Educating the Gifted Child - Presentation & Open Dialogue

Who:  For parents and educators  

Topics: What is Giftedness?  What are profiles of gifted students? How do you know if a child is "gifted" ?  

Why are common myths about gifted children untrue?  LIke. . . . 

That they do fine anywhere

That a child receiving poor grades can't be gifted  

That teachers challenge all students so gifted children are fine in regular classrooms

more information:   http://www.nagc.org/myths.aspx  

What happens when you don't address their needs?  (anxiety, bullying, school refusal, depression) 

What are educational strategies and resources?  

Brainstorming needs & ideas - What are things you struggle with as a parent/ educator?  What are ideas which may help?  

Where:  Winchester Public Library, Thursday November 29 7pm - 8:45  and 

Somerville Public Library, Thursday December 6, 7pm - 9pm

Sponsored by Acera: The Massachusetts School of Science, Creativity and Leadership www.aceraschool.org 

At Acera, we believe that every child is a gift in this world and that every child deserves the chance to pursue their best talents.  Students eligible for "gifted education" are not better -- they are just different.  Conventional educational programs put too low of a ceiling on their potential, and stifle their inquiry, creativity, and desire for deep, interconnected learning.   As many as 40% of gifted students become under performers in school.  Many states consider "gifted education" to be a type of special education.  Unfortunately, in Massachusetts, we are tied for last in the nation on serving the needs of these high capacity students.  Acera aims to increase awareness about the profiles and needs of gifted students and inspire broad adoption of strategies which work -- so that students can become the best version of themselves.  

We hope to be a positive influence on general education reform, especially in areas of STEM, creativity, and leadership.  The innovative educational model we employ can ultimately help all students.  We are growing a small, model school which serves students in Greater Boston.  We hope to leverage this model more broadly -- through robust teacher training and through launch of Acera Innovation Schools in public school districts.  We hope to be a positive influence as funding and public school district adoption allows us to increase our outreach. 

Today our focus is on supporting each family, whether or not they are interested in our private school program -- to understand and meet the needs of their high ability children.