Genius Denied: How to Stop Wasting Our Brightest Young Minds
by Jan Davidson, Bob Davidson
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Description
With all the talk of failing schools these days, we forget that schools can fail their brightest students, too. We pledge to "leave no child behind," but in American schools today, thousands of gifted and talented students fall short of their potential. In Genius Denied, Jan and Bob Davidson describe the "quiet crisis" in education: gifted students spending their days in classrooms learning little beyond how to cope with boredom as they "relearn" material they've already mastered years show more before. This lack of challenge leads to frustration, underachievement, and even failure. Some gifted students become severely depressed. At a time when our country needs a deep intellectual talent pool, the squandering of these bright young minds is a national tragedy. There are hundreds of thousands of highly gifted children in the U.S. and millions more whose intelligence is above average, yet few receive the education they deserve. Many school districts have no gifted programs or offer only token enrichment classes. Education of the gifted is in this sorry state, say the Davidsons, because of indifference, lack of funding, and the pernicious notion that education should have a "leveling" effect, a one-size-fits-all concept that deliberately ignores the needs of the gifted. But all children are entitled to an appropriate education, insist the authors, those left behind as well as those who want to surge ahead. The Davidsons show parents and educators how to reach and challenge gifted students. They offer practical advice based on their experience as founders of a nonprofit organization that assists gifted children. They show parents how to become their children's advocates, how to win support for gifted students within the local schools, and when and how to go outside the school system. They discuss everything from acceleration ("skipping" a grade) to homeschooling and finding mentors for children. They tell stories of real parents and students who overcame poor schooling environments to discover the joy of learning. Genius Denied is an inspiring book that provides a beacon of hope for children at risk of losing their valuable gift of intellectual potential. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Interesting stuff about mentorship and acting as your kid's "general contractor" for educational opportunities. Lots of advice about how to make sure your kids stay challenged and engaged with projects, pursuits. Half of the parents they work with are homeschoolers, but most of them are described as "reluctant" ones.
A better title would have been simply Genius Denied. The book is long on examples of what is wrong and short on suggestions about how to make things better. I don’t think anyone involved in teaching or parenting the gifted is unaware that gifted kids are not reaching their potential; I don’t think many of us have great ideas on how to improve things. I think we need ideas on how to improve things. I am eager to check out the website, www.geniusdenied.com. The book tells about a list of books g/t kids love. That is my next stop.
This book gave a decent, if somewhat superficial, overview of what is wrong with gifted education in America, but the solution chapters seemed more like an ad for the website than anything else.
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Classifications
- Genre
- Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 371.95 — Society, government, & culture Education Schools and their activities; special education Education of special classes Gifted
- LCC
- LC3993.9 .D37 — Education Special aspects of education Special aspects of education Education of special classes of persons Exceptional children and youth. Special Gifted children and youth
- BISAC
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- 116
- Popularity
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- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.33)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 2
