Children's Talents Research Articles

PHILOSOPHICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL DREAMS AND REAL ACTIONS OF THE OUTSTANDING SCIENTIST OF CONTEMPORARY TIME

The article outlines the philosophical and pedagogical views of the outstanding ukrainian scientist I. Ziaziun, who dedicated his life and work to the master in all his hypostases. In his active work, new ideas, author's theories and concepts were born, which today cause dissatisfaction with the conservatives, who are a lot in state bodies and in the educational field.The problem of freedom of the personality in the space of pedagogical action, technology and techniques of personality development of freedom of subjects of learning; epistemological and culturological dimensions of the educational system, preparation of teachers for the educational process as the expected responsible action – are extremely important and predictive layers of scientific knowledge, which are substantiated in the writings of the scientist. Particular attention is paid to the disclosure of the provisions concerning: logistical model of the pedagogical outlook, new approaches to teacher training in Ukraine; university teacher training for profile education of senior students; the leading role of pedagogical departments in the training of future teachers; epistemological and culturological dimensions of the educational system; continuous education, its conceptual foundations, models, content and forms.The scientist's dream of a high teacher status in Ukraine was combined with a philosophical belief that teacher's teacher's skills would become a powerful and at the same time a subtle tool that will open the hearts of children and parents, will strengthen love for family, friends and open up children's talents. Scientists have substantiated, confirmed and really introduced the concept of pedagogical skill, which has deep roots, reaching sources of ukrainian history, culture, ethno-national traditions, wisdom of our people. For many years the scientist has crystallized theoretical and methodological positions and non-traditional interdisciplinary principles of pedagogical skill.It was emphasized that academician Ivan Ziaziun's legacy should be studied in different directions: philosophical, ethical, psychological, pedagogical, methodological and others. The scientific value is its prognostic views on psychodiagnostics. The constant search for innovative approaches enabled the methodological substantiation of psycho-pedagogical principles of pedagogical skill as a system of professional competences.

SISTEM PAKAR PENGENALAN BAKAT DAN MINAT ANAK DENGAN METODE FORWARD CHAINING

Every human being has an interest, and a different talent. Interest is a strong impetus for a person to do something he wants. Talent itself is an existing ability or innate or the ability that can be trained to master the things that interest. The potential of the child should be stimulated in advance so that it can be seen as a skill, knowledge and skillfulness that becomes the provision of his life. One way to recognize the child's talents and interests requires a test to understand the temperament and personality of the child, to understand multiple intelligences and to recognize the direction of the child's interest. The test is applied to an expert system using the Forward Chaining method to help determine the type of intelligence in the child. Each type of child intelligence has several potential talents and special interests of the child. The expert system is implemented in a Visual Basic 6.0 programming language. The results of this study in obtaining an alternative decision to recognize the type of intelligence of children who show potential talents and interests of children. So that talent can be further developed.
 Keywords: Talent and Interests, Forward Chaining, Expert System

A Talent for Tinkering: Developing Talents in Children From Low-Income Households Through Engineering Curriculum

Guided by the theoretical framework of curriculum as a platform for talent development, this quasi-experimental field study investigated an intervention focused on engineering curriculum and curriculum based on a biography of a scientist through a comparative design implemented in low-income schools. Student outcome measures included science content achievement, engineering knowledge, and engineering engagement. The sample comprised 1,387 Grade 1 students across 62 classrooms. Multilevel modeling was used separately for each of the three student outcome measures. The intervention resulted in an effect size of 0.28 on an out-of-level science content assessment and effect size of 0.66 for the engineering knowledge measure. Students in the intervention group reported a high level of engineering engagement. General education teachers were trained to implement the curricula through a summer institute and received coaching throughout the subsequent academic year. Evidence suggests the intervention functioned as a talent-spotting tool as teachers reported they would nominate a substantial portion of low-income and culturally diverse students for subsequent gifted and talented services. Discussion focused on the match between the needs and preferences of students from low-income households for hands-on design experiences and the curricular affordances in the engineering domain as a talent development pathway for young, poor children.

Enhancing Adaptive Capabilities of Hospitalized Child

Hospitalization is always a difficult situation for a child as well as for its parents. It is also a new situation, accompanied by fear and negative emotions. Child's adaptation to hospital conditions and reduction of fear are not always taken into consideration properly, as the whole process of hospitalization is concerned. The most significant issues are diagnosis and treatment, most often pharmacological or surgical. Usually, there is also not enough qualified personnel (clinical psychologist, special educator), who could provide necessary support to a child and his or her parents. Not much however, has been written so far regarding the subject of our research, that is why, in our opinion, there is an urgent need of conducting further studies based on theory and developing appropriate model of prevention and psycho-correction, which would take into consideration an individual approach towards the child, depending on its age, family situation, type of disease, the length of hospitalization, as well as child's interests and talents. In our research on children from the age of pre-kindergarten to older schoolchildren, we chose the monographic method to conduct a conversation and an interview (most often with the parents), observation, analysis of the child's works and the gap-test (version for children). The aim of our research was to familiarise with the child's history and its psychic activity, with emphasis on cognitive factors which make the child aware of the whole situation concerning disease, help to estimate losses and benefits, the role of the parents and the child itself. While doing our research, in relation to the examined children, we made psycho-corrective proceedings of enhancing their adaptive capabilities to hospital conditions. One of integrative plays we used, was called Guess the emotions. We also used an exercise called Paint the feelings moreover, forming the attitudes of positive thinking and self-acceptance as well as development of interests were also introduced. Individual approach to ill children considering mentioned above effects, presented in the article have become a part of so called integrated therapy which may turn out to be the most promising and effective form of therapy developed in future.

مشکلات الأطفال الموهوبين بمدارس الحلقة الأولى من التعليم الأساسي وسبل التغلب عليها على ضوء بعض التجارب العالمية المعاصرة

هدف البحث إلى وضع تصور مقترح يمکن من خلاله التغلب على مشکلات الأطفال الموهوبين بمدارس الحلقة الأولى من التعليم الأساسي بالاستفادة من بعض التجارب العالمية المعاصرة وذلک من خلال تعرف الإطار المفاهيمي الحاکم للموهبة، وأسس ومبادئ تنميتها، و تعرف أهم التجارب العالمية في مجال تربية الموهوبين، وتحديد نوع وطبيعة المشکلات التي يعاني منها الأطفال الموهوبون في الحلقة الأولى من التعليم الأساسي بمحافظة الدقهلية. واستخدم البحث المنهج الوصفي وتمثلت عينة البحث من 120 معلم بالمدارس التجريبية والمتميزة للغات بالدقهلية وعدد (100) ولي أمر للأطفال الموهوبين، وتوصل البحث للعديد من النتائج، التي جاءت في المرتبة الأولى لترتيب المشکلات منها ما يلي: أولا: المشکلات المتعلقة بالمدرسة: - لا يتم اختيار الأطفال بناء على تطبيق اختبارات الذکاء في المرتبة الأولى في ترتيب المشکلات المتعلقة بسياسة المدرسة في الکشف عن الموهوبين واختيارهم. - يزداد عدد التلاميذ بشکل کبير داخل الفصل الواحد مما يفرض ترکيزا شديدا على التذکر وليس التخيل في التعليم. وجاء في المرتبة الأولى في ترتيب المشکلات المتعلقة بالمعلمين ما يلي: - قلة توفير المعلمين المتخصصين في تعليم الموهوبين بالمدرسة. - تقصير المدرسة في مشارکة المعلمين دورات تدريبية وورش عمل ومؤتمرات حول الموهوبين. - عدم معرفة المجتمع المدرسي بسمات وخصائص الموهوبين. ثانيا: المشکلات المتعلقة بالإدارة المدرسية - ضعف العلاقة بين إدارة المدرسة وأسر التلاميذ الموهوبين لمتابعة إنجازاتهم وتطورهم. - ضعف التواصل بين إدارة المدرسة ورجال الأعمال والمؤسسات الاقتصادية والاجتماعية المختلفة في محافظة الدقهلية للقيام بدورهم في دعم الأنشطة المحققة لتنمية المواهب. ثالثا: المشکلات المتعلقة بأسر الأطفال الموهوبين - تفاخر الأسر بمواهب الطفل أمام الآخرين. رابعا: المشکلات المتعلقة بالأطفال الموهوبين أنفسهم: -ينشد الموهوب إلى الکمال والمثالية والإفراط في محاسبة النفس. Abstract: The research aims to find a suggested scenario through which can overcome the problems of the gifted children in the first Stage of basic education by benefiting from the contemporary world experiences by defining the conceptual framework of the gift, the foundations and principles of its development, and determine the type and nature of the problems which the gifted children in the first Stage of basic education in Dakahlia Governorate suffer from. The study used the descriptive method. The study sample consisted of 120 teachers in experimental and distinguished schools for languages ​​and 100 parents for gifted children. The research reached to several results, which ranked first to the problems rank, including the following: First: School Problems: The student is not chosen according to the application of intelligence tests which related to the school problems in the detection and selection of the gifted. The number of students increases significantly within the classroom, which needs a strong emphasis on remembering not imagination in education. In the ranking of problems that related to teachers came the following: The Lack of the specialized teachers in gifted education. Shortening of the school in the participation of teachers training courses, workshops and conferences on the gifted. Second: The Problems that Related to the School Administration: The Poor relationship between the school administration and the families of the gifted students to follow up their achievements and development in the parents of gifted children, and Poor communication between the school administration and businessmen. . Third: Family problems related to gifted children. Families boast of the child's talents in front of others. Fourth: Problems related to gifted children themselves The talent seeks perfection, idealism and over-self-accountability

SEKOLAH ALAM BENGAWAN SOLO DENGAN PENDEKATAN EKOLOGI ARSITEKTUR DI KABUPATEN KLATEN

<em>Design of the School of Natural Bengawan Solo in Klaten motivated by formal school education as children when space is in fact still can not be said to ideal for education and develop interest in the child's talents. Education became a fundamental necessity for everyone today. This then raises the idea to present alternative educational space able to accommodate the needs of children to learn, play, and explore. Empowering communities to be able to optimize the potential to become one of the important objects in presenting educational space. Bengawan Solo river and wood craft into the potential of rural communities Gondangsari, Juwiring, Klaten. Potentials possessed villagers Gondangsari not managed properly due to lack of containers in order to accommodate and develop this potential. Design issues are: how to design an alternative education space and bring the space community development based on the application of Ecological Architecture into the design of the School of Natural Solo. The method used is a method of architectural design that blends the essence of Ecological Architecture according to Heinz Frick and Kenneth Yeang in accordance with the design of the School of Natural Solo. Then blend the essence of Ecological Architecture into the design strategies in the design essence a result of interaction of school, nature, and potential kawaasan. The result is a draft design of an educational facility such as classrooms, laboratories of nature, community development space, exhibition space and its supporting buildings which also functions as a precedent alternative education for the visitors.</em>

PENERIMAAN ORANGTUA TERHADAP ANAK DENGAN AUTISME DI PUSAT LAYANAN AUTIS (PLA) DAERAH ISTIMEWA YOGYAKARTA

ABSTRACT
 Background: Autism is a developmental disorder in children that affects their social and imaginative lifes. Parents’ acceptance on their children’s autism will have impact on how they treat their children.
 Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the parental acceptance of children with autism in the Autism Services Center (ASC), Yogyakarta.
 Methods: This study was a qualitative research with a phenomenological approach. The data collection was conducted by in-depth interviews with three informans.
 Results: All the informants accepted their children’s conditions, after getting information about autism. Acceptance of parents indicated their satisfaction with the children’s talent. Parents provide facilities to support the children's talents. In addition, the acceptance of parents indicated by the acceptance of the cildren’s limitations.
 Conclusion: Participants accepted their children’s conditions, talents and limitations.
 Keywords: Autism, Parental Acceptance.

과학 경험을 통해 얻은 과학 영재 어머니의 양육 방법에 대한 인식 탐색

본 연구는 과학 영재인 자녀를 둔 어머니를 대상으로, 이들의 자녀와의 과학 경험을 통해 과학 영재인 자녀의 성장과 발전을 위해 어떠한 양육 방법을 효과적으로 인식하고 있는지를 탐색하고자 하였다. 이를 위해, 교육청 영재 교육원 어머니 13명을 섭외하여, 이들과 2회에 걸쳐 개별 심층 면담을 진행하였다. 연구 결과, 과학 영재의 어머니는 과학 영재인 자녀와 함께 다양한 과학 경험을 하는 과정에서 영재인 자녀를 이해하고 영재의 생각과 선택을 존중하게 되었고, 자녀의 잠재력과 재능을 성장, 발현할 수 있는 교육 환경을 제공해 주거나 진로의 방향을 결정하는데 도움을 주는 것이 필요하다고 인식하게 되었다. 이를 위해서는 사람 사이의 관계의 중요성을 일깨워 주는 리더십 교육, 자신이 원하는 삶을 결정할 수 있도록 다양한 경험의 기회 제공, 깊이 있는 과학 경험의 탐색과 선배 과학자와의 만남을 통한 진로 교육, 통합적 사고를 위한 인문학과 예술을 융합한 교육이 필요하다고 인식하고 있었다. 이를 통해, 과학 영재의 어머니들에게 과학 영재 자녀들이 지적, 정서적으로 성장 발달하기 위해 제공해야 하는 다양한 지원방식과 교육 방법에 대한 구체적인 방향을 제시할 수 있는 심도 깊은 연구 결과의 제공과 과학영재 부모를 위한 교육 프로그램의 개발이 필요하다. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of science experience with their children on mothers who have children who are science gifted children and how they perceive what kind of parenting methods are appropriate for the growth and development of children who are science gifted children. To do this, we interviewed 13 mothers of the gifted education center of the Ministry of Education and conducted two in - depth interviews with them. Results, mothers who have scientific gifted children have various science experiences with children who are scientific gifted. In this process, mothers of gifted children understand the gifted children through science experience with their children, I have come to realize that it is necessary to provide an educational environment that can express my child's talents and help to determine the direction of my career. For this purpose, leadership education that reminds the importance of relationships between people, providing opportunities for various experiences so that they can decide their life, career education through inquiry of deep science experience and meeting with senior scientists, humanities for integrated thinking And the arts. In this way, it is possible to provide in-depth research results to the mothers of the gifted and talented to provide specific directions for the various supportive methods and teaching methods that the gifted children should provide for intellectual and emotional growth and development. Development of educational programs is necessary.

Model of the System of Detection, Development and Support of Technical Talent of Children and Youth

The purpose of the article consists in representation of creation experience of the work system with technically gifted children and youth in conditions of the university. The author has used criterion approach to definition of types of talent. The methods of the research of the problem of technical talent development are the synthesis of the best pedagogical experience, supervision, questioning of teachers and a conversation with them. Innovative projects are presented and were analysed: The children's university, the intellectual children's camp "InteLLeto" for gifted children, "Mechta", the summer physical and mathematical school, the Center of the educational robotics functioning on the basis of the Yelabuga institute of the Kazan federal university. The paper describes the experience of holding competitions and contests on technology among school students gained by engineering and technological faculty. It has shown that participation of school students in such projects and actions promotes not only to the development of their talent but also forms their steady interest to technical and design types of the professional activity that in turn allows them to get a profession demanded at the modern labor market. It is pointed out that there is an objective need of special training of a teacher which would promote formation and development by teachers the necessary professional competence for the successful work with gifted school students. The development and support of technically gifted students at the university are promoted by their participation in the design-technology bureau "Evrika"’s work which is directed on formation of skills of research and design-technology activity, on deepening and fixing the knowledge gained in the course of theoretical training, on practical mastering of a methodology and means of designing and development of a car - and motor-equipment, tools, facilities, devices, machines, educational visual manuals and also technologies of their production. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s3p122

Minding the Gap: Building Partnerships across Difference

In a world tom apart with anger, hatred, and conflict, we have the privilege of being living signs of a love that can bridge all divisions and heal all wounds.-Brother David Viyhof, SSJEFor the past decade our attention has been consistently drawn to the growing income inequality gap in our country and the decline of the middle class.1 The fabric of life in America is changing, politicians, economists, and sociologists tell us, as the elite wealthy class increases in numbers and isolation while a growing number of people are falling below the poverty line. The church has a role to play in addressing income inequality in contemporary American society. Communities that are vastly different from each other and yet bound together by the communion of saints and the teachings of Jesus can mind the gap and cross the income inequality divide to forge relationships and share resources. This is one priests story of how partnerships across difference and collaboration between secular and faith-based organizations built up an economically challenged neighborhood church and its people, and allowed both to thrive.The stained carpet down the center isle of the cold sanctuary was strewn with onion peels, wrinkled bruised apples, and dirt that fell off carrots pulled from large sacks. Volunteers in winter coats reached into fifty-pound bags for handfuls of potatoes to place in the brown grocery bags on top of cans of creamed com and bags of stuffing. Frozen turkeys sat at the bottom of the bags that filled the pews in the stunning, beautifully boned Episcopal church designed by architect Henry Vaughan and built in 1882: St. Marys on the Hill in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Three hundred turkeys in grocery bags filled the normally empty pews that morning. They were all gone by noon. On Sundays, the last remnants of a diminishing community gather to sing and pray in this cold, nearly empty church. On Tuesdays, people stand in line from early morning to be allowed entry because they do not have enough food. Jesus fed the hungry and told the poor that they were blessed, that the kingdom of God belonged to them. I moved to an economically challenged neighborhood to hear Jesus' teachings in a new culture, and to practice living by faith where there wasn't much else to live by.What Brings Us Together?Before I moved to the city, I served St. Anne's-in-the Fields Epis* * Church in Lincoln, Massachusetts as their rector for twelve years. The parish name gives away its setting. The kitchen window and back porch encircled by day lilies on the south side of the country rectory looked out over an open meadow of purple heather. In warmer months I walked the wooded trails to Walden Pond and dove into the clean water to swim; when snow fell we broke trails on crosscountry skis that took us into woods whose heavy pine branches held the resting snow.One weekday afternoon a high school basketball player from my church joined me to offer a girls basketball clinic at the afterschool program in an inner city parish with which we were partners. During the car ride home she told me about the girls who came to play basketball in the dingy gym. They were good athletes and quick learners, she said. Did I know that they had no physical education classes in their school? Did I know that they never practiced or played on a team? Did I know they had no recreation department and no afterschool sports?Two voicemails waited for me when I returned to my lovely office with its bay windows looking out on fields and trees. Two thoughtful parents had called to say their children would not be attending choir rehearsal that afternoon: a daughter had made the cut and would be dancing in the Boston Ballets Nutcracker, a son had made the tennis team at their private club. These practices and rehearsals were mandatory, and the church's programs were superfluous for these families able to follow their children's talents and interests wherever they might lead. …

Lyric‐Writing Program Promotes Special Talents in Children

Lyric‐Writing Program Promotes Special Talents in Children

Learning Environments for Children in Outdoor Spaces

Learning continues permanently from the start to the end of life. During this period, there are many factors that help learning. Considering the learning process in the childhood, play is the best communication and the most natural learning environment for children. Play recognizes and develops child's talents and creative potential; increases languistic, mental, social, emotional, and motor skills; provides learning opportunities through trial knowledge and experience that will be required throughout their lifetime. In this way, learning can be realized permanently. Outdoor spaces are the best play environments for children. These areas offer opportunities that are not found in indoor spaces and physical environment contributes to children's learning with owned affordances. Thus, outdoor spaces designed for children are very important. These outdoor spaces will be more meaningful and useful when they contribute to children's learning. This paper primarily focuses on the concept of child- environment relationships, learning environments, and discusses the contributions of the physical environment to children's learning. It describes with examples what a learning environment is, how to provide children with physical environments for learning, and which environmental characteristics contribute to learning. In addition, the paper explains the importance of designing learning environments and the design of these environments. In this way, the paper will give clues to the designers who design outdoor spaces for children that are of higher quality and that will contribute to the learning process of children. Consequently, it will show the importance of outdoor environments for children in education and point out the issues of learning with play and learning environments.

Characteristics and dynamics of the family of talented adolescents

The purpose of this study was to describe family characteristics and dynamics of talented adolescents. Forty-two adolescents between 12 and 18 years old who attended a program for gifted students and their family participated in the data collection. A family characteristics questionnaire and the Parent Success Indicator Inventory, children's and parents' versions were used as instruments. The results indicated that more than half of the families with talented adolescents had a traditional figure: spouses with children born of their own conjugal union. These families prioritized education and the development of their children's talents. The family dynamics involved a wide range of routine and leisure activities, among which stand out those related to the rest, to school, watching television and movies and visiting relatives. Parents evaluated their parental performance in a more positive way when comparing to the adolescents considering all the categories measured by the PSI: communication, use of time, teaching, frustration, satisfaction, and information needs. The results of this study highlight the relevant role of the family regarding talent development.

Annette Lareau, Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life, Second Edition with an Update a Decade Later

Annette Lareau, Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life, Second Edition with an Update a Decade Later. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011, 480 pp. $US 24.95 paper (978-0-520-27142-5) The second edition of Annette Lareau's award-winning Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race and Family Life was released in 2011, adding more than 100 pages of new material. At its heart, the second edition tells two stories--one empirical, and the other a cautionary tale of qualitative methods. In the first edition of Unequal Childhoods, Lareau demonstrated that working-class and poor families enacted the Accomplishment of Natural Growth. Their children participated in few, if any organized leisure activities, and had extensive interactions with kin. Parents used directives in speaking to children, and saw a clear boundary between the activities of adults and children. Regardless of race, working-class and poor parents did not tend to intervene with institutions on their children's behalf. In contrast, middle-class parents supported Concerted Cultivation, developing children's talents through organized leisure activities and lessons, eliciting children's thoughts, and actively intervening in institutional settings. Lareau began her data collection for Unequal Childhoods in 1989, intensively observing twelve families between 1993 and 1995. The passage of time takes nothing away from this new edition, nor does it mitigate the impact or resonance of its findings. The book's lasting contribution is Lareau's conclusion that the childrearing patterns persist over time. Unlike in the 1990s, when she interviewed schoolteachers and other relevant adults, Lareau was unable to triangulate her family interviews with other data, and did not complement her interviews with intensive visits, naturalistic observations, nor interviews with employers, college professors, or others. For the second edition, she conducted 2-hour interviews with each of the 12 young adults (6 white, 5 African-American, 1 biracial), and usually interviewed at least one parent and a sibling. The follow-up interviews with the twelve original children tell the most important story of the second edition: how their lives unfolded from the age of nine or ten. Lareau offers a detailed qualitative panel study of sorts, documenting life trajectories of the twelve children--now aged 19-21--and the larger patterns their stories illuminate. Lareau questioned whether the class-based differences in childrearing she witnessed when the children were younger persisted into adulthood. The answer is a resounding yes. Some of these youth struggled--academically and otherwise--to graduate from high school, as four of the eight working-class and poor students dropped out. Others, with talent and determination to attend college, were not able to make the transition. Working-class and poor parents desperately wanted their children to attend college, but lacked the resources, connections, and know-how to effectively help their children with the labyrinthine American college application process. Despite their and their parents' hopes for college attendance, only one of the eight working class or poor youth persisted as a college student. Six are living with family members and working full-time in a variety of jobs, with one working-class girl married and a full-time homemaker. Three out of the four middle-class children studied graduated from high school, and are attending Ivy League colleges. The remaining student, Melanie Handlon, whose academic struggles were chronicled in the first edition of Unequal Childhoods ultimately abandoned community college for cosmetology school, leaving her parents disappointed, and her mother wishing she had intervened more in Melanie's schooling. The second edition of Unequal Childhoods is a testament to the lasting effect of parents' intervention in institutional settings. Middle-class parents took it upon themselves to actively manage and monitor their children's transition from high school to college. …

Parenting the Chinese Way in America

This paper illustrates a case study on two Chinese American families with gifted children, and the major topic focuses on the influence of parenting beliefs and practices on children's talent development. In-depth interviews were employed to collect data from the Chinese parents who lived in America, and research questions include the daily practice of parenting, and parents' beliefs concerning how to nurture talented achievements among children. This paper starts with a narrative account of cases of two gifted children, and then examines the background of Confucian philosophy of learning and its fundamental influence on Chinese traditional parenting practices. Evidences are provided from the case study on the Chinese parents' beliefs, values, and attitudes regarding their children' talent development. Implications are discussed at the end of the paper, which draws attention to the interesting mixed strategy of the Chinese American parenting which combines traditional Chinese parental expectations with an adopted Western notion of respect for a child's own decision-making.

Do Imaginary Companions Die? An Exploratory Study

Adults in this exploratory study usually recalled that their childhood imaginary companions faded away or were dismissed as other options for social interaction became more appealing. However, eight participants reported that their IC had died. Analysis of these deaths offers a glimpse of the child's talent for transitional thought processes that navigate between the emerging constraints of logic and the continuing appeal of fantasy. It is suggested that young children are testing the limits and possibilities of what it means to be "real" at the same time they are trying to puzzle out "alive" and "dead."

Parental Influence on Children's Talent Development: A Case Study with Three Chinese American Families

This paper explores the influence of parenting beliefs and practices on children's talent development through a specific perspective of several Chinese American families with gifted children. In-depth interviews were employed to collect data from the parents, and research questions focused on the daily practice of parenting and parents' beliefs concerning how to nurture high achievement among children. Findings of this study include evidence of a sense of responsibility for parenting, a high level of confidence over their children's future, and a mixed strategy of parenting that combines traditional Chinese parental expectations with an adopted Western notion of respect for a child's own decision making.

Parenting the Gifted: Developing Your Child's Talent in the Real World: Dealing with the Juxtaposition between Ideal and Actual Gifted Education

Is there a best way to parent your gifted child? This is what most parents of gifted children want to know as they enter the world of gifted literature. When I worked briefly for a Web site answering parents' questions as a gifted and talented “expert,” the question I received most frequently in one form or another was, “What should I be doing for my gifted child?” As a parent of four gifted children, this is my question, too.

Social Reproduction and Child-rearing Practices: Social Class, Children's Agency, and the Summer Activity Gap

This study contributes to the ongoing scholarly debate about the relative importance of parents' resources and values in influencing parents' child-rearing practices. Using ethnographic data on children's summer experiences, the authors examine how families from different ethnic and social-class backgrounds assemble child care and other activities for their children during summer vacation. The authors argue that social-class differences in the quality and quantity of children's activities do not stem largely from fundamental differences in parents' desires to help children develop or cultivate their skills and talents. Instead, these differences stem from parents' differential access to a wide range of resources, including money, the human capital to know how best to assess and improve children's skills, the cultural capital to know how best to cultivate children's talents, and the social capital to learn about and gain access to programs and activities. The authors also show that children's own values and temperaments, or “child capital,” strongly influence children's activities, sometimes compensating for parents' lack of resources and sometimes impeding parents' efforts to construct stimulating summers for their children.

Parent perceptions of the effects of the Saturday enrichment program on gifted students’ talent development

Based on survey responses from 187 parents of students who attended the Saturday Enrichment Program (SEP) at the Center for Talent Development (CTD) of Northwestern University, this study showed that overall, parents perceived favorable effects of the program on their children's talent development, especially academic talent development. As a result of participation in the CTD program, parents perceived that their children gained scholastic skills or knowledge, were more motivated to learn and interested in the subject areas they studied, and gained academic competence. After the program parents had higher academic expectations for their children. Parents felt positively about instructional aspects of the program such as focusing on a single subject in depth and breadth, experiencing interdisciplinary perspectives across subject areas, and having experiential learning opportunities. They also perceived that the SEP classes provided their children with both challenge and enjoyment. Despite the perceived benefits of SEP, results also showed that the majority of parents were still reluctant to pursue additional further educational actions inside or outside of school for their children after completing the program. However, of those who contacted their children's local schools, almost half said that their children received more challenging work (e.g., accepted and/or placed into advanced enrichment programs or other gifted programs/groupings in school, recommended for gifted programs, given additional materials or work, or skipped grades) as a result.