The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

I f * * I Nr* ^bristopberH Abilities of gifted children must be PAGE • i PLAINDEALER - FRIDAY. AUGUST21. lMt Eight-year-olds Tommy and Sarah are working quietly on an independent science project studying the movement of planets around the sun. They spend part of each day working on this sort of creative, stimulat­ ing project. Tommy and Sarah are two of the approximately 2.5 million gifted and talented students throughout the nation, arid the special instruction that they are receiving is part of a growing number of services targeted at gifted students in school dis­ tricts all over the country. By current standards, approx­ imately two percent of our school-age children can be clas­ sified as gifted, says Dr. Jack Cassidy, associate professor of education at Millersville State College in Pennsylvania and vice president-elect of the 65,000-member International Reading Association. Cassidy believes it is impor­ tant that schools make every ef­ fort to identify gifted and talented students and provide special instruction to nurture their abilities. He notes that federal guidelines define giftedness as demonstrated talent in one of the five areas: • General intellectual ability; • Specific academic ability; • Leadership; • Creativity; • Ability in the visual or per­ forming arts. Many school districts now have special instructional pro­ grams for gifted students, rang­ ing from accelerated classes to special schools. Cassidy be­ lieves that it is important for "at least some of their education to be separate and directed to their special needs and abilities." He also feels that instruction for gifted children should not be overly concerned with specific skills. Instead, the programs should emphasize problem- solving skills. For instance, Cassidy re­ commends practicing reading skills by using reading to do structured independent re­ search. This provides a more stimulating learning environ­ ment for the student than would menely placing him or her in a higher level basal reader. Cassidy notes that it is neces­ sary to provide appropriately stimulating instruction for gifted students because gifted­ ness can disappear if it is not nurtured. Some gifted children do poorly in school, often because they are bored in regular clas­ ses. That is why they are some­ times classified as daydreamers or troublemakers. Another reason that gifted children sometimes do not reach their potential in school is that the curriculum may not be geared to their particular gifts. This is especially true for youngsters with ability in non­ verbal areas such as mathema­ tics or art. "School is essen­ tially a verbal environment," says Cassidy. indicate that as many as 20 per­ cent of all high school dropouts could be classified as gifted. For this reason, Cassidy feels that it is important to identify gifted students at an early age. "Gifted is one case where a label does not hurt. This at least alerts parents and teachers to the d talented tured fact that this is a resource that you have, and you should foster it to the best of your ability." What can parents do if they believe their child is gifted? First of all, Cassidy recom­ mends that parents be advocates for their child and try to get him Student at work AN ORDERLY WORK AREA helps the task of getting down to studying. This wall-hung panel, fitted with vertical and hori­ zontal hint, shelf and utensil hooks from Syroco's new Work- Rack'®, organises a study corner in the bedroom. Other com­ ponents, all affordable, include a deeper shelf, paper towel holder, knife holder and utility hooks, making it a flexible unit for just about every room. In white, brown, yellow and red, WorkRack® is made of ABS high-gloss plastic. The elements are sold separately. Syroro is a division of Dart Industries Inc. or her into a gifted program at school. In many school districts, par­ ent recommendations help de­ termine which children get screened for these programs. "Parents can and do identify, gifted children." says Cassidy. He cites five ways in which par­ ents can recognize possible giftedness in their child: • Performance in school. (If a child is in the top two percent of the class or scores in the top two percent on a standardized test, that is an indication of gif­ tedness); • A high degree of verbal fluency and advanced vocabul­ ary; • A great deal of curiosity about all parts of his or her envi­ ronment; • A high degree of problem- solving ability. ("The child likes to engage in challenging activities." This can include an interest in both verbal and non­ verbal problems); • Prolonged periods of atten­ tion and concentration to a given task. It is worth noting that four of these five criteria can be recog­ nized before the child enters school. Cassidy says thai the as­ sumption that all gifted children learn to read before entering school is wrong. In reality, only 20 percent of all gifted youngsters are early readers, and Cassidy feels that it is unfair to yse this as a criterion to judge possible giftedness. Cassidy believes that parents can do a great deal to nurture their child's natural intellectual ability. He suggests that parents establish a family reading time, since the child can acquire knowledge on many subjects through reading. He also recommends that parents encourage creative thinking in their children. "Gif­ tedness is a combination of the environment and natural en­ dowment." <;irls OF all a<;ks » ill enjoy doing homework NI the "School House" desk in Williamsburg Red with currfrrr laini- natrd top. The "Upstairs" deck »itli concealed light* lets her pursue a doll house liohhy or dinplay favorite accessories. Both are from Singer Furniture's "Doll House," a selection of 16 correlated bedroom pieces that combine to look like a miniature Victorian village. In keeping with the trend of col­ lecting miniatures, now the second large*! liohhy in the nation, a scale of one foot to one inch is maintained throughout so that regular doll house accessories fit in perfectly. "Doll House," a medium priced Singer correlate, is crafted in all wood and han an abundance of texture and detail. Knowledge itself is power. --Francis Bacon •"•""COUPON""""™ -BACK TO SCHOOL - SMC TYPEWRITER CLEANING $20°° 815-385-5089 COUPON VALID UNTIL SEPT. 30, 80 ^ COUPON VALID UNTIL SEPT. 30, 80 j Some gifted youngsters will stand up and be noticed, even if they are labeled as troublemak­ ers, but Cassidy is especially concerned' about the quiet stu­ dents who do not attract any at­ tention. "Often, they will just sort of tum off to school; turn off to learning. These are the ones who are slipping through the cracks." In fac(, some studies Back to School with PACIFIC TRAIL Our Entire Selection Of i mane TRAIL 8m*/Aitmun Outerwear MEN'S WEAR 3902 W MAIN STREET M MCHENRY, ILLINOIS 60050 (815) 385 4060 EFFECTIVE AUGUST 22 THtU AUGUST 30