Next Meeting:

Speaker: Louise Hindle
Thursday, May 1, 2014
6:30 pm鈥�8:00 pm

Institute for Educational Advancement
569 South Marengo Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91101

Educational discourse and pedagogy seems fascinated with personalized learning. We see it embedded in the Race to the Top Campaign, we see it interwoven in discussions about the effective use of technology in the classroom; what, however, does it mean in policy and practice for gifted students? This talk will conceptualize personalized learning and define some best fit teaching for learning strategies for gifted 2nd through 8th graders.

Louise Hindle is 优蜜视频’s 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. She is also the parent of three fun and active school-aged children.

Register for the May meeting! (Event has since ended)

Full 2013-2014 Schedule (subject to change):

The Middle & High School Selection Process
Speaker: Bonnie Raskin
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
6:30 pm鈥�8:00 pm

优蜜视频 Learning Center
625 Fair Oaks Avenue, Suite 288
South Pasadena, CA 91030

Bonnie will be addressing the various steps in the middle and high school selection process, including:

• How to find schools that are the right 鈥渇it鈥� for your child
• What goes on at various events such as Open Houses, Shadow Visits, and interviews
• Ways to familiarize yourself with a school above and beyond formal visits
• How to prepare for an interview
• How to enlist and secure strong letters of recommendation

About the Speaker:
Bonnie Raskin is 优蜜视频鈥檚 Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship (CDB) Program Coordinator. She has worked in the admissions offices of multiple Los Angeles area private schools. Working with the CDB program, she offers extensive support to a group of middle school students each year as they apply to and select their CDB high schools.

Addressing the Elephant in the Room: How to Talk About Giftedness
Special Guest Speakers: Sharon Duncan & Dr. Joanna Haase
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
6:30 pm鈥�8:00 pm

South Pasadena Public Library Community Room*
1115 El Centro Street
South Pasadena, CA 91030

Why is it so difficult to talk about gifted? Parents, educators, and politicians resist discussing the needs of gifted children due to fears of being perceived as elitist. This reluctance adversely impacts gifted students in terms of funding, development of services, and willingness of parents to seek out support for their gifted children. This session explores America鈥檚 views and discomfort with giftedness, why it exists, and how we can work collectively to change the misperceptions.

About Sharon Duncan:
Sharon Duncan is the co-founder of Gifted Identity. She provides consulting support to parents, teachers, schools, and districts to help them meet the needs of gifted children. Sharon also consults on homeschooling, decisions, options, and concerns. Sharon is a SENG Model Parent Group facilitator and serves on the Mensa Youth Programming Committee. She spent 26 years working at NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory before leaving to homeschool her son. Sharon has served on the Board of Trustees of a private K-8 school and as President of the School Site Council at a public elementary school. Sharon regularly presents at schools, school districts, organizations, and state and national conferences on various topics about gifted children.

About Joanna L. Haase:
Joanna Haase, Ph.D., MFT, is a psychotherapist in Pasadena, California, with over 20 years of experience working with gifted individuals and their families. Dr. Haase specializes in eating disorders, anxiety, and depression and is the president and co-founder of California Gifted Network. Partnering with school districts throughout California, Dr. Haase works to educate parents, teachers, and administrators on how to better support gifted and talented students.

Parenting Precocious Kids: Understanding the Ups and Downs of Growing Up Gifted
Special Guest Speaker: Dr. Jim Delisle
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
6:30 pm鈥�8:00 pm

South Pasadena Public Library Community Room*
1115 El Centro Street
South Pasadena, CA 91030

Parents of gifted children and teens have many questions about how best to meet their intellectual and emotional needs. They want to know what giftedness is and the label鈥檚 impact on other family members. They want to know how to advocate for their gifted child in a school setting mired in 鈥渂ringing up the bottom鈥� rather than 鈥渞aising the bar鈥� at the top. They want to know how to set expectations that are appropriate and attainable. And they want to know how to juggle the wide range of emotional intensities that often 鈥渃omes with the territory鈥� in raising gifted kids.

Dr. James (Jim) Delisle has taught gifted children and those who work on their behalf for more than 35 years. Jim retired from Kent State University in 2008 after 25 years of service there as a professor of special education. Throughout his career, Jim has taken time away from college teaching to return to his 鈥渃lassroom roots鈥�, volunteering as a 2nd, 4th, 5th and 8th grade teacher. Too, Jim taught gifted middle school students one day a week in the Twinsburg, Ohio Public Schools. Currently, Jim works part-time with highly-gifted 9th and 10th graders at the Scholars’ Academy in Conway, South Carolina. The author of more than 250 articles and 19 books, Jim鈥檚 work has been translated into multiple languages and has been featured in both professional journals and in popular media, such as The New York Times, People Magazine, and on Oprah!

Feeding The Mind & Heart of Gifted Children
Speaker: Elizabeth Jones, 优蜜视频 President & Co-Founder
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
6:30 pm鈥�8:00 pm

South Pasadena Public Library Community Room*
1115 El Centro Street
South Pasadena, CA 91030

The integration of intellectual, physical, social, spiritual, and emotional aspects of self are crucial in a gifted child鈥檚 development. This talk will explore Dabrowski鈥檚 theory of overexcitabilities and how it connects to supporting the development of the whole child. The theory and practice will demonstrate that, as powerful as the mind of a gifted child is, it will not develop fully without nurturing the heart.

Programs for Gifted Kids
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
6:30 pm鈥�8:00 pm

Institute for Educational Advancement
569 South Marengo Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91101

Come learn about 优蜜视频’s programs for gifted youth! Get more information, ask questions, and find the right program for your gifted child.

College Selection & Admissions for Gifted Students
Speaker: Kate Duey, Certified College Consultant
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
6:30 pm鈥�8:00 pm

Institute for Educational Advancement
569 South Marengo Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91101

Kate will speak about the special issues facing gifted students and their families during the college search and application process. She has worked with 优蜜视频 supporting gifted students since 2009 and has a wealth of knowledge about their unique challenges and their wonderful potential. Kate has a BA from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She earned College Counseling Certification from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Speaker: Louise Hindle
Thursday, May 1, 2014
6:30 pm鈥�8:00 pm

Institute for Educational Advancement
569 South Marengo Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91101

Educational discourse and pedagogy seems fascinated with personalized learning. We see it embedded in the Race to the Top Campaign, we see it interwoven in discussions about the effective use of technology in the classroom; what, however, does it mean in policy and practice for gifted students? This talk will conceptualize personalized learning and define some best fit teaching for learning strategies for gifted 2nd through 8th graders.

Louise Hindle is 优蜜视频’s 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. She is also the parent of three fun and active school-aged children.

Register for the May meeting! (Event has since ended)

*This activity is not sponsored by the City of South Pasadena or the South Pasadena Public Library.

To receive more information about our Gifted Child Parent Support Groups as it becomes available, please sign up for our email list and be sure to include your zip code.

Gifted Children at Home

The innate characteristics of gifted children appear in both the classroom and at home. Two of these characteristics, as Sharon points out, are perfectionism and intense intellectual interest.

Perfectionism is a common trait among gifted children, and it can be quite a challenge to deal with at school and at home for both children and their parents. 鈥淟earning to fail and learning it is okay not to be perfect are some of the best gifts we can give these kids,鈥� Sharon explains. She suggests playing games of chance with your children to help them learn what it 鈥渇eels鈥� like not to win.

It is also important to teach our gifted children balance; but as Sharon points out, balance can be very difficult to achieve. Our children have deep, intense intellectual and/or creative interests, and they want to pour all of their energy into what they love doing. While this drive is part of their gift and may lead them to amazing success, they also need to learn how to calm themselves and how not to get themselves into overwhelming situations. Thus, Sharon suggests encouraging your kids to go out and do something physically active when they feel tense or allowing them some down time alone.

Gifted Children at School

Gifted children often encounter many challenges in the traditional school. Some of these challenges arise because schools are designed for the developmentally average child 鈥� and your gifted child is definitely not average 鈥� and some challenges result from teachers who, through no fault of their own, have been less exposed to gifted students and do not know how to recognize or accommodate their unique needs. These kids are a population often ignored by teacher training programs and misunderstood by the population at large. So, it is important to understand some of the unique challenges of gifted children and a few of the ways to assist gifted children in dealing with them.

Sharon stresses the importance of teachers understanding the difference between 鈥済ifted鈥� and 鈥渉igh-achieving鈥� children. Unlike the high-achieving child, 鈥淵our child can be many different ages at the same time, and that age can turn on a dime,鈥� Sharon explains. This will affect your child鈥檚 behavior in a classroom. Understanding gifted children 鈥� including asynchronous development and the intensities commonly found in the gifted 鈥� will help teachers see the root of issues in the classroom more clearly.

If gifted children are receiving appropriate accommodations in class, they generally are able to thrive emotionally and socially. Sometimes gifted children are especially sensitive to issues of fairness and justice, especially when prizes are awarded or when teachers are publicly charting progress. After all, it takes much longer to read a book at the sixth grade level than one at the first grade level. When a child feels that something isn鈥檛 fair in class, it is important to correct the situation so that the child does not hide his or her advanced abilities to get the easier assignment. One parent in the group shared that she thought it was really important and valuable when her daughter advocated for herself with the teacher, sharing why she thought something was unfair and asking for it to be corrected.

Recess can also be a huge struggle for gifted children at school, as Sharon describes. Gifted children tend to value rules and order more than other children, so they often see recess as anarchy. No one enforces rules, kids are playing with the 鈥渨rong鈥� rules, and there is a lot of noise and overstimulation for those with sensual overexcitabilities. Sharon explains that, while many gifted kids are eventually able to deal with the playground as they get older, some younger children find it the most stressful part of the school day. If your child is having a hard time at recess, take it seriously and work with the school to see if your child can participate in alternate activities during recess until they are able to tolerate it. It is also important to note that because of overexcitabilities, lunchtime can produce similar problems.

Understanding 鈥淕ifted鈥�

Sharon feels that it is extremely important to talk with your child about what it feels like to be gifted. Gifted children know that they are different, and often, if you do not address this with them, they may internalize these differences, not understand why they are different, and believe that there is something wrong with them. Sharon emphasizes that one of the best things you can do is to ensure that your child is able to socialize with like minded peers. This helps them to understand that they are not alone, that there are others like them out there, and that it is okay to be different.

As the parent of a gifted child, it is also incredibly important for you to seek support from other parents of gifted children, Sharon encourages. The child development books do not apply to your child, and other people probably just don鈥檛 get it. Parents face a lot of judgment from relatives, friends, and other parents that comes from their misunderstanding of the nature of giftedness. Many of them think that you are babying or spoiling your kids, that you are pushing them too hard, that you have been 鈥渇lashcarding鈥� them since they were babies. But the reality is that your child is at a breaking point when the tags on his shirt feel like razor blades on his skin, and that your child is the one pushing herself too hard, not you, and that when your child was three he pulled a physics book off the shelf and started reading while you were in the other room making dinner. The life our kids are experiencing is not the same as what other parents often describe, and it is important for you as a parent to seek support from other parents who are going through situations similar to yours. Parent support groups are critical. It is important for you, too, to know you are not alone.

To be notified of future Gifted Child Parent Support Groups in the Los Angeles area, please contact us or sign up for our email newsletter and make sure to enter your zip code in the form.

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