Gifted Children and Gifted Education: A Handbook for Teachers and Parents [Paperback]

Gary A. Davis (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 331 pages
• Publisher: Great Potential Press; 1 edition (July 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0910707731
• ISBN-13: 978-0910707732
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,271,935 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good information, but ..., September 10, 2007

By 

Amy (Alexandria, Vatican City State (Holy See)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Gifted Children and Gifted Education: A Handbook for Teachers and Parents (Paperback)

The target audience of this book seems to be parents or teaching students who have not had previous exposure to Talented And Gifted (TAG) programs or nomenclature. For this audience the material is a well-organized overview of methods to identify TAG students, reasons TAG programs should be implemented in schools, challenges TAG programs face within school systems, and programs that have been put in place for gifted students from elementary school through high school. However, readers who have more familiarity with TAG services, including parents whose children have already been identified as gifted, will likely find this too basic a text.

The book is roughly divided into thirds, with the first third covering gifted identification, the second reasons why some type of differentiation for gifted students is beneficial, and the last third discussing specific programs and support that exist and seem to be working for gifted students. The identification section is very general, listing types of tests and certain scores that may be used as a "cut off" for gifted services. Parents will not find details of how to collect items for TAG consideration for their children, but beginning teachers will find resources to help them identify classic and negative gifted behaviors in their classrooms. The section concerning reasons to provide gifted services seems to be aimed at educational administrators--those who make the decisions whether to keep a particular program at a high level rather than individuals who might craft a program for a particular school. A creative person could find ideas for implementing a program, but not a detailed how-to checklist.

The ideas for specific programs and coping strategies for gifted youth was the section I found most useful personally. This section presumed that a student had been identified and a basic program established and from there provided details of particular curricula and a brief discussion of their use. It discusses specific curricula and issues--I was grateful for the specificity.

One feature I never did understand was the tongue-in-cheek "play" at the beginning of each chapter. Often written as interviews between various characters, at first I thought it was a light-hearted synopsis of what was to be found in the chapter, but instead I found many to be unrelated to the remainder of the chapter: sort of a gifted tangent from the information in the book. I could have lived without these and simply skipped over this section of later chapters.

I found rating this book difficult. Had this volume been available when I first started researching TAG resources I would likely be waxing poetic about all the general knowledge available in one source, and I would recommend it to those who are looking for their first taste of TAG program potential. However, I wanted a depth the design of this book cannot provide. I don't know that I would call it a "handbook"--though it provides interesting information it does not have the exhaustive reference material I would have wanted to see. I hae settled on four stars as I believed this book would help those with very limited prior TAG knowledge, but I have gone back to three stars as I have not had any desire to re-examine this book in the months since I first read it despite new questions I have about gifted education.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended for parents of gifted children, September 11, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gifted Children and Gifted Education: A Handbook for Teachers and Parents (Paperback)

Gifted Children Gifted Education by Gary A. Davis Ph. D. (winner of the E. Paul Torrance Creativity Award from the Creativity Division of the National Association for Gifted Children) is a no-nonsense guide to the concept of giftedness in children, and how parents can provide opportunities to cultivate their children's gifts. Chapters address how to identify gifted children, the pros and cons of educational acceleration from grade skipping to early college admission, how to aid the development of thinking skills and creative growth, and common problems or counseling needs among gifted children. Written in a conversational style accessible to the lay reader, Gifted Children Gifted Education is highly recommended for parents of gifted children.