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Why spend the extra time, money and effort it takes to have our child
involved in special programs for gifted children? by Dennis O’Brien The short answer is because it’s best for your child: There will be significant long-term outcomes as well as immediate positive benefits. Gifted children have unique ways of thinking and learning. In order for them to fully realize their potential, they must be challenged in ways not always possible in their regular classrooms. They need opportunities to interact with their intellectual peers and to be challenged and nurtured in programs designed to meet both their special academic and social needs. In addition to being challenged intellectually, they also need opportunities to develop healthy, well-rounded personalities based on character traits like cooperation, respect for others, persistence and trying things when they may not be the best. Immediate Benefits of a Gifted Program
Let’s start with how participation in special programs such as those offered by GRC and a diminishing number of school districts benefit academically talented students. • It "inoculates" them for survival in school. This is how one expert, Dr. Barbara A. Kerr, Williamson Family Distinguished Professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of Kansas, recently described the capacity of well designed programs for gifted students to offset the frustration they experience in uninspiring, tedious classes "dumbed-down" to help less talented students pass achievement tests mandated by the federal "No Child Left Behind" legislation. In other words, gifted programs prevent our most talented children from failing, settling for mediocrity, or giving up and dropping out. • It’s fun, and that’s more important than you may realize. Challenging, hands-on, non-graded high-interest programs engage academically talented students in the joy of discovery and inspire them to stretch themselves, focus their special talents and develop a problem-solving approach to learning. This shifts their focus from getting top grades or proving they are smarter than their peers to a healthy, long-term interest in learning for the right reasons and in the right ways. The "fun" keeps them motivated. • It helps develop important social skills. All too often gifted students don’t learn to work cooperatively with others because their intellectual prowess and instinctive focus on seeking approval from adults isolate them from less talented peers. This stunts their emotional and social development. That’s why GRC, for example, is very intentional in its emphasis on building the interpersonal skills academically talented students need for success, emphasizing cooperation and teamwork, and putting the focus on the process of learning rather than scores, tests or rankings. • It offers gifted children a chance to explore their personal passions. This is extremely important. Research suggests that the opportunity to develop passionate interests as children leads to academic success in college and outstanding achievements as adults. Why? The combination of developing character traits like persistence and intellectual traits like relentless curiosity about an area of interest enables them to see and seize on opportunities to excel in real life challenges. • It nurtures a sense of responsibility to use their gifts to benefit others in the community. Kerr’s research found that a well-designed gifted program helps a gifted child realize she has a responsibility to use her talents to enrich the world for others as well as to be successful herself. GRC teachers and curriculum foster this sense of responsibility, and the careers of GRC alumni demonstrate its effectiveness in doing so. This emphasis is as explicit as the focus of ECO Academy—learning how to achieve economic success while being ecologically responsible—and as routine as the ways GRC teachers stress collaboration, mutual respect and teamwork. Long-term Payoff
What are the long-term benefits? Just project your child’s short-term gains, and here’s what you find. As adults, children who have been involved in special, hands-on enrichment programs such as those GRC sponsors are more likely to be academic achievers, professionally successful, socially competent and better prepared to achieve their personal and professional goals. They are also much more likely to provide the leadership we need to make our communities better. That’s why special programs—such as those GRC offers—are worth the extra time, money and effort it takes to ensure your gifted child has every opportunity to thrive. For more information regarding Gifted Resource Council, please call the GRC office at 314-962-5920 or e-mail us at: info@giftedresourcecouncil.org. |
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