Teaching Gifted Children in Todays Preschool and Primary Classrooms: Identifying Nurturing and Challenging Children Ages 4-9 - Softcover

These proven, practical early childhood teaching strategies and techniques help teachers identify young gifted children, differentiate and extend the curriculum, assess and document students’ development, and build partnerships with parents. Individual chapters focus on early identification, curriculum compacting, social studies, language arts, math and science, cluster grouping, social-emotional development, and finding and supporting giftedness in diverse populations. The text includes current information on brain research and learning; rigor and complexity; and integrating creativity, the arts, and higher-level thinking in accordance with learning goals. Scenarios and vignettes take readers into teachers’ classrooms. The book includes extensive references and resources to explore. Digital content includes customizable forms from the book.

Joan Franklin Smutny, M.A., is founder and director of the Center for Gifted and Midwest Torrance Center for Creativity. She directs programs for gifted children, teaches graduate courses, serves as editor of the Illinois Association for Gifted Children Journal, and is a regular contributor to the Gifted Education Press Quarterly. The author of many books for teachers and parents, Joan has been honored with the National Association for Gifted Children’s (NAGC) Distinguished Service Award and was the 2011 recipient of the NAGC E. Paul Torrance Award for contributions in creativity. She lives in Illinois.
 
Consultant, author, and educator Sally Yahnke Walker, Ph.D., is an influential advocate for gifted children who has piloted programs, coordinated efforts to support gifted students in schools, and worked for federal and state legislation for gifted education. A former Illinois Education Administrator of the Year, she is the executive director of the Illinois Association for Gifted Children (IAGC) and serves on the Illinois Gifted Advisory Council for the Illinois State Board of Education. Sally lives in Illinois.
 
Ellen I. Honeck, Ph.D., has been involved in gifted education as a classroom teacher, administrator, gifted specialist, curriculum developer, consultant, adjunct professor, and associate director of the Institute for the Development of Gifted Education at the University of Denver. She is actively involved with NAGC’s Early Childhood and Special Schools and Programs Networks and presents at national and international conferences. Ellen is the dean of the Gifted and Talented Academy at Laurel Springs School. She lives in Colorado.