Friday, June 24, 2011
Earning and Learning this Summer
Even though my big kick right now is internal motivation, I know that some kids really like to set goals, achieve them, and then have proof that they did. I’ll admit it: I love a prize. I’ve got a couple of resources to help them do just that.
All youth ages 6-18 can earn the United States Heritage Award from the Nations Trails organization. This award (really two separate awards, gold and silver, divided by age) recognizes kids for learning about our nation’s heritage. For more information, go to the Nations Trails website for more information. Although lots of Scouts do this, it is not part of Scouting or a requirement that one be a Scout to participate.
Speaking of Scouts, even if you’re not a Scout, many of the merit badges for scouting offer great guidelines for activity over the summer. There are so many to choose from, that it is hard to believe any child could not find one he/she was interested in. These can be fun for the sheer pleasure of learning something new. Of course, if you have a kid motivated by rewards, you can always print off a picture of the merit badge itself and “award” it to the child. This site has worksheets for and information on all of the merit badges.
Don’t forget the Mensa Foundations Excellence in Reading program. This is a long-term challenge for older readers especially, not just for summer. It is a great way to help children read a wide range of books that they might not otherwise encounter. For more information, see the mensaforkids site.
One great idea is to take a picture of your child with each book he or she reads. Just have the child stand with the cover facing out and snap a shot (Do digital cameras still snap???). This will create a form of a journal. Imagine if you had a visual record of all the books you’d read in your life! Amazing!
Teens may already be connected with www.dosomething.org, a Web site that promotes ways for teens to improve their communities. Starting July 11th, they will begin a “scavenger hunt” with challenges in different area. Teens, working alone or with a group of friends, try to complete the challenges. For more info on this, see this section of the website. I’d just like to give a general plug for this site. Any kid, even pre-teens, who is interested in community/world service will find ideas and inspiration here.
If you’re looking for something to do WITH your children, adults, too, can participate in the presidential fitness challenge (You can earn a Presidential Active Lifestyle Award!). Schools often participate in this, but it is open to individuals and home schools as well. See the President's Challenge site
for more information.
This site lets you print awards for kids, quickly, easily, and freely! It’s geared to teachers, but it works for home, too.
One of my fave resources for figuring out how to compliment people on a great job is Baudeville. They have cute, clever ideas that work for kids and adults alike. Although geared to a business environment, they have a free downloads section where you can find great ideas for recognizing the great job your kids did taking out the trash (Hey! It could happen!). Scroll to the bottom of the resource section for a great two-page document with snazzy sayings. From this section you can send free epraise cards.
At this site, you can print awards for your kids for healthy eating. Knowing how some of us eat, maybe our kids need to give us awards for trying new veggies!
Next resource post’s theme is FREE! To give you a taste, here’s a link to a place where you can get a free copy of the poster created by the Human Genome Project.
All youth ages 6-18 can earn the United States Heritage Award from the Nations Trails organization. This award (really two separate awards, gold and silver, divided by age) recognizes kids for learning about our nation’s heritage. For more information, go to the Nations Trails website for more information. Although lots of Scouts do this, it is not part of Scouting or a requirement that one be a Scout to participate.
Speaking of Scouts, even if you’re not a Scout, many of the merit badges for scouting offer great guidelines for activity over the summer. There are so many to choose from, that it is hard to believe any child could not find one he/she was interested in. These can be fun for the sheer pleasure of learning something new. Of course, if you have a kid motivated by rewards, you can always print off a picture of the merit badge itself and “award” it to the child. This site has worksheets for and information on all of the merit badges.
Don’t forget the Mensa Foundations Excellence in Reading program. This is a long-term challenge for older readers especially, not just for summer. It is a great way to help children read a wide range of books that they might not otherwise encounter. For more information, see the mensaforkids site.
One great idea is to take a picture of your child with each book he or she reads. Just have the child stand with the cover facing out and snap a shot (Do digital cameras still snap???). This will create a form of a journal. Imagine if you had a visual record of all the books you’d read in your life! Amazing!
Teens may already be connected with www.dosomething.org, a Web site that promotes ways for teens to improve their communities. Starting July 11th, they will begin a “scavenger hunt” with challenges in different area. Teens, working alone or with a group of friends, try to complete the challenges. For more info on this, see this section of the website. I’d just like to give a general plug for this site. Any kid, even pre-teens, who is interested in community/world service will find ideas and inspiration here.
If you’re looking for something to do WITH your children, adults, too, can participate in the presidential fitness challenge (You can earn a Presidential Active Lifestyle Award!). Schools often participate in this, but it is open to individuals and home schools as well. See the President's Challenge site
for more information.
This site lets you print awards for kids, quickly, easily, and freely! It’s geared to teachers, but it works for home, too.
One of my fave resources for figuring out how to compliment people on a great job is Baudeville. They have cute, clever ideas that work for kids and adults alike. Although geared to a business environment, they have a free downloads section where you can find great ideas for recognizing the great job your kids did taking out the trash (Hey! It could happen!). Scroll to the bottom of the resource section for a great two-page document with snazzy sayings. From this section you can send free epraise cards.
At this site, you can print awards for your kids for healthy eating. Knowing how some of us eat, maybe our kids need to give us awards for trying new veggies!
Next resource post’s theme is FREE! To give you a taste, here’s a link to a place where you can get a free copy of the poster created by the Human Genome Project.
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Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Summer Reading Extravaganza!
Everyone knows that summer means summer reading programs at libraries, but there are other reading programs available that your kids may enjoy. Remember that you can double dip and earn prizes for the same books/time spent, creating a lucrative literary summer!
- I know you're not supposed to toot your own horn, but BEEP! Be sure to check out the Mensa Foundation's Excellence in Reading Award Program here.
- Half Price Books' program runs June 1st through July 31. If kids read 15 minutes a day, they can earn a $5 gift card. For more information, check out their website here. You can get the reading log here.
- PBS Kids Summer Reading Challenge: PBS/iVillage has a program that could keep you busy all summer long. There are several aspects to it, and you can find out more here. Each week there will be a special theme, and you can read more about that here.
- Borders has what they call the "Double Dog Dare Challenge." Kids who read 10 books and track them can get a free book. For more info, check out their website here.
- Chuck E. Cheese has a number of awards that they will grant 10 free tokens for, including reading (and no nose picking!). You can find them at the Chuck E. Cheese Web site here.
- Barnes & Noble will give kids a free book for every 8 books they read. They also have some parent information. Find out more here.
- Scholastic Book also has a summer program in which kids read and log in to win prizes. Details are available here.
- Book It! will give your child a "prize package" for reading. There are some fun things in it - check out their Web site for more info here. Be sure to check out the Pizza Hut school year Book It! program as well here.
- If you are on the east coast, TD Bank has a summer reading program. Read more here. Commerce Bank will deposit $10 in young savers' accounts when they read ten books.
- If you are in an area with H-E-B Grocery Store, they have a program as well. The instructions can be found here.
- It may sound crazy, but Pottery Barn has a summer reading program, along with other kids' events. Check it out here.
- Old Spaghetti Factory offers a free kids meal to every child who reads five books. Information is available here.
- Sylvan Learning Centers has a free reading incentive program for kids through grade 8 that runs all the time. You can register and find more information here.
- Kids 8 & up can be "reading warriors" with this special program built around Erin Hunter's Warrior series of books. Find more info here.
If you're feeling a little less cerebral or need some air conditioning, this Web site lists places with free summer movies: MOVIES.
In keeping with my last post on helping kids learn to serve, here is a video introduction to First Book, a literacy program that tries to get books into the hands of children in the United States who don't have books. Did you know that in low-income families, most homes don't have a single book? Watch!
- I know you're not supposed to toot your own horn, but BEEP! Be sure to check out the Mensa Foundation's Excellence in Reading Award Program here.
- Half Price Books' program runs June 1st through July 31. If kids read 15 minutes a day, they can earn a $5 gift card. For more information, check out their website here. You can get the reading log here.
- PBS Kids Summer Reading Challenge: PBS/iVillage has a program that could keep you busy all summer long. There are several aspects to it, and you can find out more here. Each week there will be a special theme, and you can read more about that here.
- Borders has what they call the "Double Dog Dare Challenge." Kids who read 10 books and track them can get a free book. For more info, check out their website here.
- Chuck E. Cheese has a number of awards that they will grant 10 free tokens for, including reading (and no nose picking!). You can find them at the Chuck E. Cheese Web site here.
- Barnes & Noble will give kids a free book for every 8 books they read. They also have some parent information. Find out more here.
- Scholastic Book also has a summer program in which kids read and log in to win prizes. Details are available here.
- Book It! will give your child a "prize package" for reading. There are some fun things in it - check out their Web site for more info here. Be sure to check out the Pizza Hut school year Book It! program as well here.
- If you are on the east coast, TD Bank has a summer reading program. Read more here. Commerce Bank will deposit $10 in young savers' accounts when they read ten books.
- If you are in an area with H-E-B Grocery Store, they have a program as well. The instructions can be found here.
- It may sound crazy, but Pottery Barn has a summer reading program, along with other kids' events. Check it out here.
- Old Spaghetti Factory offers a free kids meal to every child who reads five books. Information is available here.
- Sylvan Learning Centers has a free reading incentive program for kids through grade 8 that runs all the time. You can register and find more information here.
- Kids 8 & up can be "reading warriors" with this special program built around Erin Hunter's Warrior series of books. Find more info here.
If you're feeling a little less cerebral or need some air conditioning, this Web site lists places with free summer movies: MOVIES.
In keeping with my last post on helping kids learn to serve, here is a video introduction to First Book, a literacy program that tries to get books into the hands of children in the United States who don't have books. Did you know that in low-income families, most homes don't have a single book? Watch!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Giving and the Gifted
One of the hallmarks of gifted children is an early, intense social conscience that is often neglected and allowed to atrophy until it becomes the victim of societal pressures toward avarice and self-centeredness.
Parents and teachers of the gifted should invest time into guiding children and teens on how best to find charities to which to donate time and money. Finding reputable charities that match the child (or group of children's) interests is easy with the Web site www.charitynavigator.org. Charity Navigator rates charities (stick with those earning four stars) based on a number of criteria and lets you search based on interest.
Some charities make better avenues of giving than others for kids. Kids want to make a connection with their giving and the amounts they are donating are typically small, so stick with charities that can put a "face" on the giving and where small donations can make a noticeable difference.
One I recommend is Kiva, a microlending charity in which you can donate the same $25 over and over as it is repaid. You can choose the person the loan goes to by a variety of criteria. If a class can bring (or raise) $1 each, you are off! Other good choices for kids are the African Wildlife Foundation Water.org and Heifer International.
You can often get gift cards to charities, so consider requesting one as a gift from grandparents or friends for birthdays or Christmas. The selection of the loan through Kiva or the choosing of an animal to adopt through AWF can be a centerpiece of a birthday party.
If you don't want to deal with money, a terrific option is Soles4Souls, a charity that collects new and gently used shoes for the 300 million children in the world with no shoes. You can collect the shoes and then drop them off at one of a multitude of drop sites - no money needed.
Another possibility is to have kids help make things. When I taught third grade, I had a small quilting frame set up in the class, and kids loved tying small quilts. These can be made very simply out of two pieces of fabric with batting between them, then bound with bias tape when they are tied. They can be donated to hospitals or shelters.
The method of giving isn't the important thing - even the charity itself isn't the important thing. The key idea is that gifted kids feel deeply and profoundly about the world around them and the adults in their lives need to facilitate the translation of that feeling into action. We know they can change the world with their minds; let's be mindful of their need to change the world with their hearts as well.
Watch this segment of Frontline about Kiva:
Parents and teachers of the gifted should invest time into guiding children and teens on how best to find charities to which to donate time and money. Finding reputable charities that match the child (or group of children's) interests is easy with the Web site www.charitynavigator.org. Charity Navigator rates charities (stick with those earning four stars) based on a number of criteria and lets you search based on interest.
Some charities make better avenues of giving than others for kids. Kids want to make a connection with their giving and the amounts they are donating are typically small, so stick with charities that can put a "face" on the giving and where small donations can make a noticeable difference.
One I recommend is Kiva, a microlending charity in which you can donate the same $25 over and over as it is repaid. You can choose the person the loan goes to by a variety of criteria. If a class can bring (or raise) $1 each, you are off! Other good choices for kids are the African Wildlife Foundation Water.org and Heifer International.
You can often get gift cards to charities, so consider requesting one as a gift from grandparents or friends for birthdays or Christmas. The selection of the loan through Kiva or the choosing of an animal to adopt through AWF can be a centerpiece of a birthday party.
If you don't want to deal with money, a terrific option is Soles4Souls, a charity that collects new and gently used shoes for the 300 million children in the world with no shoes. You can collect the shoes and then drop them off at one of a multitude of drop sites - no money needed.
Another possibility is to have kids help make things. When I taught third grade, I had a small quilting frame set up in the class, and kids loved tying small quilts. These can be made very simply out of two pieces of fabric with batting between them, then bound with bias tape when they are tied. They can be donated to hospitals or shelters.
The method of giving isn't the important thing - even the charity itself isn't the important thing. The key idea is that gifted kids feel deeply and profoundly about the world around them and the adults in their lives need to facilitate the translation of that feeling into action. We know they can change the world with their minds; let's be mindful of their need to change the world with their hearts as well.
Watch this segment of Frontline about Kiva:
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Emotional Intelligence - Hype or Help?
I've been working on a six-hour training for teachers of the gifted on emotional intelligence in gifted kids. If you've read my previous posts, you know that I am not a believer in "learning styles." I believe people learn different things different ways. For example, I learned to quilt by doing it, but I also read through magazines and books, and I listened to the advice of other quilters. Knowing that, you may believe that I would feel that Emotional Intelligence is quackery, but I don't. We consistently see that one of the things that keeps gifted individuals from achieving what they otherwise could (professionally, academically, and socially) is not a lack of IQ, but rather less-than-stellar EQ.
One of the things that strikes me as a problem is the difficulty people have is being truly open to their strengths and weaknesses. Our society frowns on people saying "I have a strength in this area." It's seen as arrogant. We privilege self-deprecation. This isn't healthy. If we want people to recognize their challenges, we have to make it okay to recognize and name their strengths. As we do this, we often find that our strengths and weaknesses are the same.
If you haven't seen this short clip, watch Marcel the Shell recognize his strengths and weaknesses in a small but healthy way.
One of the things that strikes me as a problem is the difficulty people have is being truly open to their strengths and weaknesses. Our society frowns on people saying "I have a strength in this area." It's seen as arrogant. We privilege self-deprecation. This isn't healthy. If we want people to recognize their challenges, we have to make it okay to recognize and name their strengths. As we do this, we often find that our strengths and weaknesses are the same.
If you haven't seen this short clip, watch Marcel the Shell recognize his strengths and weaknesses in a small but healthy way.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Chipping away at my fifteen minutes of fame
I gathered and developed a series of 3.14 activities to do with your kids for Pi Day, and was invited to share some on "Good Morning, Texas." It was a fun experience, and the anchor, Rob McCollum, was awesome! He's a grown-up gifted kid!
You can view the segment here to get some Pi Day ideas (or go to www.us.mensa.org to get them all!)
http://www.wfaa.com/good-morning-texas/Celebrate-Pi-Day-117932829.html
You can view the segment here to get some Pi Day ideas (or go to www.us.mensa.org to get them all!)
http://www.wfaa.com/good-morning-texas/Celebrate-Pi-Day-117932829.html
Sunday, February 27, 2011
The Hidden Gifted
I read an article about the pervasively pale nature of gifted programs. Let's speak what it is: racism. The article focused on one young woman who faces stereotype threat from both communities (school and her race) because she is what society tends to think is rare: a gifted child of color. The article was about one particular school system, and the data isn't pretty. The truth is that it is typical of districts around the country.
Why is this? There are so many reasons, and they are deep. Let me share just one scenario. The old Stanford-Binet (I'm 44, and it was THE test for admission to gifted programs when I was young) was clearly racially biased. The images below appeared in the 1960 test. So, if I were a young black child taking this test in 1960, and I'm asked which person is more attractive, I can answer incorrectly (they say) and choose the person who looks more like me, or I can give the answer they wanted and internalize the idea that I'm not attractive. Bam!
So let's say I answer it incorrectly (along with other similar questions), and I don't get into the gifted program. That means that even if I had high potential, it was not nurtured, so when I have children, even if I see the same sparks of intelligence I showed, I never assume that they may be gifted because they are like me, and I was told I wasn't gifted. And so on and so on.
We do not yet have a level playing field with regard to giftedness, and we won't ever have one until we start seeing ourselves as talent scouts rather than gatekeepers.
Kudos for addressing it well and head-on in this article.
Read the article here.
Watch a video of the anthem, "Young, Gifted, and Black" here:
Why is this? There are so many reasons, and they are deep. Let me share just one scenario. The old Stanford-Binet (I'm 44, and it was THE test for admission to gifted programs when I was young) was clearly racially biased. The images below appeared in the 1960 test. So, if I were a young black child taking this test in 1960, and I'm asked which person is more attractive, I can answer incorrectly (they say) and choose the person who looks more like me, or I can give the answer they wanted and internalize the idea that I'm not attractive. Bam!
We do not yet have a level playing field with regard to giftedness, and we won't ever have one until we start seeing ourselves as talent scouts rather than gatekeepers.
Kudos for addressing it well and head-on in this article.
Read the article here.
Watch a video of the anthem, "Young, Gifted, and Black" here:
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