October GT News
October 1,2023
I am so excited to get started with the after school program for our GT students! Our first after school programming day will be Monday October 16th 3:15-4:15! We will then meet every Monday at that time! Students are not required to attend but it will always be available! During this time students will have the opportunity to work on their Passion Projects, connect with other GT students, work with me one on one, and experiment with different types of materials! We will have access to many different supplies, tools, and materials for students to experiment with! I will send out a much more detailed email regarding our first meeting after I attend the GT Conference on October 9th as I am hoping to get even more supplies and ideas to share with our scholars!
I have had several parents reach out to me about how to best motivate their GT child. So this month I am sharing some resources that will hopefully give you some guidance in how to help your child get motivated and stay motivated!
Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns! Remember I am here to help your child AND you!
How to Motivate your Gifted Child
Motivation and Learning
As a parent of a gifted child, you want to know how you can help your child stay engaged with learning. Think about those times when we are motivated to do our best. It is usually when
- we are interested in,
- have an ability for, and
- see a purpose in what we are doing.
Discovering Interests
Your child's interests open the door to a love of learning. To help her find subjects and activities that interest her, try the following:
- “Interest Inventories” are available free on the web
- Sign your child up for classes or enrichment activities and investigate whether your local schools, colleges, businesses, and performing arts companies offer free or low cost events outside of school hours
- Connect your child with family, friends, co-worker and neighbors to learn what they do for work or for a hobby.
Developing Positive Values for Learning
Carol Dweck, a motivation researcher, describes the “mindset” needed for learning. Parents and Teachers can teach their students to have a “growth mindset” that allows for struggle and failure on the path to understanding. Children need to know that there is value in hard work and that their hard work makes a difference to their success.
Linking Interests to School
Interest areas provide natural learning opportunities. For example, consider a child who shows an interest in baseball. Think of the many ways you can link this interest to academics
- Where are the teams from, Find the players’ home towns on a map,
- What is the history of the team’s name,
- What are the physics of a "knuckleball"?
You do not have to be an expert, just be willing to explore.
Underachievement with GT Students
Underachievement
Underachievement is the unanticipated difference between accomplishment and ability.
Underachievement is a very complex situation with many possible interwoven causes. Among the areas to explore are:
- social issues such as peer pressure;
- psychological issues such as emotional sensitivities or perfectionism;
- undiagnosed learning disabilities;
- lack of interest in curriculum or curriculum is not challenging and engaging;
- low teacher expectations, especially with twice-exceptional, minority, and students from low-income backgrounds.
What You Can Do
Talk to your child and her teacher. It is important to work with your child while simultaneously helping the school find appropriate options to provide supportive and stimulating learning opportunities. Answers to the following questions can point you to possible solutions.
Two Initial Questions to Answer
- Does your child believe he can do the work and has control over how well he does?
- Does your child see value in the work at school?
These are Some Other Questions to Keep in Mind.
- How have your child's teachers dealt with the situation so far? Has any school intervention been more successful than any other?
- Are negative stereotypes or social pressures encouraging your child to “not be smart”?
- Are there particular areas or activities that your child really likes at school? And what does he or she talk about when excited?
- What does your child dislike and what is most difficult? In other words, does he or she like beginning a project, but does not like completing it?
- Do you observe bored behavior at home and, if so, when?
Learn how to work with your child's teacher
Find relevant topics in Connecting for High Potential, a newsletter exploring gifted issues from the parents' and teachers' perspective
More Information
Ford, D.Y. (2011). Reversing underachievement among gifted black students. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
Trail, B.A. (2011). Twice-exceptional gifted children: Understanding, teaching, and counseling gifted students. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
Siegle, D. (2013). The underachieving gifted child: Recognizing, understanding, and reversing underachievement. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
Ritchotte, J. A. (2010, June). Reversing gifted underachievement: The intervention that set one student on the path to success. Parenting for High Potential, 21-26.
ERIC Digest article "Underachieving Gifted Students" includes the role of the family in reversing the problem.
Research Article: Rubenstein, L.D., Siegle, D. Introduction to the special issue: Understanding and promoting motivation in gifted students, Psychology in the Schools (49)7. Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company (requires subscription of purchase of article)
