A reminder to recognize the child behind labels of giftedness: nurture their heart, mind, and spirit; celebrate their joy; protect them from detractors; support unconventional learning paths when needed; help them find true peers, teach respect for all, connect with supportive communities, and practice forgiveness.
Wenda Sheard offers nine ‘heart hints’ for advocating for gifted children, emphasizing empathy and relationships. She recommends documenting a child’s school day, trusting teachers, encouraging self-directed learning, running contests, considering home learning transcripts, citing evidence, using sunshine laws, and strategic persuasion to build support and change practices.
The author discusses how emerging education technologies—speech-to-text, reading tools, adaptive e-books, online courses, and platforms like Khan Academy—can better serve gifted and creative children through differentiation, pretesting, engaging rewards, and accessible content. Examples include MIT/Stanford offerings, BETT innovations, and eye-tracking e-books.
Practical suggestions for supporting gifted children at the school year’s start: discuss educational purposes, introduce philosophical perspectives, ensure opportunities for knowledge, communion, and expression, and offer social-emotional strategies like the Benjamin Franklin Effect, reaching out to lonely peers, and adopting an anthropological lens to understand school culture.
A board member reflects on parenting gifted children and the importance of social and emotional support. Drawing on John Stuart Mill’s writings, the author argues that genius needs freedom, warns against one-size-fits-all schooling, and urges communities to validate and advocate for gifted individuals’ unique needs.
Parents and teachers often emphasize grades, but for gifted children this focus can cause stress, unhealthy behaviors, or mask learning mismatches. The author urges valuing understanding over grades, recognizing language or disability barriers, supporting appropriate curricula, and teaching balance between effort and health.
The article surveys research and policy on learning diversity from birth through college, arguing that education should treat each child as a unique individual. It reviews genetic, neurological, preschool and school influences, and advocates individualized support and policy changes to improve outcomes for diverse learners.
The author describes how gifted children’s friendships can differ from peers’, using composites Sam and Nina to illustrate varied social experiences. Gifted children may imitate friendships, rely on family, or have specific-interest friends. True, reciprocal friendships become especially important in adolescence.
