Gifted Young Children : A Guide for Teachers

Gifted Young Children is a comprehensive guide to identifying and working with young children with advanced development. Louise Porter shows how to identify gifted children aged 0 to 8 years and how to challenge them without pushing too hard. She suggests strategies for ensuring their emotional and social adjustment, including ways to enhance self-esteem, increase their resilience to stress and promote friendships. She provides guidelines for counselling children about their giftedness and shows how professionals can help families in their efforts to meet their children's needs. Different strategies for educating gifted young children are assessed, and issues faced by immigrant families with gifted children are also addressed.

Louise Porter lectures in the School of Special Education and Disability Studies at Flinders University in South Australia.

Figures

xiii

Tables

xiv

Acknowledgments

xv

A rationale for gifted education

1

(12)

Key points

1

(1)

Advocates for gifted education

2

(2)

But is it necessary to start so young?

4

(1)

Rationale for a focus on young children

5

(1)

The detractors

6

(3)

A proposed resolution

9

(1)

Early childhood gifted education

10

(1)

Conclusion

11

(1)

Suggested further reading

12

(1)

Discussion questions

12

(1)

The meaning of giftedness

13

(22)

Key points

13

(1)

Definitions of giftedness

13

(2)

The concept of intelligence

15

(2)

a single capacity

17

(1)

multiple capacities

18

(6)

information processing theory

24

(1)

qualitative differences

25

(2)

creativity definitions

27

(2)

the after-the-fact definitions

29

(2)

giftedness versus talent

31

(1)

other cultural views

32

(1)

Clarifying the terminology

32

(1)

Conclusion

33

(1)

Suggested further reading

33

(1)

Discussion questions

34

(1)

The making of talent

35

(17)

Key points

35

(1)

Introduction

36

(1)

Renzulli's three-ring model

36

(1)

Tannenbaum's psychosocial model

37

(3)

Sternberg and Lubart's creativity model

40

(1)

developmental model

41

(1)

Gagne's differentiated model of giftedness and talent

42

(1)

A proposed model

42

(8)

Conclusion

50

(1)

Suggested further reading

50

(1)

Discussion questions

50

(2)

Recognising advanced development in young children

52

(27)

Key points

52

(1)

Introduction

52

(1)

Common signs of advanced development in young children

53

(1)

Cognitive (thinking) skills

53

(10)

Speech and language skills

63

(1)

Motor abilities

64

(1)

Social skills

65

(2)

Emotional characteristics

67

(4)

Exceptionally gifted children

71

(2)

Prodigies

73

(4)

Summary

77

(1)

Conclusion

77

(1)

Suggested further reading

78

(1)

Discussion questions

78

(1)

Assessing developmental advances in young children

79

(28)

Key points

79

(1)

Introduction

80

(1)

Some key terms

80

(1)

Types of assessment error

81

(1)

Planning assessment

81

(3)

Principles of assessment

84

(1)

Difficulty of identifying gifted young children

85

(1)

Parental reports

86

(2)

Teacher observations

88

(2)

Structured observation

90

(1)

Checklists

90

(2)

Portfolios

92

(2)

Normed tests

94

(1)

Intelligence testing

94

(9)

A proposed assessment model

103

(2)

Conclusion

105

(1)

Suggested further reading

106

(1)

Discussion questions

106

(1)

Emotional adjustment of gifted children

107

(11)

Key points

107

(1)

Introduction

107

(1)

Debates about gifted children's emotional adjustment

108

(3)

The evidence about gifted children's emotional adjustment

111

(2)

Explanations for conflicting findings

113

(3)

Implications of the debate

116

(1)

Conclusion

116

(1)

Discussion questions

117

(1)

Gifted young children's self-esteem

118

(20)

Key points

118

(1)

Introduction

118

(1)

What is self-esteem?

119

(2)

Characteristics of individuals with a healthy self-esteem

121

(1)

Signs of low self-esteem

122

(1)

Effects of low self-esteem

123

(1)

Self-esteem of gifted children

124

(2)

Methods to enhance self-esteem

126

(10)

Conclusion

136

(1)

Suggested further reading

136

(1)

Discussion questions

137

(1)

Promoting resilience in gifted young children

138

(14)

Key points

138

(1)

Introduction

138

(1)

Definitions

139

(3)

Stress and gifted children

142

(1)

Sources of stress for gifted young children

143

(1)

Protective factors

144

(2)

Methods to promote resilience

146

(4)

Conclusion

150

(1)

Suggested further reading

151

(1)

Discussion questions

151

(1)

Meeting gifted young children's social needs

152

(16)

Key points

152

(1)

Introduction

152

(1)

Elements of friendships

153

(1)

Benefits of friendships

154

(1)

Effects of isolation

154

(1)

Social adjustment of gifted children

154

(3)

Social issues facing gifted young children

157

(3)

Social skill and social competence

160

(1)

Identifying socially at-risk children

161

(1)

Methods to promote social inclusion

162

(3)

Conclusion

165

(1)

Suggested further reading

166

(1)

Discussion questions

166

(2)

Meeting gifted young children's learning needs

168

(33)

Key points

168

(1)

Introduction

168

(1)

Aims of an early childhood curriculum

169

(1)

Educational challenges for gifted young children

169

(2)

Curriculum

171

(1)

Principles of curriculum planning

171

(1)

Curriculum differentiation

172

(3)

Environmental organisation

175

(8)

Curricular content

183

(5)

Teaching and learning processes

188

(6)

The marriage of content and process

194

(1)

Product

194

(2)

Use of computers

196

(1)

Exceptionally gifted children

197

(1)

Parent collaboration

197

(1)

Conclusion

198

(1)

Suggested further reading

199

(1)

Discussion questions

200

(1)

Teaching gifted children considerate behaviour

201

(25)

Key points

201

(1)

Introduction

201

(1)

Rationale for a focus on behaviour management

202

(1)

Types of disruptive behaviour

202

(1)

Behavioural difficulties of gifted children

203

(2)

Theories of behaviour management

205

(6)

Strengths and weaknesses of the theories

211

(3)

Criteria for evaluating the theories

214

(4)

Prevention of disruptive behaviour

218

(1)

Intervention: teaching children to behave considerately

218

(5)

Conclusion

223

(2)

Suggested further reading

225

(1)

Discussion questions

225

(1)

Children whose gifts are disguised

226

(28)

Key points

226

(1)

Introduction

227

(1)

Gifted girls

227

(2)

Gifted boys

229

(1)

Gifted children from minority cultures

229

(1)

Children in poverty

230

(1)

Rural children

231

(1)

Gifted underachievers

232

(3)

Gifted children with disabilities

235

(5)

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

240

(5)

Responding to the needs of atypical children

245

(6)

Conclusion

251

(1)

Suggested further reading

252

(1)

Discussion questions

252

(2)

Counselling gifted young children and their families

254

(19)

Key points

254

(1)

Introduction

254

(1)

Counselling goals for gifted children and their families

255

(1)

Counselling issues for gifted children

255

(3)

Suggestions for supporting gifted children

258

(4)

Issues for the family

262

(5)

Supporting the parents

267

(3)

Conclusion

270

(1)

Suggested further reading

271

(1)

Discussion questions

271

(2)

Formulating a policy on advanced learners

273

(7)

Key points

273

(1)

Introduction

273

(1)

Benefits of formal policies

274

(1)

Components of a policy

274

(4)

Conclusion

278

(1)

Suggested further reading

279

(1)

Discussion questions

279

(1)

Appendix I Checklists

280

(12)

Appendix II IQ tests

292

(14)

Bibliography

306

(38)

Index

344

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Gifted Young Children : A Guide for Teachers and Parents

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials