The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children: What Do We Know?

Rating:
Summary: Must-read for every gifted parent, teacher, & professional!
Review: The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children assembles terrific team of well-respected professionals in gifted, and compiles a great set of essays on the social and emotional aspects of growing up gifted in today's world, complete with the research references to back up thier facts. Authors including Neihart, Rogers, Gross, Silverman, Reis, Robinson, and more... the contributors read like a who's who of gifted education today.

Everyone who works with, plays with, and parents gifted children should read this book. Topics include acceleration, the exceptionally gifted, Dabrowski's overexcitabilties, perfectionism, underacheivment, depression (does it really occur more, or less, in the gifted population?). Special populations are not overlooked, including female, male, gay, lesbian and bi-sexual, african-american, gifted / learning disabled and gifted / ADHD students. The book concludes with topics of parenting, counseling, and career counseling for gifted students.

With all the research-based information, the Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children is still readable and enjoyable. And it's FULL of research-proven techniques and strategies for dealing with the social and emotional aspects of growing up as a gifted child.

This book should be read by everyone in education, gifted, or parenting a gifted child!

Rating:
Summary: Leading research on socio-emotional development of gifted
Review: The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children. What Do We Know? Edited by Maureen Niehart, Sally M. Reis, Nancy M. Robinson, Sidney M. Moon, A Publication of the National Association of Gifted Children, Washington, D.C.: Prufrock Press, Inc., 2002
This publication of the National Association for Gifted Children compiles 24 chapters written by leading researchers of the social-emotional development of gifted children. Chapters explore subjects including perfectionism, underachievement, depression, delinquency, risk and resilience, peer pressure and social acceptance among gifted students. It also addresses specific populations within the community of gifted youth. Categories include the special concerns of girls, of boys, students with learning disabilities or AD/HD, the creatively gifted, and gifted children who are gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Chapters review and present research relevant to each topic. Authors carefully distinguish fact from fiction regarding the social-emotional and psychological characteristics of gifted children. They stress, for example, that there is little research to suggest that gifted students are psychologically or emotionally vulnerable because of their gifts. However, gifted students may be at risk because of the frequent disparity between their cognitive abilities and their educational program. This book is a comprehensive resource, appropriate for both parents and educators.