Customer Reviews

Developing Math Talent: A Guide for Educating Gifted And Advanced Learners in Math

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This is by far the best book I have read on the subject of giftedness in math. This goes through the myths of teaching math to gifted. It will hit home- as these myths are WIDELY believed by the schools in the USA. There is a plethora of very practical advice for parents. Many talented youth are underachieving in math in the USA because of they way the schools go about teaching. This book goes through how to work with the schools step by step. It is indispensible for parents of a traditionally schooled child- for homeschoolers still helpful- but maybe not as much as in the traditional schools.

From the subtitle (A Guide for Educating Gifted and Advanced Learners in Math), you might get the impression (as I did) that this book will provide (at least some) math content that you can use in teaching talented math students. So, at first, I was disappointed to find out that this book does not offer any material for that purpose. Let me immediately add that it does contain many references to such material and other valuable resources.

Once you know that this is not a math textbook for talented students, and read it for what it is, you'll find out that it is a very good book on dealing with the full range of issues surrounding math education for talented students. The book is organized in a systematic way, where each chapter addresses a particular topic and starts off with the key points. The main target audience of the book consists of parents of talented kids, and teachers (whether teaching talented students or not).

Here are some of the interesting new things that I learned from the book.

It is important to differentiate between good, talented, and exceptionally talented students, since that difference will help decide whether and how to adjust their education. Grade-level tests are not suitable for this, because all these students will score near the top. But above-level standardized tests can be used to differentiate reliably. This is supported by research.

There are many myths (false beliefs) about talented students, and the book makes it possible to discuss these and provides good counterarguments. For instance, many people seem to believe that accelerated education is not good because it will disrupt the social/emotional development of the child. Not true. Of course, acceleration needs to be done in a planned manner. The book will tell you how. Another one is that you cannot detect math talent at an early age (you can, and it is a pity not to develop such talent from an early age on).

Talented students will stay ahead of average students, and with every year the gap will increase, because they pick up new concepts at a higher rate. So, their education will need to be adjusted all the time.

General gifted programs are not the best option. For one thing, the entry criteria may disqualify math talents with average performance on other subjects. For another thing, such programs usually do not provide specific math challenges. Enrichment is also not a solution when it is not accompanied by acceleration and when it does not incorporate specific math-related challenges (special math topics like knot theory, or problem solving).

I liked the many detailed references to research that support the claims of the authors (who themselves also do research in this area, involving large numbers of students). The book is also full of concrete examples and tables. Some quotes from the book can be found on my Quotes web page.

This book is the best reference for how to approach both the long term stategy of meeting the needs of gifted math students as well as the day-to-day mechanics of math instruction. The case studies are also enlightening - if your child is like one of those, do a web search for Davidson Young Scholars, a program started by the coauthors of Genius Denied: How to Stop Wasting Our Brightest Young Minds

This is a very thorough book that does not disappoint on depth or breadth. There are chapters that target parents and chapters that target teachers. Although much of the information repeats between these sections, I would recommend parents and teachers read all of the sections for a better understanding of the challenges each faces. This book would also be very useful for administrators, mentors and gifted coordinators.

The authors of this book are well-qualified to give advice on programming, assessment and working with gifted learners. They provide solid research to back up their arguments. I enjoyed the emphasis on mathematics; however, this would also be a useful book for those who work with students with other academic talent areas.

My favorite section of the book was the chapter on case studies. It is reassuring to read about other children with advanced abilities and see there are a wide variety of ways to meet their needs.

I am a mother of a gifted toddler and would recommend this book especially for parents of early elementary students with advanced math ability.

This book is an invaluable resource for anyone with a mathematically talented child. The elementary school system (at least where we live) is not prepared to develop math talent. To be fair, I do understand that resources are limited and they can only do so much. The curriculum is necessarily designed for all children, not just the few mathematically talented kids. My son was so bored, frustrated and disengaged he started to make careless errors and develop some other bad habits. With the help of this book, he is now taking online math courses through Johns Hopkins CTY. The public school he attends has made some modifications to partially incorporate this course into his math curriculum. In short, he's thriving!

This book also gave me the confidence that, yes, I know what I'm talking about when it comes to my son. For two years, we had been taking the "wait and see" approach since we were always assured his needs would be met. Two years later, we knew we needed to do something different but really didn't know what to do. If you are in this situation, get this book, use the tools it suggests, and then do what you know is best for your child.

As a homeschool parent responsible for the education of my child, I skimmed the first six chapters--interesting with unstated implications for other subjects. The next two chapters are invaluable. You and your child's math teacher should know the contents well, even if your child is just performing at grade level. I like to hike the mountains with a guide who has been to the summit, even if I think at first that I am not going to the top. The hike will be more exciting even lower down on the mountain. I will probably explore more exotic areas and even yearn to ascend the heights, when I never would have considered it without that guide. This book expands horizons, for the authors have mounted the math summit many times and teach teachers to lead their students there.

Recieved item on time, right when we were told it would arrive. Book in very good condition.