Advocating for your

young gifted child

Center for GiftedAmy Jacobs

merhaba6599@comcast.net

About me!

What is a gifted child?

• Expresses curiosity about many things

• Demonstrates creativity• Asks thoughtful questions• Has an extensive vocabulary• Uses complex sentence structure• Solves problems in unique ways• Has good memory• Shows rare talent in art, music or

drama• Has a well-developed imagination• Discusses and elaborates on ideas

• Works independently and uses initiative

• Exhibits wit and humor• Has a sustained attention span• Willingly perseveres at

challenging tasks• Is keenly observant• Shows talent in creating and

telling stories • Uses learned information in new

contexts

Characteristics of giftedness

Teachers Schools and Society : Brief Introduction to Education - Text - 3rd editionby David Miller Sadker, 2013.

What is Illinois’ definition of gifted?

• For purposes of this Article, "gifted and talented children" means children and youth with outstanding talent who perform or show the potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared with other children and youth of their age, experience, and environment. A child shall be considered gifted and talented in any area of aptitude, and, specifically, in language arts and mathematics, by scoring in the top 5% locally in that area of aptitude.

How do children get identified?

• IQ testing• School testing (MAP, ISAT)• Portfolios• Teacher recommendations• Observations and checklists

How do we best serve the needs of gifted students?

• Grade Acceleration• Curriculum Compacting• Ability Grouping• Clustering• Pull out programs• Resource/enrichment

programs• In class differentiation• Dual enrollment

• AP placement classes• Online coursework• Mentorships/

Apprenticeships• Independent

study/enrichment• Alternative Schools• Early admission for

college

Tiered Assignments and Differentiation

There are six ways to structure tiered assignments.• Challenge Level

• Complexity

• Resources

• Outcome

• Process

• Product

What should you do?• Be visible• Ask questions• Search for enrichment opportunities• Find your child a mentor• Utilize online resources

• NAGC• IAGC• Hoagies Gifted

What is Advocacy?• Advocacy is the active support of an

idea or cause. An advocate is a person who by word and deed shows others his/her position on a given issue.

Effective Advocacy• In order to be effective, a sound

understanding of the issue is necessary. Research through available literature or direct information from authorities on the subject will help to prepare the effective advocate. The advocate can then carefully plan the advocacy effort.

• An EFFECTIVE advocate knows the issue well and uses that knowledge skillfully.

• In many instances it is necessary to advocate first for awareness and understanding of who the gifted and talented are and why they have special needs.

• After an awareness has been gained it is necessary to advocate for appropriate programs.

• The gifted and talented are often misunderstood and become dropout statistics rather than achieving their fullest potential.

• Gifted and talented children need advocates to help them succeed and overcome the myths and stereotypes surrounding giftedness.

• In many instances they are "handicapped" by their giftedness.

• If skilled advocates are not available, the myths and misunderstandings will be perpetuated.

Effective Group Advocacy

• When several concerned individuals identify a common goal or goals for an advocacy effort they may decide to advocate as a group.

• It is important to establish clear goals. • It is vital to use a unified approach. • Group advocacy is effective if the group is

working together in a knowledgeable and skilled way.

Why should you become an advocate?

• Your active effective advocacy is needed, not just for the gifted and talented children you already know, but for those you will never know as well.

• The greater the awareness of the needs of the gifted and talented the more likely it will be that appropriate programs will be developed

• The goal of advocacy for the gifted and talented is to have appropriate educational services available to all G/T children to allow them to fulfill their potential without the misunderstandings which now often occur.

COLLABORATION COUNTS

• If you think that you alone cannot do much to improve your school, you are probably right. But if you collaborate with other parents and organizations, you can make a difference. There is strength and power in numbers.• 1 parent = a fruitcake• 2 parents = a fruitcake and a friend• 3 parents = troublemakers• 5 parents = "Let's have a meeting”• 10 parents = "We'd better listen”• 25 parents = "Our dear friends”• 50 parents = a powerful organization

• --ParentLeadershipAssociates, formerly a Prichard Committee/KSA-Plus Communications collaboration

Resources• Iagcgifted.org• Nagc.org• Centerforgifted.org• Davidsongifted.org• sengifted.org

More questions?• Please feel free to contact anyone at the

Center for Gifted if you have more questions.• 847-901-0173

• Joan Smutny, Director• 847-256-1220• 847-256-1221• 847-736-4690 (cell)

• Amy Jacobs• 847-922-1622 (cell)

Additional Services• The Center For Gifted provides the following

services for families and children:• Counseling and Testing  Educational

Consulting• Psycho-Educational Evaluation• Gifted Identification• Assessment & Testing

• Please contact Cheryl Lind, M.S., Ed.S.Certified School Psychologist• 847-910-0173

Future Programs• Please consider enrolling your child in

a future program. Our summer program brochure will be available soon.

• If your child is older, consider our award winning Project program, which will be in Elmhurst this summer. Project is for children in grades 6-12. Bussing provided from other sites

Scholarships• The Center provides financial aid to

families who might not otherwise be able to participate.

• Contact the Center for more information

• Jay Matthews. Washington Post. “Skipping a Grade is rare, but it might just save the world.” March 02, 2014

• Some information taken from:• THE POWER OF ADVOCACY, by Kay Fecke,

distributed by the Department of Public Instruction, 1989.

• ISBE .net