126 of 126 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Helping Gifted Children Soar, March 15, 2001
This review is from: Helping Gifted Children Soar: A Practical Guide for Parents and Teachers (Paperback)
Helping Gifted Children Soar (A Practical Guide for Parents and Teachers) by Carol A. Strip, Ph.D with Gretchen Hirsch. Gifted Psychology Press, 270 pp.
Reviewed by Nadine Huffman and Elizabeth Glier
During our combined 20+ years of parenting and teaching our gifted children, we've read countless books on giftedness, which have yielded various reactions and degrees of satisfaction. Like the porridge in the three bears' cottage, many seemed "too hot" or "too cold" - too simplistic, too academia-oriented, too esoteric. Only a select few were "just right," worthy of recommendation and a place in our home libraries.
So when we set out to review Carol Strip's Helping Gifted Children Soar, we were, quite frankly, a bit skeptical. Indeed, the book has a great pedigree. It's published by Dr. James Webb's (co-author of Guiding the Gifted Child) Gifted Psychology Press. But would its claim, "A Practical Guide for Parents and Teachers" prove to be justifiable, earning it a permanent place on our bookshelves?
Fortunately for the gifted community, this book falls into the "just right" category. It's excellent for teachers, and even better for parents. Dr. Strip's breadth of experience -- as a regular and gifted classroom teacher, gifted program administrator, and university professor - serves her exceedingly well. Since working within the educational system is her forte, the book is loaded with comprehensive advice and concrete suggestions on how to meet children's educational needs.
Written in laymen's terms, the book is extremely readable. Particularly incisive sections include defining smart vs. gifted; selecting optimal teachers; exploring learning options (e.g., acceleration, curriculum compacting, and pull-outs); characteristics of good gifted programs; and effective parent/teacher communication. Dr. Strip also offers a plethora of solid parenting suggestions, and a useful question/answer section. The book includes over 20 pages of first-class resources and references.
One comment: Given the paradigm shift towards homeschooling among many gifted parents today, it's curious that this option rates only a nominal mention in the book. Homeschooling is neither Dr. Strip's emphasis nor her area of expertise. But there's enough other pertinent material to make it a worthwhile read for homeschooling parents. The techniques are relevant and valuable in any educational setting.
Helping Gifted Children Soar may well become the gifted equivalent to Dr. Spock or Penelope Leach on your home reference shelf. Together with Guiding the Gifted Child (Webb, Meckstroth and Tolan) and Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom (Winebrenner), it's a terrific resource for your child's teacher, gifted specialist, principal, or school library.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Gifted Book, February 16, 2001
This review is from: Helping Gifted Children Soar: A Practical Guide for Parents and Teachers (Paperback)
I wish Helping Gifted Children Soar: A Practical Guide for Parents and Teachers was in existence when my gifted son was young. How fortunate for those who now have it available to them. This book is like a sage who takes you by the hand and guides you through the world of giftedness, a territory that was unfamiliar to me when my son was growing up. "Eureka!" came to mind a number of times as I read instances and examples that now shed light on a number of areas relating to my son's development. The wide range of topics covered by this book is stunning ... the physical, social, intellectual, and emotional aspects of the gifted child. The content, written with clarity, provides in-depth guidelines for parents and teachers and demonstrates the importance of parents and teachers serving as allies in their understanding and support of the gifted child. Also included are real-life examples of gifted children and an informative reference section. Appealing and very helpful is the Table of Contents, which not only includes chapter titles, but also chapter subheadings, allowing one to locate topic information immediately. Kudos to Carol Strip and Gretchen Hirsch for their dedicated and important work.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
definitely worth reading, March 14, 2005
This review is from: Helping Gifted Children Soar: A Practical Guide for Parents and Teachers (Paperback)
I've read other comments about this book and agree that maybe if someone already knows a lot about the characteristics of gifted children and knows how to help them in school, then this book maybe too "basic." However, there are at least three chapters in this book that I'd suggest every parent of a gifted child read:
Building Trust, Building Relationships--explains how to be the best parent to a gifted child. A lot of the advice would apply to being a parent to any child too, by the way.
Accepting the Gifted Child--also includes a lot of general common sense advice about supporting your child, but stresses that in the case of gifted children it will be even more important to accept them as they are.
Supporting Gifted Children--stresses the importance of catching stress early and teaching a child to "relax."
I also disagree with the review that says this book is for helping children who are in public schools. I'm afraid many private or parochial schools, even though they may have rigorous academic curriculum, cannot acommodate gifted children. Teachers in those schools might like this book as well.
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