Inviting New Books into Your Life

The last post looked at how to find new homes for books you no longer needed to live with. This post focuses on the other end of the dynamic – how to invite new books into your life. And if you are parenting gifted kids, this is information you will

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Bread upon the Waters – Giving Away Books on Purpose

Gifted people tend to gravitate towards books (not always, so no hate mail from misobibliists –  I just made that word up, to be honest, and spellcheck is yelling at me in red squiggly lines). Sometimes all this bibiophilia creates a problem. Recently, I was in a used bookstore with

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Teacher Learns some Lessons

I just finished six straight days of training teachers how to teach the gifted. The classes were large – between 150 and 175 teachers, which is fun, and I was struck with a few thoughts that I want to share: 1)      This strikes a chord with people. Many teachers expressed

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Finding Sanctuary in an Unsafe World

When I wrote this article in the summer of 2011, I had no idea that its ideas would become even more necessary over a decade later. As the world feels increasingly complex and emotionally unsafe, finding peace in a troubled world (and helping children find peace in a troubled world)

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Easy Peasy Stuff to do with Kids

I was on tv this morning talking about simple things to do with kids at home this summer. I thought I’d put the directions for the beanbags here. To make them, take a scrap piece of fabric that is one inch wider than you would like the bean bag to

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Typewriter - 10 Reasons You Should Memorize Poetry

10 Reasons You Should Memorize Poetry

You should memorize poetry, and I’m going to share ten reasons why. This is general advice that is good for everyone in manner of “wear sunscreen.” I love poetry. I’m not just saying this because it sounds good at cocktail parties to say you love poetry. I truly love the

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The Goldilocks Effect

In the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Goldilocks seeks the chair, food, and bed that are just right for her. She doesn’t take the big bowl of porridge just because it’s bigger, and she doesn’t take the bigger bed just because it’s larger. She takes the ones that

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Groupwork Groupthink

I just returned from Mensa’s Annual Gathering in Portland, Oregon, where I spent five days surrounded by smart people, including dozens of smart kids. It was challenging and fun and exhausting. We ran a focus group (well, my best friend, Patricia Bear, an LPC, ran the focus group) with our

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Summer Challenges

Even though my big kick right now is internal motivation, I know that some kids really like to set goals, achieve them, and then have proof that they did. If you’re looking for ideas of things to do to challenge kids over the summer, this list is for you. I’ll

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Summer Reading Extravaganza!

Everyone knows that summer means summer reading programs at libraries, but there are other reading programs available that your kids may enjoy. Remember that you can double dip and earn prizes for the same books/time spent, creating a lucrative literary summer! – Be sure to check out the Mensa Foundation’s

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Giving and the Gifted

Getting gifted kids involved in giving to charitable organizations and serving in those organizations is key to meeting their social and emotional needs. Why Giving is Important for Gifted Kids One of the hallmarks of gifted children is an early, intense social conscience. This is often neglected and allowed to

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Celebrating Strengths in Gifted Children

I’m a fan of celebrating strengths, and I’d love to tell you why. I learned a lot about it from a shell. It may sound odd to take advice from a shell on celebrating strengths, yet one of the things that strikes me as a problem is the difficulty people

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