1. Write a poem or story about science.

Get writing! Tell a story about your favorite scientist as dramatically as you can, write poetry about a cool science fact, or describe a feat of engineering using your most vivid vocabulary.

2. Teach your family about something you love.

The best way to learn something deeply is to teach it. Turn your family members into your students and tell them all about something you鈥檝e learned recently whether it鈥檚 how to build the best paper airplane or how a chemical reaction works.

3. Create nature art.

Make a leaf rubbing, stick sculpture, or tower of balanced pebbles to integrate both sides of your brain.

4. Invent something to solve a problem.

What鈥檚 something you wish were easier? Design something to meet a need, starting with a blueprint and working toward a prototype.

5. Test your brain with riddles.

Find challenging riddles on or elsewhere, then attempt to solve them with your family.

6. Head to the library.

Ask a librarian to help you find books about STEAM at your reading level. Reading is a wonderful way to find a new interest!

7. Ask questions.

STEAM is all about asking creative questions and trying to find answers. Observe the world around you and keep a list of questions you come up with throughout the day: How do stoplights work? Why do some trees lose their leaves and not others? Then work with an adult to find the answers.

8. Build something using recycled materials.

Gather items you normally would have thrown away 鈥� packaging, receipts, dried-out pen, etc. 鈥� and see what you can build out of the items!

9. Interview a scientist.

If you were a scientist, what kind of scientist would you be? Research to find someone who has your dream job, then write them a letter or email asking them about their work and how they got to be where they are.

10. See what 优蜜视频 offerings are coming up!

If you鈥檙e local to the Pasadena area, check out our upcoming workshops (7^th-10^th grade), check back for the Spring schedule of classes (K-8^th grade) in a couple of weeks or mark your calendars for when the (10^th-12^th grade) externship program application goes live!

Celebrating a different way? Comment below!

An article from the TED-Ed Blog titled (1) by Sir Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica recently caught my eye and led me to research more on the topic of the arts and their benefits to gifted children. As a dancer, my immediate thought was, 鈥淥f course dance is just as important as math!鈥� I know firsthand how it has positively shaped and affected my life both personally and academically.

Robinson and Aronica鈥檚 blog post is an argument for equity in educating the whole child, and the equal importance of dance and physical activity with the other arts, languages, mathematics, sciences and the humanities in the general education of every child. 优蜜视频 also practices the , which emphasizes each child鈥檚 potential as a whole person, rather than focusing on one specific area of talent or ability. There is more to gifted children than high test scores and academic achievement.

As stated in the article, math is intimately involved with the dynamics of dance, and dance can help restore joy and stability in troubled lives, along with easing the tensions in schools disrupted by violence and bullying. Dance and physical education also have important benefits for students鈥� social relationships, promoting many of the personal qualities that employers recognize as essential in a collaborative, adaptable workforce.

A guest blog post from on National Society for Gifted and Talented titled 鈥�4 benefits of introducing the arts to your gifted child鈥� (2) states that the arts:

1. Uncovers hidden talents
2. Reinforces learning in other subject areas
3. Provides a safe environment for mastering social skills
4. Relieves stress and promotes relaxation

The also holds a positive stance on (3). NAGC believes that arts education is fundamental to an appropriate education for gifted and talented learners and should be addressed through domain-specific opportunities and authentic integration across the curriculum. The arts offer students a way of thinking that is not available in other disciplines. Additionally, 优蜜视频 has many Scholars and alumni who are dancers and artists.

We at 优蜜视频 encourage students to pursue any interest in the arts and use them as a tool for a new challenge or as an opportunity to think in a different way. Check out our online to discover more articles, media and gifted programs and services on the subject.

Do you have a gifted child active in the arts? Share any resources and/or stories of gifted children and the arts in the comments below!

References:

鈥淏yrdseed is all about better understanding our gifted learners. Stick around and you鈥檒l learn how to differentiate lessons, teach across the content areas, and appreciate gifted kids鈥� unique social and emotional needs.鈥�

鈥淚 am Vi Hart! I am a real person, and I make videos and virtual reality and other things. Sorry about the bright yellow. It amuses me. This is my personal website, not some 鈥榁i Hart brand Websperience鈥� created for your enjoyment or education or whatever.鈥�

鈥淏ASIC-256 is an easy to use version of BASIC designed to teach anybody (especially middle and high-school students) the basics of computer programming. It uses traditional control structures like gosub, for/next, and goto, which helps kids easily see how program flow-control works. It has a built-in graphics mode which lets them draw pictures on screen in minutes, and a set of detailed, easy-to-follow tutorials that introduce programming concepts through fun exercises.鈥�

鈥淭he Kid Should See This is a growing library of smart & super-cool, 鈥榥ot-made-for-kids, but perfect for them鈥� videos that can be watched in the classroom or together at home. Enjoy 8-12 new vids each week, and search 3,000+ videos in the archives, curated by me, Rion Nakaya, with help from my 6 & 9 year olds.鈥�

鈥淭ED-Ed is TED鈥檚 youth and education initiative. TED-Ed鈥檚 mission is to spark and celebrate the ideas of teachers and students around the world.鈥�

The series was specifically recommended.

鈥淚n an age where everything seems to have been explored and there is nothing new to be found, we celebrate a different way of looking at the world. If you’re searching for miniature cities, glass flowers, books bound in human skin, gigantic flaming holes in the ground, bone churches, balancing pagodas, or homes built entirely out of paper, the Atlas Obscura is where you’ll find them.鈥�

鈥淐overing the outer reaches of space to the tiniest microbes in our bodies, Science Friday is the source for entertaining and educational stories about science, technology, and other cool stuff.鈥�

鈥淭he School of Life is a place that tries to answer the great questions of life. We believe in developing emotional intelligence. We are based online and in 12 physical hubs around the world, including London, Melbourne, Istanbul and Seoul.鈥�

鈥淢ensa for Kids offers a variety of online resources for exceptionally bright youth.鈥�

鈥淕iftedness: Everything parents, educators, administrators, counselors, psychologists, and gifted children & teens need to know, including articles and research.鈥�

What would you add to the list?

Like this post?聽聽to receive more stories, information, and resources about gifted youth straight to your inbox.

In this day and age of technology, more and more web-based resources are becoming available at our fingertips. Apple鈥檚 iTunes App Store, for example, has hundreds of applications specifically geared towards children鈥檚 learning and enrichment. Likewise, more e-learning websites are cropping up all over the Internet, offering a seemingly endless amount of educational lessons and tutorials in the form of short videos. Such educational resources are great for homeschoolers, teachers looking for ways to differentiate in their classrooms, and the life-long learner in all of us. While some parents may frown upon the use of web-based videos as a learning tool for their kids, I believe that these can be great resources for supplementing one鈥檚 education when used in moderation.

Some of the benefits of e-learning include:

• The freedom to discover and explore. With all of the information available online, your child has the opportunity to discover new subjects and delve deeper into topics that interest him or her.
• The freedom to learn at his or her own pace. Your child also has the freedom to decide on the pace of learning based on his or her ability in any one subject. In regards to videos specifically, your child has the freedom to control (literally) the speed of the lesson by pausing, rewinding, and fast-forwarding through content if he or she desires to review or skip specific segments of a lesson.
• The freedom to learn practically anywhere at any time. Since these are web-based resources, your child can learn anywhere you have access to the Internet and a computer or mobile device and at times that are most convenient to your family鈥檚 schedule.

With all of these benefits of e-learning in mind, I did a little research of my own to pinpoint which websites out there are the most gifted kid-friendly. Each of these websites is devoted to providing accessible, user-friendly educational tools; and best of all, these resources are free to the public! So here are my picks. Enjoy!

3.

NeoK12 is a website that offers educational videos and lessons, including games and quizzes, specifically geared to Kindergarten through 12th grade students. According to its mission, NeoK12 promotes learning through educational videos because they 鈥渂elieve that kids learn best when they 鈥榮ee鈥� how things work, when, where and why they happen.鈥� Through its comprehensive collection of videos, kids can learn about areas of study such as geography, social studies, physical science, English, math, and the human body. The site even hosts segments of the Discovery Channel show How It鈥檚 Made.

My picks:

• 鈥� Learn about the properties of the four fundamental states of matter: solid, gas, liquid, and plasma!
• 鈥� Check out this lesson on how our organs, vessels, and muscles work together in our bodies鈥� circulatory systems.
• And for fun,

2.

Khan Academy seeks to 鈥渉elp you learn what you want, when you want, at your own pace鈥� via video tutorials and lessons. It currently hosts a library of over 4,200 videos on topics ranging from chemistry, physics, trigonometry, and even humanities.

Students can create their own profiles to track their activities and earn achievement patches and badges, while parents can track their child鈥檚 progress over time. There is also a community aspect to this website, where students can ask questions about a concept they didn鈥檛 understand and have them answered by other Khan Academy students.

My picks:

• 鈥� Get an introduction to one of the coolest numbers in math! It also informed the .
• 鈥� Learn about the nuts and bolts of our DNA in this video about cells, chromosomes, and genes.

To learn more about the origins of Khan Academy, view creator, Salman Khan鈥檚 TEDTalk, .

1.

An offshoot of TEDTalks, TED-Ed delivers 鈥淟essons worth sharing鈥� through brief videos on topics ranging from the arts and literature to mathematics and psychology. Each lesson also includes multiple choice and open-ended questions for your child to engage with the content, as well as a 鈥淒ig Deeper鈥� section, which provides additional information and resources for your child to further explore the topic.

My picks:

• 鈥� Learn about how the invention of the train shaped the invention of standardized time zones.
• 鈥� Check out this fascinating video on bacteria and its chemical language!

(Please note that 优蜜视频 is not in any way affiliated with Apple, Inc., NeoK12, Khan Academy, or TED. We just wanted to share some of the great resources we鈥檝e found with you!)

What鈥檚 your child鈥檚 favorite online resource? Please share in the comment section below.

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