An Untapped Intellectual Resource: The Museum

The Museum is often overlooked as an activity option for kids in the summer.  They require some social coaching and the institutions have rules!  Let's be honest, when you hear the term "museum" you do not think of kids.    

Museums offer a cultural experience, which sometimes becomes a deferred manifestation.  What we mean by "deferred manifestation" is that the experience your kids complain about as a kid, becomes something they fondly remember later in life.  This deferment might even spark a passion or stimulate a talent, you would have never seen without the visit.

You can show kids artifacts or paintings of what they are about to see on the visit, to motivate them and get them excited.  You can even show them an artifact and simply ask, "What questions do you have?" (aligning yourself with John Dewey's inquiry model of teaching). Children can record their questions on a clipboard or pad and during the visit try to find the answers (or research) those questions.  People naturally want to share what they have learned, so maybe they can create a digital product or blog about their experience.


The E-gifted team encourages you to look at your local museum's upcoming exhibits this summer.  Plan a play-date around the newest topic. Another idea is to even recruit a local teacher (teachers typically have the summers off) and ask them to design a few lessons for your child and a group of friends for the week!

If time and cash is an issue this summer, virtual museums are becoming more advanced.  Virtual trips offer high definition views of the art and you can avoid the major crowds. More learning might happen on a virtual trip to a museum!

A Short List of E-gifted Approved Virtual Museum Tours

1. Paris,France: The Louvre 

We love how The Louvre offers a variety of thematic trails: Explore the The da Vinci Code Trail, or Ancient Goddess, or even Alexander The Great trail.

http://www.louvre.fr/en/parcours

2. Rome, Italy: The Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel is a wonderful tour, because it is better than real-life.  In real-life you are crowded into the chapel and cannot really see all the Frescos. You can even zoom in to see them in detail. We also really enjoy the touch of adding authentic music to the tour; it really feels like you are in Italy!

http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/index_sistina_en.htm

3. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian National History of Natural History
E-gifted loves this museum tour, because it looks like a real museum; you can go through the halls and click on pictures and videos.
http://www.mnh.si.edu/vtp/1-desktop/

4. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Rijksmuseum
E-gifted loves how you can purchase a multimedia tour which guides you through the exhibits. From their website,"Six different routes lead visitors past the highlights, the Golden Age and through the building. The ‘magic window’ lets you look at the objects through different eyes."  
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en

Direct link to the multimedia tours: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/guided-tours/multimediatour

Rijksmuseum also has a free iPad or iphone app.  

E-gifted encourages you to schedule some museum tours this summer, or make a list of virtual tours you want your kids to hit up next week.  The visits might even spark an independent study!

Other Amazing Resources:

Here are some other resources we enjoy showing to our students that involve museums or art.

1. Google Art Project. Art lovers can digitally roam the halls of the Met.

http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/project/art-project?hl=en

2. The Louvre iPad or iphone App.  You can pick a painting and scroll down to reveal more details about the art and artist.

3. E-gifted Museology or Renaissance Period Online Class. We will probably offer this class again in October 2013. E-gifted is hosting the Renaissance Period online class July 8th, where we will explore the sistine chapel virtual tour and many more resources that could inspire your gifted student!  If you want to go at your own pace, we have our Fine Arts Montage Class On-the-Go all summer long.

If you have visited an amazing museum, please comment or leave the link below. We are always collecting valuable museums to recommend to our parents!

Why Poetry is Important in Modern Times

Poetry seems to be a lost art and seldom appreciated for its beauty and power. Students are not exposed to quality poetry, whether it be in writing or reading complex poems in today's classrooms. Often when poetry is taught today, it is structured and controlled by using worksheets. This is easily seen when touring a classroom where bulletin boards feature rows and rows of the same poem. When our gifted students are forced to fill in the blanks and create unoriginal poems, their creativity is stifled.  

So, why is poetry important in modern times? Well, children need to be exposed to classical poems and the rhythm of the words. Also, they need the experience of crafting their own open-ended, original poems.  Poetry offers an outlet for gifted students to express their emotions, both positive or negative, and poetry may be the vehicle that satisfies that need. 

With the newest trend of using text lingo in communication, our students lack the practice of choosing powerful adjectives and expressing themselves in detail. Adept poets are able to transfer their poetic skills into creative and formal writing.  

Jennifer, E-gifted's CEO, also my daughter began writing poetry in sixth grade. After being inspired by a teacher that used an open-ended methodology, her poems became more complex and powerful.  She even wrote poetry in her free time on her bed with music blaring all around her.  

Years later, when it came time to write her college entrance essay for Wellesley, she weaved her poetic language into an essay about all of her accomplishments.  Her talent pulls at heart strings. Last week, a member a scholarship committee remembered how powerful her essay was and how it drew the committee to tears. It is incredible after six years, Deb, still remembers that winning essay. 

I think teaching children poetry can bring great joy to the child and the educator. Jennifer is offering a class in Poetry this July, which could really inspire your child in writing. She has the passion for the subject and talent to pull students into the imaginative world of poetry. 

I will leave you with an inspiring quote by Paul Roche, "Words are unbelievably sensitive. And in poetry mere clarity has very little to do with feeling. An increase of clarity can even spell the end of a feeling; for poetry being half music has the power of making itself felt long before it has made itself fully understood.”

~ Debbie

 

The Ideal Learning Environment for Young Gifted Kids

E-gifted participated in a twitter discussion titled, "Manifestations of Giftedness in Young Children" on Friday June 14th, 2013. This twitter discussion is held every Friday and more often in the summer.  See a link to GTChat Powered by Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented.

Since E-gifted has launched the first online enrichment classes for 4 - 6 year old based in gifted teaching strategies, we knew we needed to join the discussion!  Excellent points were made by all. We heard about observations from mothers. We all seemed to agree the earlier parents and programs can identify gifted students, the better. We talked about why some schools do not identify young students and what the ramifications might be. We think the most important discussions encompassed the needs of our young gifted students and what an ideal learning environment would look like for these unique individuals.

Some of the qualities twitter participants outlined as signs your child is gifted, include:

• Alertness, staring at adults
• Creativity
• Constant need for stimulation (or even by contrast need for alone-time)
• Fast thinking
• Highly developed sense of "justice" and "fairness"
• Learn to read early
• Advanced play patterns
• Great sense of humor
• Intensity
• Very curious
• Sensitive
• Not sleeping
• Active observation
• Responsiveness that indicates true understanding

Catherine Alvarez posted a link to some very interesting research on early gifted milestones: http://www.talentigniter.com/ruf-estimates.  E-gifted agrees with many of Dr. Ruf's observations, but we want to assure parents that every student is different, and depending on learning style and how students think, they may not exhibit these characteristics.  The chart below is taken from Dr. Ruf's website, please see website for descriptions of each level.  

Now that we know some of the signs of gifted students at a young age, what do they need to flourish, reach their full potential, and be successful in whatever way they define?

We read an article from the Department of Education in Australia outlining what young gifted scholars need in a learning environment. We feel this list aligns with E-gifted recommendations to parents of young gifted students.  The Department of Ed suggestions are in red and E-gifted additions are in blue.

An Ideal Learning Environment for a Young Gifted Student would include:

• fast-paced learning
• engaging teaching strategies
• flexible classroom organization
• challenging learning experiences which are in- depth, open-ended and extend thinking
• provision of a range of experiences, resources and materials to extend children's
• knowledge and provide motivation
• a stimulating and interactive environment that is relevant and meaningful to the child's
• life experiences, learning style and advanced level of development
• the opportunity to develop independent learning skills
• a recognition and development of individual potential.
• Open-ended questioning, giving an opportunity for creative thinking
• Lessons that make cross-disciplinary connections
• Exposure to big ideas and concepts like, "Change can be Positive and Negative" or "There are Systems within Systems"
• Opportunities to dig deep
• Planned meetings with intellectual peers (may be chronologically older)

Not only did E-gifted enjoy the twitter chat on Friday with educators, mothers, fathers, advocates, and teachers, we also found most points and resources extremely valuable. We know that having a gifted child is not the easiest at times, especially when you are unclear whether or not your pre-schooler is gifted in the first place.  Then, once you have figured out your child has a gift, how can the environment and the adults around the child, help meet their needs and provide the best learning environment. We hope this blog entry was helpful and we encourage you to connect with E-gifted! We offer many enrichment classes for 4 year olds online!  

Please comment below!

Resources

GTChat Powered by Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented: https://www.facebook.com/gtchatmod

Dr. Ruf's website: http://www.talentigniter.com/ruf-estimates

Department of Education in Australia, 2010 http://gtideas.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/etagsearlychildhood.pdf

E-Gifted's Solutions to the Summer Reading Slump!!!

  

Research has clearly shown that children who don't read during the summer can lose up to two years of reading progress and that loss has a cumulative, long-term effect.  We have referenced a list of research conclusions that may help you see the need to maintain strong reading goals for your child throughout the summer. Elementary students need to actively engage in motivating reading experiences such as a Book Blog with professional guidance.

Research shows:

* Students who read over the summer do better in school in the fall.

* Most students experience a two year decline in their reading if they do not continue to read in the summer.

* 8 out of 10 studies indicate that students who read for fun out perform those who do not.

* Students read more when they can choose their own books.

* Reading 5 books over the summer can prevent academic loss.

* Summer reading loss is cumulative. By the end of 6 grade, children who do not read over the summer
are two years behind other children.

5 Ways to Avoid the Summer Slump

1. Create a system of rewards for reading a set amount of books.

Example-Reward your child for every novel read either with money or a special activity they choose 
(movie, hike, or one-on-one time with you).

2. Join the E-Gifted Book Clubs or the Unjournaling Writing group

3. Create a family reading hour everyday before sitting down to watch TV.

4. Graph the minutes that your child reads and increase it by 5 minutes per day. Watch it grow!

5. Join a public library Book Challenge Club. Many libraries have an online tracking system with rewards.

E-Gifted is offering a super deal to combine both reading and writing this summer. Sign up now for our Literacy Bundle! Here is a link to the deal: http://www.egifted.org/#!summer-book-clubs/c9r3

Research Sources

http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/summer/research.htm

http://www.improvereadingskills.com

www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/summer/research.htm