Fall has arrived and, with it, more distance learning! To those who are still participating in 优蜜视频 online offerings like and , it鈥檚 been great to see you. To those who we haven鈥檛 seen in a while, we hope you鈥檙e hanging in there!

There鈥檚 a lot to juggle right now, so here are some ways for kids who love to learn to expand their knowledge without adding another Zoom meeting to their busy calendars:

1. Listen to a Podcast

There鈥檚 a podcast for every interest and they鈥檙e a perfect way to learn while on walks or car rides! If you鈥檇 like to listen to a podcast about giftedness, check out our from last year.

2. Start a Garden

Whether you start with a cactus or a vegetable garden, testing out your green thumb has plenty of learning opportunities.

3. Conduct a Survey

If you鈥檙e looking to gain some number sense and analytical skills, try sending a survey to family and friends, then drawing conclusions from the results. You can even display your family鈥檚 favorite animals or ice cream flavors in a pie chart!

4. Watch a Documentary

Not only are documentaries great antidotes to stress, but you can learn something while you watch! There are engaging documentaries available about nature, space, history, musicians, and more.

5. Observe an Animal

Go outside and find an animal 鈥� a bird, insect, squirrel, or otherwise 鈥� and watch it for several minutes. What is it doing? Does it have cool adaptations? What do you think it eats?

6. Write (or Draw) a Story

We all have a story to tell! Whether you write about something that happened to you, your favorite historical figure, or something entirely fictional, flex your brain by thinking about how to tell the story in the most interesting way. Is there information you can wait to reveal to build suspense? Is there a joke that could make your readers laugh?

7. Learn a New Art Form

Now is a great time to learn how to weave, embroider, macrame, or paint. Anything can be art, and it鈥檚 so nice to take a break from screens to make something with your hands. Look online or head to a local craft store for inspiration!

8. Play a Strategy Game

优蜜视频 students love to play Connect 4, Sequence, Settlers of Catan, and Set. These and other games can help boost your logic skills even while you鈥檙e enjoying time with your family.

9. Cook or Bake

The culinary arts are full of chemistry and math! Pick out a recipe that uses ingredients you already have on-hand, then start measuring and mixing. What kind of physical and chemical reactions happen as you complete each step? How would you double the recipe?

10. Take a Virtual Museum Tour

We all miss walking around museums, but the next best thing is safely touring them from home. The , Amsterdam鈥檚 , and have virtual tours online.

How else have you been learning this year? Let us know in the comments!

I am a big fan of the that鈥檚 been happening the past few years. While I鈥檓 driving, walking or cooking, I can learn about new topics, catch up on the news of the week or listen as a team investigates a mysterious crime. We at 优蜜视频 have already covered some of the , so today I wanted to turn the focus toward podcasts about gifted learners. These are great resources for parents and educators supporting bright young minds.

James T. Webb, Ph.D. is a guest on this episode of this parenting video podcast hosted by Annie Fox, M.Ed. This episode focuses on the special needs of gifted kids and how their parents can help them understand and use their gifts well.

Prufrock Press produces a podcast for parents and educators of gifted children on topics such as learning options, differentiating instruction, and ability grouping.

The Mind Matters Podcast features discussions with leaders in the fields of psychology, education, and beyond, with an emphasis on gifted/talented and 2e (twice-exceptional) children and adults. Mind Matters explores parenting, counseling techniques, and best practices for enriching the lives of high-ability people.

As a grown up gifted kid herself, Dr. Aimee Yermish definitely 鈥済ets it.鈥� She coupled her lifetime of personal experience with a doctorate in psychology to build a highly successful practice working primarily with gifted and twice exceptional individuals. Drawing on her analytical background as a scientist and practical background as a teacher, she focuses on building self-understanding, self-regulation, and range of choice in life.

Presented by the National Association for Gifted Children, this podcast shares brief glimpses into what is happening in the worlds of research, policy and best practices, with the goal of helping those who support gifted children.

Heather and Jon of The Fringy Bit chat about all things 鈥渇ringy.鈥� Whether you or your child is gifted, on the autism spectrum, has sensory processing disorder, or other higher needs, the pair is there to provide comradery.

The popular blog in podcast form! Listen to find suggestions for encouraging your kids to be lifelong learners and helping your child see the world with fascination.

In this episode of Slate鈥檚 Schooled podcast, Sandy Darity, a researcher on giftedness at Duke, and Jeff Danielian, a Rhode Island teacher and giftedness advocate, discuss what giftedness means and how to best equitably identify bright young minds.

If you have a resource you鈥檇 like to share, please include it in the comments down below for other readers to consider! For additional resources appropriate for the gifted learner from preschool through high school, visit 优蜜视频鈥檚 online .

I take it as true that a high percentage of American optimists out there still believe social and economic upward mobility is possible. The American Dream. The belief that if you start at the bottom, you can 鈥� through hard work and a can-do attitude 鈥� make a vertical leap and change your life significantly.

But is this true of the country we live in today? Over the past century, researchers and academics have attempted to understand upward mobility in America, to make sense of what seems like a stasis of migration between classes and a real lack of resources for those who might need them most. In a 2014 article, James Surowiecki, staff writer at The New Yorker, wrote about . Surowiecki references a study co-conducted by researchers at Berkeley and Harvard that revealed: 鈥淪ocial mobility is low and has been for at least thirty or forty years鈥� Seventy percent of people born into the bottom quintile of income distribution never make it into the middle class鈥�.

This question of mobility becomes more complex when you consider the gifted kids at the bottom of the ladder. There is a myth alive and well in American culture that individuals with a natural intellectual ability and prowess somehow have a 鈥渓eg up鈥� in life. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e smart; they鈥檒l be fine.鈥� As though gifted kids are somehow invulnerable to the ordinary woes of childhood and adolescence, not to mention the difficulties most gifted children experience with regards to social and emotional development, anxiety, fear of failure, perfectionism, and depression 鈥� to name a few.

Another point worth considering is the fundamental relationship between learning and challenge. All children deserve to be challenged 鈥� even gifted kids. The foundation of learning is growth, a measurable change in behavior and comprehension through challenge and experience. For gifted kids, the process of learning is often an atypical feature of their everyday classroom experience. And for these kids, learning is crucial to their sense of well-being and place in the world.

Maybe this is why the dropout rate among gifted students is estimated at almost 25 percent. Because the myth that says, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e smart; you鈥檒l make it鈥� fails to take these facts into consideration. Add to this the disappointing truth that , and we鈥檝e got a problem worth talking about.

This is what Malcolm Gladwell, best-selling author of books like Blink and The Tipping Point, discusses in his new podcast, , a podcast dedicated to going back and reinterpreting something from the past which was overlooked or misunderstood. In a recent three-part installment on the American education system, Gladwell asks important questions about the system as it stands and how, if at all, it supports this idea of upward mobility. Can those at the bottom really rise to the top? Is the system set up to help students succeed – even the 鈥渟mart鈥� kids?

The first episode of the series tells the story of a kid named Carlos. A math-loving kid from a small, disadvantaged enclave of West Los Angeles, Carlos was identified for his exceptional ability by a local nonprofit organization, the ,聽a group dedicated to maintaining America鈥檚 promise of equal opportunity for equal talent. Supported by YES, Carlos is able to attend an elite private school with challenging curriculum and advanced learning opportunities. But even with the support and advocacy of YES, life isn鈥檛 easy. As Gladwell probes beneath the surface, the listener is confronted with hard truths about the experience of kids like Carlos in America.

I should qualify: I am definitely not saying that gifted聽kids born into money don鈥檛 also deserve to be challenged, receive a transformative聽education, or be encouraged to reach their fullest potential. Every child deserves to be challenged. Every gifted child deserves (and needs) to be challenged.聽 The point of Gladwell鈥檚 podcast and this blog is not to shame those with more resources 鈥� like time or money 鈥撀� or imply that gifted kids from wealthy backgrounds have things easier. The focus of this conversation is whether upward mobility is as common as we would like to believe. Being smart doesn鈥檛 guarantee success, especially if you are a kid like Carlos. The greater the gap, the greater the need for resources to leverage the playing field and help these brilliant students tap into their academic and personal potential.

To hear this episode of Malcolm Gladwell鈥檚 podcast,聽Revisionist History,聽visit their website at: . You can also access all three episodes of Gladwell鈥檚 inquiry into the American education system (which I highly recommend) directly on their site.聽

Like the Institute for Educational Advancement (优蜜视频), YES is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing advocacy, support, and resources for our nation鈥檚 most promising students. For more information about Young Eisner Scholars and the incredible work they are doing in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Appalachia, visit them online at: .

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