An activity on William Caxton, inventor of the printing press, which illustrates teaching and questioning methods that work for gifted children. Includes a downloadable version of the activity!

May 6! Or May 7, 8, 9 or 10! Right now some 60 small children in New Zealand are waiting eagerly for one of these days to arrive. When it does, it will be their first-ever day in One Day School – and they can’t wait! Rosemary Cathcart has taken a holistic approach to this, spending two years trialling various strategies, observing and recording children’s responses, and eventually developing a specific “Model of Needs” as a guide for program development.

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | Arboretum takes readers to many habitats and explorations of at least 150 of the world’s trees in the seven biomes where they flourish. Gifted readers will be delighted to have an accessible “museum” in their own homes or classrooms. Arboretum is the newest volume in a series of giant-sized nonfiction books that simulate the experience of visiting museums devoted to erudite fields of knowledge such as archaeology, history, oceanography, geography, botany, zoology, paleontology, and astronomy.

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | Cosmic Wonder is an excellent fusion of several sciences (astronomy, biology, botany, geology, zoology) and history (anthropology and archaeology). Author-Illustrator Ashley Behnam-Yazdani reveals the astronomical history and point of view of the most famous comet in our solar system while she also forges a stunning visual timeline of the evolution of early Earthlings and the growth of humanity, the dominant species on our planet.

This month I thought I would write about something more local than my last article so, I decided to write about the proposed Sun Bear solar farm on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation, near Towaoc, CO and how tribes may benefit from projects like this.

The Climate Crisis is getting nothing but worse and although as a world we are seeing some progress, many countries are still not doing enough. This month, I want to tell you about one country that is taking serious measures to reduce global warming and doing unbelievably well. The country is: Iceland. It is possible to slow change, we just need the will.

“Maybe you’re called to influence the one who will influence the thousands.”

For those of us who work with gifted learners, those words of author Mark Batterson likely resonate. We see the power and potential of our students every single day, but we also see their struggles. Our children are often told by the world that they are “too much,” but our world needs their “too much.” Read more about the power of Micro Schools.

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | There Was a Party for Langston is not so much a juvenile biography of

Langston Hughes as it is a celebration of his profound legacy as a word maker and his influence on generations of African-American authors and poets such as James Baldwin, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, Nikki Giovanni, and Alex Haley.

Dyslexia can disguise giftedness. The term “stealth dyslexia” was first coined by Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide in 2005 to refer to students (often gifted) who could fly under the radar for detection because of compensatory strengths. Some may be able to compensate for poor decoding by strong listening comprehension and the ability to “fill-in” what is not completely decoded by reading.

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | The most recent Book of the Month column in the Gifted Development Center publication (December, 2023) was titled “Two Bad Boys.” As promised, the Book of the Month column begins the new year, 2024, with a tribute to “Two Good Girls.”

Madeline and Eloise are two of the most gifted and assertive girls in the history of 20th century picture books.

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | In a new secular Christmas book, Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen encourage questioning and brainstorming about the countless ways Santa Claus may make his annual Christmas Eve visit to all good girls and boys. No children are left out even if their homes are tropical residences made of grass, pueblos made of mud bricks, or urban high-rises made entirely of steel and glass.

The holidays are an excellent time to make lasting memories with your kids. However, the excitement of the festive season and schedule changes can sometimes be challenging for children and their caregivers to manage. To make the most of this special time of the year, I’ve put together some tips on scheduling, travel and social gatherings, to help you best support your gifted or twice-exceptional child during this holiday season.

“Though I was bursting inside with stories to tell, I was never taught how to structure a riveting plot that would keep my readers interested. I was never taught how to create vibrant characters and describe tangible settings and add symbolism and nuance to my stories, which to me ARE the important aspects of writing.

So, to get back to the roots, the essence of the story and the character, the things that matter the most, I created a game.”

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | Ladda Tammy Duckworth is one of the most heroic persons to ever sit in the Congress of the United States. She is an incredible role model for women, persons with severe disabilities, critically wounded soldiers and veterans, gifted children and adults, and citizens of bi-racial ancestry. A Life of Service is a book to be read by all readers who admire courage and extraordinary giftedness realized.

Charlie presented to us as a precocious 5-year-old boy with visual processing difficulties, as well as trouble with sensory processing and impulsivity. Charlie tested in the gifted range and had difficulty regulating much of what his brain was attempting to process. He completed his OMST program, resulting in a number of behavior changes that took weeks to regulate and re-establish more proficiently. Charlie is a prime example of a gifted boy who developed many coping mechanisms throughout his life that left his sensory system exhausted and uncertain. OMST deconstructs and rebuilds those sensory systems. Read more about Charlie’s progress and other OMST success stories.

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | Aaron Reynolds’s moral is simple. Growing up can be scary, but every act of courage is rewarded. Never be afraid of the dark. Peter Brown again uses graphite-shaded illustrations with the singular exception of ghoulish green underclothing that glows even in the dark.

“Twenty-five years ago, three of my four children were diagnosed as twice exceptional (2e) at Gifted Development Center. Their teachers, and my husband and I, spent lots of time trying to figure out how to help them gain the skills of “paying attention,” “perseverance” and “legible handwriting.”  It was time that we felt would have been better spent encouraging the full expression of their giftedness. We questioned why we could not find a solution to the issues caused by our children’s atypical neurology that prevented the full expression of their talents and gifts. We wanted them to be all that they were meant to be.”

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | A Is for Australian Reefs is a wonderful example of the alphabet book genre. It is filled with revealing information, cogent and insightful writing, and brilliantly colorful illustrations.

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | In Berry Song, the artist celebrates life on an island surrounded by the wild sea that has been the home of her Tlingit ancestors for countless generations. Berry Song is a lovely celebration of Mother Earth. The narration is brief yet inspirational.

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | If there is a lesson to be learned from this unique double biography, it is that truly creative people never give up. Christo and Jeanne-Claude considered their life work a success despite the reality that they were at least one project shy of even realizing 50 percent overall success of their monumental dreams.