If you have a student in the elementary school gifted cluster, you will be invited to a curriculum night meeting with your building's Gifted Specialist. Curriculum Night for elementary schools is Thursday, September 4. Visit the BPS101 Elementary Gifted Blog for the Gifted Handbook and more information about each specialist.

Have you seen ... ?

• This blog entry by Ben Hildebrand, Quest Academy Head of School, examines the phenomenon of underachievement in gifted students and what experts tell us we can do to help these students.
• Does the start of the school year fill your gifted teen with dread? He or she is not alone. Psychologist Gail Post, PhD, writes about the worries most commonly expressed by gifted students and how parents can help. Read the article to learn more.
• Educator, author, and advocate for the gifted Jim DeLisle, PhD, offers suggestions for how to respond to commonly heard misconceptions about gifted students and gifted education. Find the blog post here.
• Over the summer, The New York Times ran a "Room for Debate" feature on how NYC public schools should handle gifted education. Read the competing perspectives here.
  

Looking for stuff to do this summer?

• Fermilab has a number of science-related summer workshops for K-8 students. The workshops last between one and four days. Go to Fermilab's Science Adventures page to see all the offerings and learn more.

• The Batavia Robotics Club has fun summer Lego Robotics camps for kids from grades 1-12. See the options at their website.
• Do you have a child who likes to read? You can find recommended reading lists arranged by subject of interest at Hoagies' Gifted Ed Page here. There are a number of other readings lists available on an earlier blog post. To find them, click on the "reading" tag on the right sidebar.
  
  

See March 18 post below for a list of other local summer programs. They might still have openings!

Have you seen ... ?

• This article on Mind/Shift, "For Frustrated Gifted Kids, a World of Online Opportunities," describes various online options enjoyed by gifted learners looking for more.

• The Spring 2014 CTD Newsletter focuses on twice-exceptional students.

• The Davidson Institute brings us this Q & A from Tamra Stambaugh, a researcher in gifted education at Vanderbilt, that explores the impact of the Common Core on gifted education.

Thank you to all who attended the March 24 seminar co-sponsored by CANDO and BPS101. Liz Selander Hutchins' presentation, “How Well Do You Know Your Gifted Child?” identified a cluster of characteristics common to gifted learners, dispelled prevalent myths about gifted students, and provided a number of suggestions and strategies to work successfully with and nurture this unique population of students. In addition, Ms. Hutchins shared valuable insights from her many years of experience working with gifted students while teaching at BPS101, and invited parent discussion to share strategies that have helped their children with some of the challenges associated with giftedness. We hope you were able to join us and benefit from Ms. Hutchins' considerable expertise.

Below are links to some of the books and resources that she mentioned.

• Genius Denied by Jan and Bob Davidson
• Some of My Best Friends Are Books by Judith Wynn Halsted
• articles by Sylvia Rimm on giftedness and underachievement

We hope to offer more such seminars in the future!    

Upcoming events and deadlines:

• The schedule is out for Northern Illinois University's STEM weekend events for kids, recommended for 4th grade and up. Events take place on Saturdays in DeKalb and Naperville through December. Click here for more information.

• IAGC's Parent Academy offers an afternoon of talks and round table discussions entitled "Throw Your Arms Around Gifted Children," covering a range of issues for parents of gifted children, on November 16 from 12-4:30. The location is close by, at the Da Vinci Academy in Elgin. Click here for the details and registration information.

Have you seen … ?

• A recent article discusses the relationship of gifted education and implementation of the common core.
• The new newsletter from NUMATS is available. The link is at this website on the left menu under "announcements." This fall's newsletter features an article entitled "Problem-Based Learning 101."
• In a recent podcast on Spotlite Radio, Susan Winebrenner, author of Teaching Gifted Kids in Today's Classroom and The Cluster Grouping Handbook, talks about the challenges facing gifted education and some solutions to those issues.
• The Brilliant Blog by writer Annie Murphy Paul discusses articles and current research on intelligence and learning.

In addition to the CANDO Back to School Picnic on August 19, there are a number of events and deadlines coming up as the start of school approaches:
 

• Illinois Association for Gifted Children (IAGC) and National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) call to action: Consider advocating for the federal TALENT act.
• Weekend enrichment is available in Elgin, Naperville, and at other sites via The Center for Gifted fall weekend workshops.
• IAGC's Carol Morreale Scholarship provides an award of $1000 to a bright student in need. Application deadline is September 1.
• Northwestern University's Midwest Academic Talent Search (NUMATS) has a September 1 deadline for some of the courses available as Gifted Learning Links (GLL), online classes for students in grades K-12.
• The NAGC conference will take place in Indianapolis, November 7-10, 2013, with a parents' day in addition to events for educators and professionals.

Have you seen … ?

• Ian Byrd's blog post, "Three Ways Teachers Battle Students' Giftedness," cites research to support appropriate classroom practices for teaching gifted learners. How do our children learn best?
  
• A podcast series from Prufrock Press is devoted to issues of gifted and talented education.
• Tamara Fisher's blog Unwrapping the Gifted is a good resource for a teacher's insights into the education and nurturing of gifted students, and for advocacy issues surrounding gifted education.