True or False: You can tell if a child is gifted by how early he or she starts to read.Answer: True and FalseIt's true that many gifted children read at a remarkably early age, amazing family and preschool teachers alike with their almost eerie knowledge of language. Many of these children are also highly verbal, possess a large vocabulary, and seem...
Creating an Environment for Children to Thrive
Children have been compared to flowers often as the similarities are evident - they are beautiful, they are unique, they require tender, loving care, they bloom in their own time. Often we focus on changing our child rather than changing their environment, but changing the environment has a big impact on how our children grow. If we consciously tend...
The Garden - A Parenting Parable Review
Living and parenting in an age of chronic stress, anxiety and distraction, what does it take to raise children to thrive, not just survive? Through the metaphor of flowers as children, the story of The Garden is a powerful and poignant parable about the essential process of tending, trusting and growing strong roots. A story told with resplendent illustrations,...
Caught in the middle: How to help gifted children survive the middle school years
Caught in the middle.Just when life seemed manageable, middle school-aged children face confusion and uncertainty. Social demands, hormonal changes, and a burgeoning sense of independence challenge the self that once was. New worlds unfold, and the old rules from elementary school don't work any more. Neither child nor adult, they must discover who...
The Gifted Family – Transforming Chaos into Calm
Welcome to readers of the 2014 . This is a cross-post of an article I wrote for Global #gtchat Powered by the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented found .When I asked Jen Merrill, author of and the popular blog Laughing at Chaos,...
Do Consequences Have a Place in Redemption?
In yesterday's post, , I discussed redemption versus retribution. Redemption: The act of redeeming or the condition of having been redeemed.Redeemed: To restore the honor, worth, or reputation of: Retribution: Punishment for doing something wrong Do I want to seek to restore his honor, worth, and reputation, or do I want to punish...
When I Resorted to Punishments...
Our waters have been troubled lately. My 5 year old has taken to teasing his highly sensitive brother. There have been daily, seemingly constant hurtful words hurled at my oldest son. Why would he do that? Hadn't I taught him to be kind? To respect others? Was I raising a bully?Doubts began to creep in my mind. Fear took over. My mother said he needed...