcome and an ear. We love it when our parents encourage and support their son or daughter to venture into unknown lands, to take a writing or literature class, to attend a Genius Day and to make new friends. We know that our learners do and should still get excited by the small stuff – star stickers, leaves on the learning tree…knowing that the steps they take as learners are celebrated. We smile when we see them making friends, heads together, pouring over a book or a periodic table, not wanting to leave as they enjoy the reassurance, affirmation and encouragement they receive from one another.

And so as the fall session closes and I reflect on 鈥渢he one thing needful,鈥� I feel satisfied that we are personalizing our teaching for learning at 优蜜视频鈥檚 Academy and identifying and serving some key needs. As the post-class surveys come in from the real experts – the children – their words speak for themselves. On the whole they struggle to criticize, instead they comment positively on their 鈥渇ascinating experiences.鈥� They say that 鈥渢he classes are so wonderful鈥� that they are 鈥渉ard in a good way.鈥� They ask, 鈥淲hy can鈥檛 this be my regular school?鈥�

It seems then that the one thing needful is a place to be who they are right now and to explore who they might be, intellectually, emotionally and personally. Gradgrind wouldn’t be happy, but maybe social critic Charles Dickens would. To that end, I am pleased.

Interested in 优蜜视频鈥檚 Academy, which provides year-round enrichment classes for bright young minds in the Los Angeles area? Email Academy@educationaladvancement.org for more information about the upcoming Winter Session, which will take place January 11 鈥� March 6!

The lovable title character in Roald Dahl鈥檚 Matilda is a precocious young girl who can teach the world a lot about gifted kids. Here are 12 lessons from the novel:

1. can often be seen early in a child鈥檚 life. Matilda is depicted as an extremely precocious and advanced child, speaking perfectly by 18 months, reading by age 3, and multiplying double-digit numbers in her head by age 5.

2. Giftedness is innate, not taught. One myth about gifted children is that they are the product of pushy parents. This may be true with some high-achieving children, but it is not generally true of gifted kids, whose intellectual ability comes naturally, sometimes even without any parental support. By giving Matilda parents who have absolutely no interest in her abilities or education, Dahl illustrates that some children just have natural intellectual ability.

3. Gifted children love to learn and often have a variety of interests. Because of this, many gifted children love to read. It appeals to their need to constantly learn and take in new information. Before she is even in school, Matilda spends as much time as possible reading. When she starts school, she tells her teacher, Miss Honey, all kinds of interesting facts she learned from reading. 鈥淭his child, Miss Honey told herself, seems to be interested in everything鈥� (231).

4. Gifted kids often outgrow 鈥渃hildren鈥檚鈥� content early. Oftentimes, they view children鈥檚 books as overly simplified and opt for more advanced content that provides greater depth and complexity to subject areas. At age four, Matilda reads Great Expectations in one week and thoroughly enjoys it. Though she doesn鈥檛 fully understand everything in adult books, she understands enough to appreciate, enjoy, and learn from them. These books also challenge her intellectually in a way that children鈥檚 books can鈥檛.

5. Gifted children often have a . Matilda鈥檚 dad frequently talks about cheating his customers, and Matilda speaks out against his actions. She plays tricks on her parents when they are mean to her in an attempt to achieve balance in an unjust situation. She also gets extremely upset when she is accused of things she did not do.

6. A supportive figure in a gifted child鈥檚 life is incredibly important. The librarian who introduces Matilda to fantastic literature and Miss Honey, who encourages Matilda to learn more advanced concepts, keep Matilda challenged and interested in learning.

7. is the best way to meet the needs of gifted students. When Matilda skips grades, she works well at the advanced level and is finally academically challenged while still being happy. Miss Honey explains to Matilda, 鈥溾�榃hile you were in my class you had nothing to do, nothing to make you struggle. Your fairly enormous brain was going crazy with frustration. It was bubbling and boiling away like mad inside your head. There was tremendous energy bottled up in there with nowhere to go鈥� [Now you are] competing against children more than twice your age and all that mental energy is being used up in class. Your brain is for the first time having to struggle and strive and keep really busy, which is great鈥欌�� (229-230).

8. Sometimes gifted kids just know things intuitively, without being taught at all. On Matilda鈥檚 first day of school, Miss Honey asks her who taught her how to multiply. Matilda responds, 鈥溾�業t鈥檚 just that I don鈥檛 find it very difficult to multiply one number by another鈥 simply put the fourteen down in my head and multiply it by nineteen鈥鈥檓 afraid I don鈥檛 know how else to explain it. I鈥檝e always said to myself that if a little pocket calculator can do it why shouldn鈥檛 I?鈥欌�� (73-74). Often, gifted children cannot explain how they know something; nor can they understand why they know something, while others don鈥檛. Matilda, like many gifted children, 鈥渏ust knows.鈥�

9. Gifted children have a deep, intense focus when interested in a topic. Before Matilda is old enough for school, she spends all day absorbed in books. When she starts school and Miss Honey differentiates her work by giving her a geometry book to read and study, Matilda 鈥渧ery soon became deeply absorbed in the book. She never glanced up once during the entire lesson鈥� (91). This strong focus among gifted children when intellectually stimulated and challenged is common.

10. . 鈥淭he nice thing about Matilda was that if you had met her casually and talked to her you would have thought she was a perfectly normal five-and-a-half-year-old child鈥nless for some reason you had started a discussion with her about literature or mathematics, you would never have known the extent of her brain-power鈥� (101).

11. Gifted children just need to find friends with whom they can connect. She is well-liked by her classmates and has several friends. Gifted children often form one or two really close friendships, and Matilda develops a meaningful peer relationship with Lavender, who is also bright. Matilda also has deep social relationships with adults, including Miss Honey and the librarian. She can talk to adults on a more intellectual level than she can with her classmates, which is typical of gifted children.

12. Gifted children are often mature and wise beyond their years. When Miss Honey invites Matilda to her cottage for tea, there are noticeable socio-economic differences. 鈥淸Matilda] seemed to be aware of the delicacy of the situation and she was taking great care not to say anything to embarrass her companion鈥� (189). Matilda had never encountered a situation like that before and was not taught how to act in that scenario. However, she looks at the context and understands how to behave. Miss Honey even tells Matilda, 鈥溾�楢lthough you look like a child, you are really not a child at all because your mind and your powers of reasoning seem to be fully grown-up鈥欌�� (195), and Matilda and Miss Honey 鈥渢alked to each other more or less as equals鈥� (231).

What other gifted characters do you love? Please share in the comment section below.

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