Families and Gifted Children (continued)

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Helping children grow so that they can make the most of their potential should always be a concern for the family, the child’s first teachers. Although all children have very different personalities, preferences, and abilities, there are some general rules and strategies that have been shown to help support young children in their pursuit of whom they are and whom they are to become.

• Allow time to develop understanding and empathy among family members.
• Develop open communication among family members as they listen and respond to each other.
• Express pleasure for the accomplishments of each family member without comparison.
• Involve young children in planning and carrying out family trips or activities and in making family decisions as far as each child is able, with each person’s contribution seen as valuable to the whole family.

As early as 1955, Pressey admonished educators and families to create genius. Pressey’s plan is still thought provoking today (Pressey, 1964). He studied the careers of eminent European musicians in the nineteenth century and American athletes in the twentieth century. He suggested that the following factors are important to their development and possibly to the development of all special talent or ability:

• Excellent early opportunities for ability to develop with encouragement from family and friends;
• Superior early and continuing guidance and instruction;
• Frequent and continuous opportunity to practice and extend their special abilities and to progress as they are able;
• Close association with others of similar ability;
• Opportunities for real accomplishment within their capabilities, but with increasing challenge; and
• Provision for strong success experiences and recognition of these successes.

Although genius may not result, there is every reason to believe that a level of giftedness may be attainable for a great many children. Although Pressey’s comments grew from logical theorizing, we now have evidence to support his conclusions. The new knowledge comes from data showing us the responsiveness of the central nervous system (CNS), including the brain, to environmental demands and from new discoveries concerning the plasticity and propensities inherent in the early brain. Dendrites on human brain cells will shrivel and the cortex will grow thinner with lack of experiences and opportunities for mental activity. By increasing the level of environmental stimulation and challenge, we can increase the branching of the dendrites and cortical thickness. A thicker cortex means a smarter brain (Diamond, 1998).

In 1982, Bloom reported results of an important study that validated and extended the 1964 thesis of Pressey that giftedness and high levels of talent are created. Just as Pressey suggested, individuals who had attained “world class” status in a variety of fields could not have actualized their gifts and talents without the encouragement, support, and environmental opportunities provided by their family and teachers. Genius indeed cannot “will out” in spite of circumstances, but must be developed, perhaps even created.