HELP EXPLAINING MATH. An online column from The New York Times might be of help to parents attempting to help their bright children with math. Steven Strogatz says of his column, "I’ll be writing about the elements of mathematics, from pre-school to grad school, for anyone out there who’d like to have a second chance at the subject -- but this time from an adult perspective. It’s not intended to be remedial. The goal is to give you a better feeling for what math is all about and why it’s so enthralling to those who get it." Find the columns here.
LEARNING STYLES, ONE MORE TIME -- and probably not the last. In a thoughtful article in Teacher Magazine, a psychological scientist and husband of a classroom teacher provides his take on the controversy between those who insist that learning styles exist and those who deny it, and tries to explain how basic cognitive science can apply to teaching. Read it.
ALL KINDS OF MINDS is an organization that has focused on turning research into educational practices to meet the needs of all students. The organization has announced its list of "Schools of Distinction" that "exemplify how schools can build expertise in learning in order to develop individual intellects, talents, and creativity through innovative teaching; implement a wide range of creative learning concepts that take into consideration students' strengths, affinities and challenges; and help solve problems through addressing student learning issues." Find the list.
MAYBE NOT VACCINES, BUT TOXINS, along with genetics, are the cause of autism, writes Nicolas Kristof. He describes current scientific thinking on the topic, and provides some practical advice on what to avoid -- such as phthalate-containing personal care products. He worries about sensationalizing the risk -- as happened with vaccines -- but says, "On the other hand, in the case of great health dangers of modern times — mercury, lead, tobacco, asbestos — journalists were too slow to blow the whistle. In public health, we in the press have more often been lap dogs than watchdogs." Read the column.
THE CLUSTER GROUPING HANDBOOK is the topic of an interview by Michael Shaughnessy with authors Susan Winebrenner and Dina Brulles. The interview covers how the book can help gifted students, the inclusion in the book of professional development plans and a CD of tools such as interactive lesson plans, and how to "sell" cluster grouping. Find the interview. (2e Newsletter's May, 2009, issue included an article by Brulles and Winebrenner on cluster grouping. Subscribers may read that in the subscriber-only area of the 2e Newsletter website.)
LD RESOURCES. On Feburary 26th, The New York Times published two articles dealing the learning disabilities. One article deals with ways to make sure a child is getting the educational help needed, for example by knowing rights granted under IDEA. The second article offers resources for parents of students with LDs.
EDUTOPIA's current online issue features parent participation at school -- what it can accomplish and how to encourage it.
THE G-FACTOR might not reside in a specific area of the brain, but rather in a network of regions across the brain, according to a study reported in ScienceDaily. One of the reasearchers says, "...the particular regions and connections we found are quite in line with an existing theory about intelligence called the 'parieto-frontal integration theory.' It says that general intelligence depends on the brain's ability to integrate -- to pull together -- several different kinds of processing, such as working memory." If you're into the nuts and bolts -- the neurons and synapses -- of intelligence, read the article.
MONTHLY BRIEFING. Many of the items posted here make it into the free monthly email briefing from 2e Newsletter. Readers who want to make sure they don't miss the content from blog postings may sign up to receive the briefing here.
SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY. The application period for Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Young Scholars is now open, according to the organization. The program is for high-achieving 7th-graders whose families have financial need. Find out more.
TESTING FOR GIFTEDNESS. An article in the Daily Kos titled "Testing Gone Wild" describes testing (and the testing industry) as it applies to very young children in New York City whose parents want the "gifted" label. Evidently gifted slots in public schools are quite coveted. Read the article.
BABY BLUES AND HOMESCHOOLING. Beginning on Monday, February 8th, the comic strip Baby Blues deals with homeschooling. Seems the kids want it but the parents don't. Read the first in the series.
GIFTED EDUCATION PRESS. The Spring edition of this electronic newsletter is now out, featuring articles on screening and identifying gifted children, depression and the gifted child, and more. Find it.
WHEN YOU SUSPECT AN LD. The first paragraph of an article in last Sunday's New York Times goes like this: "The first sign may be that your bright child is having trouble reading, or organizing school assignments, or concentrating on homework. Your child may be frustrated with school, and you may find yourself frustrated with what looks like a lack of effort. And a teacher may also notice that something is amiss." From there, the article offers advice about assessment, communication with the school, and other issues that parents of 2e children should know about. Read the article.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL MEETS TEMPLE GRANDIN. In the aftermath of the debut of the movie about her life, Temple Grandin was interviewed by an WSJ editor about her reaction to the movie, autism, and her life in general. She also offered advice for raising an autistic or Aspie child. Find the article.
MEDS AND KIDS. Everyone has an opinion about the appropriateness of meds for kids. According to The New York Times, author Judith Warner captured a book contract six years ago to "explore and document the over-medication of American youth." The result: a book titled We've Got Issues, in which she concludes that few parents take a psychiatric diagnosis lightly or rush to drug a child -- and that most child psychiatrists don't, either. She now believes "that many children’s lives are essentially saved by medication, particularly when it’s combined with evidence-based forms of therapy.” Read the book review.
LEARNING STYLES. Mary-Dean Barringer, head of All Kinds of Minds, comments in Education Week about the waste of talent and money from not understanding, identifying, and addressing variations in learning. She attaches dollar figures to her contentions, pegging educational "waste" of this sort as perhaps $100 billion a year. Read her comments.
DSM AND AD/HD. We've posted about potential changes to the Asperger's diagnosis in the forthcoming DSM-V. Now, an article in ADDITUDE tells us that there are changes proposed to the diagnosis criteria for AD/HD. Among them: doing away with the AD/HD subtypes; changing the age of onset; and requiring fewer symptoms for a diagnosis of adult AD/HD. Read more.
FROM WRIGHTSLAW. The February 16th edition of Special Ed Advocate explains what a parent needs to know to advocate for a child and where to get training; also included, a list of resources on the topic. If you feel you should better advocate for that gifted or 2e child, check out the newsletter. Also: An announcement that Wrightslaw is now on Facebook. Find it. (They already have almost 3,000 fans -- and growing rapidly as we compose this post.)
GIFTED AND LEFT BEHIND -- that's the contention of two prominent gifted advocates in an article addressing the resources devoted to gifted education in the state of Maryland. Helaine Zinaman and Nancy Green call for increased funding for gifted education and mandated gifted education programs in the state. They write, "The continued, systemic neglect of this entire group of students will ultimately result in long-term negative consequences for the students, our communities and our nation." Read the article.
ON EMPATHY. It's always nice to see a bright young person who can also be empathetic. Health columnist Jane Brody discusses the trait -- and how to instill it -- in a recent column.
CHANGES IN GIFTED EDUCATION FUNDING have been proposed in the United States budget for 2011. The Javits Program may be consolidated with other programs, which does not make the NAGC happy; read their press release. You may read more about the Department of Education's 2011 budget here. And a National Examiner article notes that the federal government allocates .02% of the education budget to gifted education.
NEW BOOK FROM THE EIDES. You can't read it yet, 'coz it won't be out until 2011 -- but you can anticipate until then the publication of The Dyslexic Advantage, about the remarkable capabilities of dyslexics. An item at Dr. Lynn Hellerstein's site tipped us off. In the meantime, you may join an Eide Ning group, also called "Dyslexic Advantage"; the site includes discussions and lots of resources.
ON THIS BLOG, don't forget to scroll down and look to your right to find events of interest to the gifted and 2e community, plus blogs you might find of interest.