Helping Gifted Children Soar: A Practical Guide for Parents and Teachers by Carol Ann Strip

Helping Gifted Children Soar: A Practical Guide for Parents and Teachers by Carol Ann Strip
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book when I first started teaching Addie and read it again in December.  The information in the first chapters which discuss the gifted child's unique learning style has proved to be true.  My granddaughter does most of the things mentioned.  For example, being able to picture lists of vocabulary words in her head and check them off as they appear in an oral test, unusual reasoning processes and the ability to synthesize information and apply it to other situations.

The rest of the book deals with getting a gifted child's needs met in the public school setting.  In almost every example of a problem and possible solution I found that homeschooling eliminated the problem.  For example, we are able to make all my granddaughter's work appropriately challenging and are able to present work that she doesn't like to do in a way that makes it more interesting.  We have included Home Economics as a hobby/subject and it provides us with an infinite number of math reasoning, creativity, understanding and writing complicated step-by-step instructions as well as a vehicle for creativity.

As suggested in the book, we are able to teach units such as Opera, Self discipline, Political Science (in an election year), and reading units based on classical literature which preserves the interest level of a child with the vocabulary and history of a much older student.

I recommend this book to parents who have a gifted child and choose to stay in the public school system.  There are many solutions to the most common problems and give a reasonable approach to dealing with school officials in a reasonable manner.


View all my reviews