Table of Contents

Acknowledgments iii

Preface xi

Introduction xiii

Part I What Does it Mean to Be Gifted? 1

Chapter 1 One Family's Story 3

A Family Affair 4

Early School Years 7

Radical Adjustments 8

Taking Matters into Our Own Hands 9

Chapter 2 Issues for Parents 11

Discovering that the Child Is Different 11

Positive Feedback 12

Negative Feedback 13

Conflicting Feedback 14

How Parents Learn What to Do 15

Who Can We Turn To? 15

Pressure from Others 19

Misdiagnoses of Medical and Behavioral Issues 20

Maintaining Modesty as Parents 21

Loneliness of the Parents 22

Summary of Parent Issues 23

Chapter 3 Intellectual Level and Why it Matters 25

What Is Intelligence? 27

Background on Exceptional Levels of Giftedness 27

Who Are the Gifted and How Do We Find Them? 30

Giftedness According to Test Scores 32

Understanding the Confusion over IQ Scores 33

The Intelligence Continuum and Education 35

How Common Are Gifted Children? 36

The Assessment Process 37

Summary of Intellectual Assessment 48

Part II Levels of Giftedness 49

Ruf Estimates of Levels of Giftedness 50

Early Indicators of Giftedness 52

Early Indicators of Intellectual Giftedness 52

Indicators of Uniquely High Ability 53

Differences between the Levels 53

Who Are the Subjects of this Book? 54

How the Information Is Presented 54

Chapter 4 Level One Gifted: Approximately 90th to 98th Percentiles 57

The Children 58

Birth to Two Years 58

Age Two to Three Years 60

Age Three to Four Years 61

Age Four to Five Years 62

Age Five to Six Years 63

Age Six to Seven Years 65

Age Seven to Nine Years 66

Age Nine and Older 68

Summary of Level One Gifted 69

Chapter 5 LevelTwo Gifted: Approximately 98th and 99th Percentiles 73

The Children 73

Birth to Two Years 73

Age Two to Three Years 79

Age Three to Four Years 81

Age Four to Five Years 86

Age Five to Six Years 89

Age Six to Seven Years 91

Age Seven to Nine Years 93

Age Nine and Older 96

Summary of Level Two Gifted 96

Chapter 6 Level Three Gifted: Approximately 98th and 99th Percentiles 101

The Children 102

Birth to Two Years 102

Age Two to Three Years 106

Age Three to Four Years 108

Age Four to Five Years 113

Age Five to Six Years 115

Age Six to Seven Years 117

Age Seven to Nine Years 120

Age Nine and Older 121

Summary of Level Three Gifted 123

Chapter 7 Level Four Gifted: 99th Percentile 127

The Children 128

Birth to Two Years 129

Age Two to Three Years 134

Age Three to Four Years 139

Age Four to Five Years 143

Age Five to Six Years 146

Age Six to Seven Years 151

Age Seven to Nine Years 153

Age Nine and Older 155

Summary of Level Four Gifted 158

Chapter 8 Level Five Gifted: Above the 99th Percentile 163

The Children 165

Birth to Two Years 165

Age Two to Three Years 171

Age Three to Four Years 174

Age Four to Five Years 178

Age Five to Six Years 181

Age Six to Seven Years 183

Age Seven to Nine Years 185

Age Nine and Older 187

Summary of Level Five Gifted 191

Part III Gifted Children, School Issues, and Educational Options 197

Chapter 9 What These Kids Are Like 199

Degrees of Compliance and Cooperation 199

High Demand for Attention in Infancy 200

Feisty, Independent, and Strong-Willed 201

Easy-Going and Flexible 204

Concentration and Attention Span 205

Schedules and Transitions 206

Perfectionism 207

Issues with Authority 209

Demonstrations of Emotions and Feelings 211

Affectionate Behavior 211

Intensities and Sensitivities 212

Idealism, Compassion, and Sense of Fairness 214

Asynchrony of Development 216

Sense of Humor 217

General Sociability-How They Spend their Time 218

Social Interaction with Others 218

Bossiness 222

Sportsmanship and Competitive Nature 223

Interests and Approach to Play 224

Performance and Leadership 227

Androgyny of Interests and Behaviors 228

Summary of Gifted Behaviors and Traits 229

Chapter 10 The Crash Course on Giftedness and the Schools 231

Why Is There a Problem? 231

Schools Are Problematic for Gifted Students 233

The Configuration of School Systems 233

Age Grouping and the Demise of Ability Grouping 234

Societal Priorities and Funding 237

Teachers Are Not Trained to Recognize Individual Differences 239

Negative Effects of the Same Pace for Everyone 240

Children Learn to Underachieve 240

Social and Emotional Ramifications 242

The Way Gifted Children Are 243

Gender Differences 243

Intellectual Differences 247

Personality Differences 248

Other Important Factors 249

Crash Course Summary 249

Chapter 11 School Years and Ongoing Issues 251

Schools Resist Making Changes 251

Social Adaptation Trumps Academic Abilities 253

They'll Help My Child 256

Parents Assume that They Can Work with the Schools 258

Problems for the Gifted in School 261

Boredom 261

Abilities Surpass Maturity 262

Teachers Overlook High Abilities 264

Behavior Problems 266

Poor Fit between Some Teachers and Gifted Children 268

Gifted Students Learn Poor Study Habits 269

Not Completing or Turning in Homework 270

Not Showing Enough Effort 272

Disorganization 273

Not Paying Attention in Class-Being Distracted and Distractible 274

Emotional Changes in the Child 274

Confused Self-Concept 275

Depression 276

Loneliness and Feeling Different 277

Additional Problem Areas 279

Math 279

Writing 281

Summary of School Issues 283

Chapter 12 Educational Needs for Each Level 285

General School Placement Goals 285

Types of Schools 286

Daycare Centers and Preschool Programs 286

Type I Schools 286

Type II Schools 286

Type III Schools 287

Type IV Schools 287

Type V Schools 287

Educational Options that Work for Gifted Students 287

Early Entrance 288

Ability-Grouped Instruction 288

Differentiated Instruction 289

Single-Subject Acceleration 289

Online and Correspondence Courses 289

Whole-Grade Acceleration 290

Partial Home Schooling 290

Full-Time Home Schooling 291

Full-Time Ability-Grouped Classroom 291

Tutoring or Mentoring 291

Summer Institutes and Outside Supplemental Advanced Classes 291

Radical Acceleration 292

Advanced Coursework 292

Concurrent Enrollment 292

Individualized Approach 293

Summary 293

Level One Needs 293

Early Childhood-Birth to Kindergarten 293

Early Grade School Years 293

Middle School Years 294

High School Years 294

College Life and Career Planning 295

Social Life for Level One Children 296

Level Two Needs 296

Early Childhood-Birth to Kindergarten 296

Early Grade School Years 297

Middle School Years 298

High School Years 299

College Life and Career Planning 300

Social Life for Level Two Children 301

Level Three Needs 301

Early Childhood-Birth to Kindergarten 301

Early Grade School Years 302

Middle School Years 303

High School Years 304

College Life and Career Planning 304

Social Life for Level Three Children 305

Level Four Needs 305

Early Childhood-Birth to Kindergarten 305

Early Grade School Years 306

Middle School Years 307

High School Years 307

College Life and Career Planning 308

Social Life for Level Four Children 309

Level Five Needs 309

Early Childhood-Birth to Kindergarten 309

Early Grade School Years 310

Middle School Years 311

High School Years 312

College Life and Career Planning 312

Social Life for Level Five Children 313

What Parents Can Do for Level Five Children 314

Conclusion 314

Appendix A Developmental Guidelines for Identifying Gifted Preschoolers 317

Appendix B Public School Curriculum Expectations by Grade Levels 319

Appendix C Levels of Giftedness for Some Historical Figures 327

References 329

Endnotes 337

Index 347

Tables and Charts

Chart 1 Standard IQ Score Ranges for the Levels 51

Table 1 Level One Children's Data 71

Table 2 Level Two Children's Data 98

Table 3 Level Three Children's Data 125

Table 4 Level Four Children's Data 160

Table 5 Level Five Children's Data 194