The Everything Parent's Guide to Raising a Gifted Child: All you need to know to meet your child's emotional, social, and academic needs

by Sarah Herbert Robbins

Raising a gifted child is both a joy and a challenge. Gifted and exceptional children can seem self-sufficient, but it takes more than intelligence to lead a happy and fulfilling life. Your child need your support and advocacy in school, in social situations, and even at home. This guide shows you how to encourage and foster your gifted child from birth to adolescence, including information on

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2011

Reviews

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful to me - may be worth purchasing.

Ch 2 - Two kinds of Giftedness a) concrete-sequential (most stereo-typed and easily identifiable) b) Abstract-spatial - different and harder to accept as gifted types (less gifted with auditory skills)

Ch 3 - Common misconceptions about gifted children
Seven different types of intelligences, but three most testable (verbal, quantitative, spacial), but also linguistic, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal. Excellent resource: Thomas Armstrongs' You're Smarter than You Think: a Kids' Guide to multiple intelligences

Ch 5 - Giftedness is about how your child thinks, not who she is as a person--it does not define her!

Ch 6 - Gifted parents feel judged within the gifted community. Different choices are not wrong, they are just different because the child is different and so are his needs.

Ch 15 - with regards to intensity and being a child, the childhood does not last and one day gifts will be celebrated, but the person must know how to process the intense emotions to become a well-adjusted and caring person along the way.

ch 20 - Discipline: check Dr. Leman's book, Making Your Children Mind without Losing Yours.

Ch 21 - Building resiliency: 16 characteristics of intelligent and successful people, AKA Habits of the Mind. Children who do not learn resiliency are immobilized and may lead more sheltered and limited lives. Teach the child to be responsible for his own actions and resulting consequences.

Ch 23 - community and political involvement for parents of Gifted kids: try national advocacy groups www.cec.sped.org, gifted.org, nagc.org

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a good overview for parents of a gifted child. There are some important concepts to consider that are noted in this book, particularly that there are generally two types of giftedness and giftedness is more about how information gets connected in the person's brain than being smart. The book covers a lot of information, from misconceptions to schooling to discipline to communication.

One part of the book that I didn't quite agree with how the information was presented involved teaching communication to a gifted child. The author does well in outlining how the typical traits of gifted children may affect relationships and communication. In some areas, she takes the information a step further in a way that I don't agree with. For example, she notes: "Gifted children are masters of manipulation." They may have a better capability of connecting information in a way that allows for them to take advantage in certain areas, and I definitely agree that a parent should guide and correct behavior in an effort to teach a child how best to be a contributing member of her community; however, I hate that sentence for the very fact that it doesn't qualify when a child is simply being a child (many children, especially young children, come across as "manipulative" when they are simply working through a developmental phase) and when a child is actually manipulative. I don't agree that statements made with such declaration should be left without an explanation detailing the difference between normal child development and the behavior they are condemning.

[Christine Rains · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book for parents raising a gifted child. I found some fascinating facts and some of the descriptions of high ability children were spot on with my own. Others were way off. I do realize every child is different, and that goes for gifted kids as well. It's one of those books you can pick and choose what is relevant to you. I particularly liked learning about the kinds of giftedness and asynchronous development. There is also basic parenting advice about listening, compassion, discipline, and balance.

This book was one that was recommended to a group I attended for educators and parents of high ability children. A group like that is recommended in the book. What I found most useful in the group is hearing what parents are experiencing with the children at my own child's age and those with older children for what is to come.

[Narelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found chapter two about the different types of learners/thinkers helpful. I would like to do more reading about sequential/concrete/abstract/spatial learning. And also about the multiple intelligences mentioned in chapter three.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good start to understanding how to parent a gifted child. It is NOT easy!

[Christi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great primer on raising gifted kids, and on giftedness in general. It was eye-opening to read about common markers for gifted kids and how to view them a little differently. Robbins is a strong advocate for resources and better education for teachers/school admins re: gifted children, but that wasn't my focus reading it. I don't think it was the deepest book on any particular part of gifted children (discipline, helping them succeed, etc.) but it was a great start and first step. I could take what I learned here and then research the particular problems I'm having with my kids more in-depth. It was also interesting to learn how giftedness is defined and what problems these kids have. As a gifted child myself, I also was able to see a lot of things from my childhood in play. I'd recommend this to any parent who feels like they have smart kids who are hard--they might be gifted :) And she gives some great tidbits of advice that just are stuck into the prose randomly. Also, it's a quick read.

[Sheridan]

it was like reading an owner's manual for my son!