By Amber McClarin
All parents and teachers, not just those who work with gifted kids, are often concerned about how to make the best decisions for each unique child. All children need custom attention to help them grow up resilient, flexible, and compassionate. The challenge of working with gifted children is that it can feel isolating and lonely without proper support and resources. Sometimes just a little advice, validation, or encouragement, can go a long way towards working through the tough spots. Because of this IEA offers complimentary Gifted Support Group (GSG) meetings during the school year.
GSG meetings invite leading professionals to share their knowledge and experience. These meetings provide support and community in a space specifically for shared discovery and exchanging resources and ideas. Someone else is going through or has gone through the same struggles. The GSG meetings offer a community eager to share what they have learned in their journey through not only gifted education, but also gifted living.
Talking about common struggles together is a great way to brainstorm solutions. Maybe something that didn’t work for one student is the fix another family is looking for. Sharing experiences with other parents and educators who interact with gifted children has proven to be enormously helpful in supporting gifted students strive towards reaching their full potential.
Sharing what we have learned may help someone else forego the struggles the community has encountered. But the right community of like-minded people can provide more than just new information, it allows you to be yourself. You can enter the space with no fear of judgment.
Join our community as we work together for continued success.
Here are some recording and resources from last year’s GSG meetings.
Linda Powers
Jill Stowell
- Empowering Your Exceptional Learner in the Pandemic
- Parenting in the in 21st Century – Regine Muradian
Cynthia Molt
Susanna Pollack
- How Games Can Be Used for Social Good
- Games for Change Student Challenge
- Sea Hero Quest
- Behavior Training Research
- EndeavorRx
Bethany Kwan
Maya Sissoko
- How to Support Your Gifted Child From the Start
- Whole Child Education
- Mathpickle.com
- Beastacademy.com
- Set Game (via Brilliant.org)
- National Museum of Mathematics
- Art of Problem Solving Online
- Guided Meditations (Tara Brach)
- WISC-V Test (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children)
Bonus
- One Size Does Not Fit All! Understanding the Special Needs of Gifted & 2E Kids with IEA President, Betsy Jones sits down with Jill Stowell of The Stowell Learning Center.