The Gifted and Talented Child (continued)

Overseas students should request assistance in entering the talent search from their overseas school and have their SAT I scores reported to the Center for Talented Youth (CTY).

CTY also conducts a Young Students Talent Search and academic programs for students in grades five and six. This initiative is directed to stateside students or those overseas students who receive testing stateside and return for academic programs. Information is available from CTY.

Center for Talented Youth
The Johns Hopkins University
3400 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
Tel: 410-516-8301
Fax: 410-516-0108
Email: ctyinfo@jhu.edu
Web site: www.jhu.edu/~gifted/

Mary Baldwin Program for Exceptionally Gifted Girls

This program enables a girl to complete 8 years of high school and college in 5 years. For more information, contact:

Program for the Exceptionally Gifted
Mary Baldwin College
Staunton, VA 24401
Tel: 703-887-7039
Fax: 703-887-7187

Talent Identification Program (TIP)

Talent Identification Program
Duke University
PO Box 90747
Durham, NC 27708
Tel: 919-684-3847
Fax: 919-681-7921

Outside the metropolitan Washington area, the Talent Identification Program at Duke University uses the SAT test to find gifted youngsters at about age 12. Participants are located across the United States and overseas. The most capable students are invited to supplement their education in a 3-week summer residential program offered on the Duke campus each year. The students can then be enrolled in TIP's By-Mail course, which provides a textbook, lessons, and supplemental materials in such courses as calculus, Latin, American history, biology, chemistry, English language use and origin, literature, physics, precalculus and writing. This program includes students from across the country and overseas students.

Other Summer Programs for the Gifted

In addition to those listed above, a number of summer camps and programs are designed especially to meet the needs of gifted children. Some of these programs are described in the following publications.

Resources

Computerized Database of Summer Programs for Gifted and Talented Students

This service is available in two formats. You may request a search, specifying a particular region or state, topic or focus, grade level and/or other criteria or you may order the entire diskette and do your own search. For cost and more information, contact: 

The Council for Exceptional Children
1920 Association Drive
Reston, VA 22091
Tel: 703-264-9471

Fairfax County Association for the Gifted (FCAG) Newsletter

Washington area summer programs for the gifted are described in the spring issue of this newsletter. Listings include county recreation, private school, and university and public school programs especially designed for the gifted. The FCAG Newsletter also lists suitable summer enrichment programs for teens throughout the United States. http://www.fcag.org/newsletters.htm

Vivace

This newsletter put out by the Northern Virginia Youth Symphony Association, lists more than a dozen summer music camps, mostly in the eastern and mid-Atlantic states.   http://www.ayporchestras.org/

Parental Advocacy

Parents often need to act as advocates for their gifted child, especially when overseas. Unfortunately, often parents may find themselves in adversarial relationships with school personnel. This can be avoided if the parents are careful and sensitive in their advocacy. The following guidelines may be helpful:

Be supportive in any approach to the school; demonstrate concern for quality education for all children.

Get all available information about educating gifted students, including how your school system identifies gifted and talented children.

Get to know the child's teacher; be a volunteer.

Be sure of information before suggesting changes.

Become a member of the school advisory committee or school board.

Be persistent but polite.

Depersonalize efforts on behalf of gifted children whenever possible; gather a group of parents concerned about the same issues.

Parents should be careful in their approach to the school. Start with the person most directly involved. Try the "I have a problem" approach and describe it in calm and polite terms. Telling about your problem invites other people to put their creative ideas to work in solving it and then puts them in the position of approving or helping to implement their solution. Do not blame the teacher or coordinator of the gifted program for all its shortcomings. These individuals are usually the strongest advocates of gifted education in the system.