Customer Reviews

Parenting Gifted Kids: Tips for Raising Happy And Successful Children

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
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2 star:		(1)
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Not really the book that I have expected, but it ended up being better than I expected.
The author analyzes different types of giftedness, gives many real life examples and quotes, talks about gifted adults - something that I haven't encountered yet in this type of literature - and in general helps to change your general attitude towards giftedness. For me, the attitude change (not "ten tips..."!) is the factor that makes easier to deal with many related to giftedness issues (academic, social, emotional). Just two examples of what turned out to be really helpful for me:
- list of phrases that most of us use all the time with gifted kids, but that should be avoided ("You are so smart, I expected better from you" - this is my favourite - unfortunately!)
- reference to couple of books "Philosophy for kids" and advice how to deal with questions of this type (again, how do YOU answer the question "Why does God allow murder?" from 6-years old?)
Highly recommended for all parents of gifted kids - and even more, for parents who are not sure whether their kids are gifted.

How happy I was to get a new perspective on the gifted parenting issue. Instead of a book merely listing the characteristics of gifted kids and the problems they face, this offered some new points. The included "Gifted Children Speak Out" section at the end of every chapter was very insightful and put everything I was reading in perspective; all the advice in the world can't substitute for honest feelings given directly from the children themselves. I also really enjoyed the chapter on giftedness in adults. It was helpful both as a way for the reader to reflect on and remember his or her own gifted childhood, and as a reminder that our children are going to grow up, with characteristics that continue to affect them in adult life. Finally, the resource section at the back was full of schools, journals, web sites and other places to find additional information and support. Overall, a very thourough and insightful book.

Parenting Gifted Kids: Tips For Raising Happy And Successful Children by James R. Delisle (Professor of Gifted Education at Kent State University) is an informative and "parent friendly" reference for enabling a truly gifted child to expressively and productively achieve their life goals, develop sound character, and general enjoy their life. Examining overly excitable children, the type of gift granted to each child, working with the school system, dealing with perfectionist children, being a positive role model, building a child's character, and helping kids achieve their set goals and dreams, Parenting Gifted Kids is very highly recommended reading, especially to all new parents of a gifted child.

A book for parents who know their child is gifted and who want to learn about their child's inner landscape. Not for parents who are wondering HOW to get their child into their school's gifted program. I checked out many books from the public library, looking for one like this. The others devote multiple early chapters to testing, which was a moot point for me.

Have been recommending it to other TAG parents as the "if you're only going to read one book on giftedness, this is it" book.

This completely explained my child. Thank you for helping me to understand her and how her mind works. This is the beginning to parenting my child the way she needs.

This is a must for anyone who is on the journey of raising a gifted child!

There are many books out there about giftedness and how to 'help' your child achieve his full potential. This often means how to get your gifted kid to perform well according to the criteria of the school.

Mr DeLisle stands up for gifted children who are being stifled in schools that do not meet their needs. His section on the unsuitability of calling these children 'underachievers' is a must for any parent trying to force their children to conform to the convergent thinking encouraged in school. There are some gifted children who can NOT do this and schools refuse to recognise this.

I have a profoundly gifted son who has hated and fought against school from day one of Preschool. Most other gifted books describe this as 'underachievement'. Another very well respected Author tells you in great detail how to not fall for this behavior and knock it out of your child. Well we tried that for 4 years and finally realised what torment our very frustrated child was dealing with in a school that could not let him work at the level he needed (what ever will he do middle school if he does all that work now??).

If you have a gifted child and want him to succeed emotionally as well as just academically then you need this book on your bookshelf! For all the times that naysayers (who may have little to no experience with giftedness) tell you that you are 'spoiling' your child you need this book to remember where our priorities as parents of the gifted should really lie.

This is an excellent resource for parents seeking to raise a child who is intellectually, socially, emotionally and spiritually balanced, as well as productive. -- It offers real world advice concerning advocacy for and understanding of the gifted and talented, while reminding parents that gifted and talented children are just that -- children.

I recommend this book over any other I've read thus far. It is enjoyable, exceptionally readable, and chok-full of insight and information.

As a gifted child, I wish my parents had not understood me as gifted, but understood why I loved being the best at everything, i.e. why it was so important for me, and why I was losing my childhood to it. Not that it is bad to be the best, but it doesn't make our children happy. I wish my parents had helped me break the deep feeling (and illusion) that I was loved when others acknowledged my being gifted...which inevitably came with the deep feeling of doubt about whether I was loved when I was not great. I wish they had helped me relax, made me feel loved unconditionally, helped me find out what "I" liked and focus on that, and most importantly, stop the emotionally empty pursuit of continuing to be "the gifted child", stop looking for the excitement of compliments as an illusion of love. Feeling unconditionally loved by your parents is feeling that you can be ordinary at something, or that if you don't like that game you don't have to play it and if you play it, you can be ordinary at it (invest less time and focus on having fun rather than being "great"), and still know for sure, deeply, without having to test it, that your parents will always love you anyway. If your child is almost always great, by definition he/she does not feel/know for sure that you love him/her unconditionally.

As parents, it is our responsibility to help our child be happy, rather than extraordinary. When your child is gifted and extraordinary, the best you can offer is not encourage him/her to be great (he/she's already doing that) but rather 1) for you to gain the insight of why he/she feels it is so important to be the best at everything, why he or she invests so much emotional energy in getting your and other people's compliments, and 2) help him/her feel loved unconditionally, that it is perfectly fine to be ordinary at some things, by expressing your love "especially" when he or she is ordinary--that is when you should express the most love to your child--to tame his/her deep-rooted emotional illusion that compliments = love, because of what it also means in his/her heart: that no compliments = no love. Read this book and especially "the Drama of the Gifted Child", so you truly help your child, so he/she doesn't have to read the book in 10 to 20 years and has to mourn the loss of his/her childhood to being "gifted".

I bought this book on a wim thinking my daughter may be gifted and talented. After reading this book, I knew for certain that she was. This book provides a lot of insight on gifted and talented kids and how to make sure they get the most out of school. Very well written and a great resource. I understand my daughter better now and life has been a lot easier.

I have been an educator for many years, and I have often worked with gifted children either in the regular classroom or in a special program, so I can say that I am very familiar with what the author is talking about and highly recommend this book. I would say you can call this a parents survival guide and every parent should read it - not just the parents of gifted kids.

Delisle's research and years of experience are presented in an easily understood and common sense style that makes the reading very enjoyable instead of dry and scientific. His examples are drawn from real life and his tips and methods are right on target. I especailly liked his suggestion about school to "never request a teacher, always request a style" which makes so much sense. He provides excellent methods for working not only with your child, but with the educational system and other people in your child's life.

Too often our children are stunted because of a lack of understanding from adults, and now Delisle has provided some excellent methods for encouraging a healthy and varied/balanced life for gifted children, and these ideas can be applied to all children.