Being Smart About Gifted Learning

BEING SMART ABOUT GIFTED LEARNING:
EMPOWERING PARENTS AND KIDS THROUGH CHALLENGE AND CHANGE

DONA MATTHEWS, PH.D. AND JOANNE FOSTER, ED.D.

Foreword By Rena Subtonik

Introduction

SECTION I: BEING SMART ABOUT GIFTEDNESS

• Chapter 1. Perspectives and Paradigm Shifts
• Chapter 2. Creativity and Giftedness

SECTION II: BEING SMART ABOUT DIAGNOSING MISMATCHES

• Chapter 3. Questions and Answers about Testing
• Chapter 4. Assessments and Tests
• Chapter 5: Mismatch Diagnostics: Labeling Learning Needs, Not People

SECTION III: BEING SMART ABOUT MEETING GIFTED LEARNING NEEDS

• Chapter 6: Differentiation: Meeting Gifted Learning Needs in the Regular Classroom
• Chapter 7: Other Options: Stretching the Boundaries

SECTION IV: BEING SMART ABOUT GIFTED DEVELOPMENT

• Chapter 8. Motivation and Achievement
• Chapter 9: Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Considerations
• Chapter 10: How Does Giftedness Develop? (And What Role Do Parents Play?)

SECTION V: BEING SMART ABOUT CHANGING REALITIES IN GIFTED EDUCATION

• Chapter 11: Parents and Teachers: Supporting Children’s Gifted Learning Together
• Chapter 12: Optimal Learning for All Children

Endnotes
References
Index
About the Authors

Being Smart About Gifted Learning

A few excerpts from the book

(Click to view them all)

Ignite Your Ideas – Back Cover

Book Club Ideas for

Being Smart about Gifted Learning:
Empowering Parents and Kids Through Challenge and Change

by Dona Matthews & Joanne Foster

Consider these excerpts from Being Smart about Gifted Learning. How do you see them applying in your own family?

1. Each child needs “learning opportunities that challenge them sufficiently and appropriately, along with the right kinds of guidance and support, so they can meet and enjoy those challenges, and feel good about themselves at home and at school.” From Chapter 1, “Perspectives and Paradigm Shifts”

2. “Creative parenting means welcoming problems as possibilities, as ways of identifying what you can do better. It means pushing beyond your comfort zone, being open to new ideas, and inventing new ways of doing things.” From Chapter 2, “Creativity and Giftedness”

3. “The only good reason to test gifted learning needs is to figure out how to better meet those needs, putting the focus on diagnosing possible mismatches, rather than on categorizing children as gifted (and not).” From Chapter 3, “Questions and Answers About Testing”

4. “Rather than seeing IQ as a true measure of a person’s intelligence, it’s more accurate to see it as describing an individual’s functioning at a certain time on a certain number of specific tasks.” From Chapter 4, “Assessments and Tests”

5. “As much as possible, the Optimal Match approach avoids categorizing some children as gifted (and some therefore as not gifted), and instead focuses on identifying individual children’s subject-specific gifted learning needs.” From Chapter 5, “Mismatch Diagnostics: Labeling Learning Needs, Not People”

6. “Every child wants to learn. They yearn to be engaged and to have their time in school feel useful and relevant. Those who arrive already knowing big chunks of the curriculum won’t be doing much learning without some kind of change to what’s normally taught, or how it’s taught.” From Chapter 6, “Meeting Gifted Learning Needs in the Regular Classroom”

7. “A range of options that can nurture high-level development…can be made available in regular classrooms. The objective is to find a good match between the learning needs of your child, and the range of learning opportunities that are available, thinking as broadly as possible.” From Chapter 7, “Other Options: Stretching the Boundaries”

8. “Recent research points to three recommendations for motivating continued engagement in learning: 1.) Match tasks to each child’s ability and interests; 2.) Support students’ autonomy; and 3.) Create an environment that’s warm, welcoming, inclusive, and accepting.” From Chapter 8, “Motivation and Achievement”

9. “By providing a dependable environment, and modeling effective coping skills and good problem-solving attitudes, you can go a long way toward helping your child respond effectively to adversity and acquire the emotional resilience they’ll need for making the most of their abilities.” From Chapter 9, “Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Considerations”

10. “A person’s intelligence is a result of early nurturing experiences, the surrounding cultural milieu, educational paths and circumstances, life events, and other factors, all interwoven with inherited genetic patterns, and organized by the individual as an active agent in creating their own intelligence.” From Chapter 10, “How Does Giftedness Develop? (And What Role Do Parents Play?”

11. “Successful advocacy can be thought of as a problem-finding and problem-solving process…Gifted advocacy occurs on various levels, from individual parents working toward more appropriate programming for their own child, to a concerned group improving the way an entire district deals with gifted education.” From Chapter 11, “Parents and Teachers: Supporting Children’s Gifted Learning Together

12. “We hope you’ll continue being smart about gifted learning, open to the wealth of opportunities available for encouraging and supporting gifted-level development in those children and adolescents with whom you work, live, and share the richness of life.” From Chapter 12, “Optimal Learning for All Children”

Alternatively,

Consider these recommendations for supporting gifted learning. (They appear on pp. 294-295 of Being Smart about Gifted Learning.) How are you already implementing them, or choosing to do something different?

1. Create an environment of predictable stability and support.
2. Provide a variety of age-appropriate play materials, thinking about as many domains of development as possible (including physical, musical, social, mathematical, linguistic, and visual/ spatial).
3. Play with your child.
4. Encourage them to have an attitude of playful exploration. Model that attitude yourself.
5. Listen to your child.
6. Respond enthusiastically to your child’s interests.
7. Respect your child’s personhood, including their feelings and opinions.
8. Provide opportunities for them to learn what they can do, letting them stumble and fail, within reason.
9. Help them think about what they want to do next.
10. Offer guidance, support, and encouragement as needed.
11. Help your child set reachable goals.
12. Help them learn to take setbacks in stride, asking what they can do differently next time.

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►   Parents and Optimal Match

►   Teachers and Optimal Match

►   Students and Optimal Match

►   Psychologists and Optimal Match

Read The Full Review!

Child development professionals Matthews and Foster expound on gifted education in this third, revised edition of their guide for parents.

Early in the first section of this work, the authors assert that the term gifted is frequently misunderstood to mean that a child is “born with the ability to learn everything.” Instead, Matthews and Foster believe in the concept of an “Optimal Match,” in which educational opportunities match up with a child’s “current level in a given subject area.” They explore this notion in detail in subsequent sections, which note how a child may have above-average aptitude in some areas and not others. Section II directly addresses how to diagnose “mismatches,” with several insightful and useful chapters highlighting the differences between standardized tests, which, by design, “cannot reflect the authentic, interactive, and dynamic nature of learning,” and assessments, which include “observation, listening, [and] dialogue.” In this section, the authors point out that children shouldn’t be labeled as gifted themselves; rather, their “gifted learning needs” should be identified and addressed. Especially pertinent are examples of conversations between parents and children about the implications of being labeled gifted.

The clear emphasis in the third section is on how to meet children’s educational needs; here, the authors offer specific, practical suggestions for teachers to use in classrooms as well as clearly explained alternative options, such as home-schooling. In Section IV, Matthews and Foster turn their attention to such topics as motivation, achievement, social and behavioral considerations, and the roles that parents play in developing children’s abilities. Section V effectively puts all the previous sections into a real-world context; for example, the authors discuss how parents and teachers can work together and the reasons why parents need to be advocates for their children. Throughout the book, Matthews and Foster usefully cite numerous sources, including new research published since the last edition, and offer relevant anecdotes to validate their arguments.

An authoritative, up-to-date, and comprehensive manual!

What is the target audience for this book?

Being Smart, 3rd Edition is well-suited for parents, teachers, psychologists, and other professionals who are interested in children’s learning and well-being, The book is comprehensive AND reader-friendly, with material that’s applicable for those who live and/or work with children from cradle to college.

What is the main focus of this book?

The focus is on finding an “Optimal Match” for children and teens so that they can maximize their learning opportunities, and engage in meaningful educational experiences at school, home, or wherever they might be. Being Smart about Gifted Learning is a fully updated version of the authors’ previous two Being Smart books, and there’s plentiful information about giftedness; creativity; tests and assessments; programming options; motivation; social-emotional issues; developmental pathways; navigating challenge and change; advocacy; and more. Check out the Being Smart “Table of Contents” tab on this website.

How many pages are there in this book?

There are 460 pages in Being Smart about Gifted Learning.

Why is Dr. Foster qualified to have written this book?

Dona Matthews, Ph.D., and Joanne Foster Ed. D., co-authored all three editions of Being Smart. They’ve both been involved in gifted education for several decades, having taught Gifted Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, and being active in many local, national, and international gifted initiatives. Dr. Matthews is an accomplished psychoeducational consultant; Dr. Foster’s doctoral research was (and much of it continues to be) gifted-oriented, and she designed and taught gifted programs for many years. Both authors are gifted education consultants, community liaisons, advocates, and keynote presenters on a broad range of topics relating to gifted/high-level development.

What supplementary resources can readers find within this book?

There are many highlighted segments that feature accounts of people’s real-life challenges and triumphs, and there are targeted point-form “strategies lists” across all the chapters. There are also hundreds of endnotes, pp. 403 – 425, and hundreds of references (pp. 427 – 457).

What kinds of reviews has this book received?

The Kirkus Review describes this book is “an authoritative, up-to-date- and comprehensive manual.” There are many terrific reviews, with comments such as “tremendous book,” and “practical, thoughtful contribution by two leading experts,” and “a through and all-encompassing resource.” Other comments include “comprehensive, intelligently designed and brilliantly crafted,” and “a welcome resource that should be in the hands of all parents and educators.” Being Smart garnered several awards when it was first published, and the new version has even more key topics, resources, and up-to-date material. Check out the “Reviews” tab on the Being Smart page.

Are there any illustrations or charts in this book?

On pp. 108 – 110 there’s a chart with a synopsis of assessment tools There are no illustrations.

How can I see samples of the content of this book?

There is an “Excerpts” tab on the Being Smart book page on this website.

Is there a book club guide or other online material that supplements this book?

Yes! There is a complementary downloadable Being Smart about Gifted Learning Book Guide. Designed for parent groups, book clubs, professionals, and readers who belong to organizations interested in educational practices and child development, this resource booklet contains information about the book and chapter by chapter considerations. It can be ordered for FREE at the bookshop on the publisher’s website here. Additional material for discussion and reflection—relating to excerpts from the book, and to recommendations for supporting gifted learning—is available by clicking on the “Book Club” tab on the Being Smart book page on this website.