Developmental Phases of Social Development
Linda K. Silverman explains that gifted children’s social development depends on a responsive home, access to intellectual peers, and mainstream interactions during adolescence. Early acceptance builds self-esteem; true peers prevent alienation. Girls often disguise abilities to fit in, so early peer encouragement is crucial.
Promoting Positive Social Development
This excerpted article explains that gifted children often choose friends by mental age rather than chronological age, and benefit socially and academically from interacting with true peers. Specialized programs, summer courses, and bibliotherapy foster self-esteem, leadership, and improved social adjustment across diverse activities and settings.
Risk-Taking and Risk-Making: Understanding when less than perfection is more than acceptable
Distinguishes risk-taking (externally pushed) from risk-making (self-initiated) and offers practical advice for parents of gifted children: explain the difference, model taking risks, use near peers, allow short-term trials with an easy exit, and encourage learning rather than perfection to broaden children’s comfort with new challenges.
Through His Eyes and Through His Mother’s Eyes
A two-part account by Joseph and Holly Hughes describing Joseph’s giftedness being misread as disorder, the family’s struggle with schools and diagnosis, discovery of SENG and supportive community, Joe’s resilience leading to a GED and his novel Armorica, and advice to trust and accept gifted children’s differences.
Some Do’s and Don’ts For Raising Your Gifted Kids
Practical guidance for parents of gifted children on protecting adult authority, providing intellectual challenge without overscheduling, encouraging effort, avoiding comparisons, and teaching necessary life skills. Suggests flexible schooling options, part-time homeschooling, honest communication about abilities, and balancing enrichment with downtime to foster emotional and academic growth.
Ask SENG: Parenting Gifted Teens
This article answers a parent’s question about struggles with a gifted teenager, describing parenting styles from overprotective ‘hothouse’ to laissez-faire ‘thrown to the wolves.’ It advises seeking help, building support networks, consulting therapists, and recommends books like Children: The Challenge and The Optimistic Child.
Is My Child Gifted?
Rather than asking ‘Is my child gifted?’, parents should pursue diagnostic, action-oriented questions that identify a child’s strengths and learning needs. Giftedness can be variable; assessment should use multiple measures to guide appropriate educational matches and programming so children receive targeted support and opportunities to thrive.
Troubling Times: How Parents and Teachers Can Help Children Understand and Confront Adversity
This article advises parents and teachers to address children’s worries by managing their own anxiety, listening attentively, offering age-appropriate information and resources, encouraging play and self-expression, limiting media exposure, maintaining routines, and involving children in constructive activities. Educators should foster emotional intelligence and supportive classroom connections.
What Should I Do If My Child Isn’t Sufficiently Challenged at School?
Advice for parents whose children are insufficiently challenged at school: build parent-teacher partnerships, advocate for appropriate programming, and support children’s confidence. Practical steps include prioritizing needs, staying calm, communicating, gathering information, and being proactive. Teach children self-advocacy and use community resources to enrich learning.
Effectively Managing Family Interactions when Family Members Have Different Overexcitabilities.
This post explains overexcitabilities (OEs), their five types, and offers ten research-based recommendations for families—advocacy, calmers, celebrating success, documenting optimistic options, one-on-one time, medication/counseling, routines, signs, tag-team parenting, and self-care to better manage family dynamics. Each recommendation includes practical strategies and research citations to support implementation at home.