Customer Reviews

Raising a Gifted Child: A Parenting Success Handbook

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Raising a Gifted Child-A Parenting Success Handbook is a new release from Prufrock Press. Author Carol Fertig writes a popular blog on gifted children at the Prufrock press website, and has many years of experience as a classroom teacher and gifted education specialist.

In the introduction, Fertig states, "There is no one way to define giftedness and no 'correct' prescription for working with highly able individuals. Instead of giving you 'magic' solutions, in this book, I have provided a large menu of strategies, organizations, and web sites to help you help your child learn and develop." She follows through on her promise with an open view of giftedness and myriad ways to encourage learning and personal growth.

I won't run through every chapter here, but I will offer some of the highlights. Chapter One, "Who Is This Kid Anyway?" discusses reasons to test. The author also advises parents not to get hung up on labels or test scores,but to pay attention to strengths and challenges instead.

Chapter Two, "Understanding Gifted Kids" has a useful chart of concomitant characteristics of giftedness. Verbal proficiency, for instance, can be positive when it means a child is articulate, but also negative in cases when the verbal child dominates conversation. A goal oriented individual may get tasks done, but also may be seen as stubborn and inflexible. Recognizing particular tendencies and proclivities will help children to learn to focus on the positive aspects of their strengths. Significant time in this chapter is also devoted to perfectionism, and social skills, asynchrony, and the extrovert/introvert scale are covered as well.

Fertig is a former teacher and parent to two gifted children. In chapter Four, "Parental Responsibilities", she encourages parents to work on improving school situations and not just complaining about them. In her words, "To be effective, parents of bright children have the responsibility to learn as much as they can about gifted education, to work with schools and districts in constructive ways, and to offer enrichment and other learning opportunities outside of school."

Chapter Seven, "Specific Subjects" is full of many suggestions and links for parents and children to explore. Various programs, competitions, print resources and clubs are mentioned, and all are categorized by subject and described by the author. This section in itself is a good reason to buy this book. There are also further resources listed in the back of the guide.

Carol Fertig sees gifted children as unique individuals and her message is clear. She wants parents to know their kids, know their options, and be proactive about providing educational challenges.

Raising a Gifted Child: A Parenting Success Handbook by Carol Fertig is a highly readable book that gives parents information about giftedness, outlines parental responsibilities in raising gifted children, expresses the importance of creativity--which is huge in gifted children--covers specific subjects in which kids might possess exceptional abilities, and describes some uniques groups of gifted kids and their specific needs. Along the way, Fertig offers many resources, both print and online, for parents to access in determining their children's giftedness and in meeting their needs.

What I most appreciated about Fertig's book, however, was her tone. When wondering whether a child is gifted and how to help our children make the most of their innate abilities, we moms and dads of gifted kids often switch into hyper-parenting mode. We do what we can to create the best educational experience for our children, often amid an educational context that doesn't understand a gifted child's needs. We strive to set the stage for our children to meet their full potential. While affirming these desires and efforts, Fertig communicates the necessity of relaxing a bit, of allowing our children to unfold in their way and time, and of accepting their challenges as growth opportunities.

I highly recommend Raising a Gifted Child. If you suspect your child is gifted, you will gain much information and encouragement for the discovery journey ahead of you. And if you already know you have a gifted child, this book is, at the least, required for your resource shelf and, at the most, required reading. My copy is already underlined and dog-eared, and I know I will refer to it often in the coming years as my children continue to grow and develop into the amazing people they are destined to become.

Great book! Refreshing in that the author doesn't claim to have all the answers. Rather, she gives you resources for you to custom-tailor how you want to raise your unique child. It's very broad in how "gifted" is defined and offers ideas to cover a whole spectrum of talents. It's something I feel I'll be re-reading and referring back to again and again as my child grows!

I have read a lot of books on raising gifted kids, but this one is a bit different. It assumes you know what you're dealing with, and then gives you a wealth of resources for everything from homeschooling to summer camps. If you just figured out you have a gifted/talented child I don't think I'd start here, but it's absolutely worth getting as a resource to turn to when you want to figure out how to supplement your child's learning.

I am a big fan of Prufrock's Gifted Child Education Blog, so I am pleased about Carol's new book.

This book is well laid out and Carol has a very easy-going style, punctuated with interesting anecdotes.

This book will be the focal point of my reference materials.

I hope Carol follows up with another, I can hardly wait!

All parents would benefit from reading Carol's book because we all want our little "Star" to be the best they can be. But how do we deal with the downside of being gifted? Carol covers the good, the bad and the downright enlightening viewpoint that even "disabled" are gifted. As a social worker I love her wholesome, healthy approaches - relax a little she says, listen to your kids. I loved Chapter 8 because I think mentoring helps both the mentor and the child because it is about connectedness. Find out more from Carol - I want a second book telling us more about how to help the underachiever. My own gifted child suffered because his mom(a social butterfly) didn't get that he was brillant but socially struggling. I wish I'd had Carol's book. I'm making sure my children have her book and I'm recommending it to my peers and clients and to you.

We have a gifted 7 yr old son. He has been in therapy for two years battling depression and after dealing with the public schools for two years, we heard our son was a problem child with ADD. I knew none of this was true and luckily for us, we found a school for gifted children only and took him out of public school. I read this book AFTER dealing with most of the issues the author talks about and she is spot on! I wish I would have found this book before to give us guidance and support. Even though our son is blossoming in his new school, stopped therapy and seems to be "cured" there are still everyday tips to know how to deal and understand his way of thinking. It's a great book and I recommend it for any parent.

This book is exactly what it promises to be: a very good overview on raising and educating your gifted child. There is a huge amount of breadth. Ms. Fertig does a terrific job of including a little of everything for everyone - which is especially impressive when you consider how difficult it is to round up so much information on such a small but diverse population.

I had planned to write a point-by-point review of this wonderful book, but then I saw Lorel's write-up and decided that covered much of the content specifics. A few added thoughts of my own:

* This is a good introductory book -- the answer to "my child is gifted; what does that mean? What do I do now?"
* This is also a good handbook for parents with a little more experience. The material is organized so that it's easy to skim through. You can find what you are looking for, and you can get helpful reminders when you need them (whether you realize you need them or not!).
* Ms. Fertig includes a good range of options and suggestions, but doesn't tell you what you should do. She recognizes the need for individual solutions for these unique children (and their families).
* This is the kind of book that won't overwhelm the reader, but it won't condescend, either.
* It's a really good basic handbook for parenting gifted children, and a terrific option for sharing with grandparents, teachers, friends, etc.

I definitely recommend it.

One could have all the talent in the world, but if it isn't nurtured, it'll go to waste. "Raising a Gifted Child: A Parenting Success Handbook" is a guide to parents who want to give their talented children all the tools they need to maximize their potential for the future. Just like those with learning disabilities, the other extreme need special care to assist them, and "Raising a Gifted Child" should be in the bookshelf of every parent of a gifted child.

Carol Fertig, the author, is my sister. I'll tell you that up front. She sent me a copy of her book and I thought, "Well, I guess I'd better read a chapter or two just out of sense of duty." I did not think it would really interest me. Well, guess what! I started reading it and I found that I was enjoying it very much, and I was finding a lot of information that was useful to me as a grandparent. I ended up reading the entire book, and it held my attention the entire time.

Carol's book is well-written in a style that would appeal to parents as opposed to an academic. After all, it was for parents that she wrote it. Individual subjects are treated in a clear and concise manner. So much of what Carol says just makes good sense when you think about it. One of the things that I loved about the book is how she points out that every child has strengths and weaknesses, but almost every child is gifted in some way. It is the goal of parents and teachers to identify those strengths and gently cultivate them.

I read this book from the perspective of a grandparent rather than that of parent. I came to the conclusion that this is an excellent book for grandparents, too. As grandparents, we often play a role of mentor to our grandchildren. Carol addresses mentoring in some detail, and this is the part of the book that I found to be most helpful to me as a grandparent.

I highly recommend this book. It is good reading for parents, but for grandparents, too. Frankly, I think this book would be good reading for all parents and grandparents as almost every child is gifted in some way.