August Gifted & Talented News

Eldorado Elementary 8/9/24

Welcome to the 2024 - 2025 School Year!

Greetings and Welcome Back!

I hope that you and your families had marvelous summers filled with adventures, down time and fun! Mine was spent surrounded by family here in Colorado and on the east coast. With my parents in their upper 80’s, I spent half of my summer in Grand Junction supporting my mom as my dad battles various health complications and the other half on the Jersey Shore in Wildwood with family. My husband and I are also preparing to send our youngest off to college. August 12th we move him into his dorm up at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

I am ready to be back in classrooms and working with your amazing children! During this first month, I will pop into classrooms to say hi to kids, but will focus most of my time on creating my schedule and helping with testing to ensure that all students put forth their best effort. This year my goal is to push in to classrooms more, co-teaching, than pulling students out of class.

Some of you are already beginning to receive a shared google document of your child's drafted Advanced Learning Plan tracking form for the year which will include the bridging goals that we created in May. Watch over the next few days for this to show up in your google shared documents. Over the next few weeks I will meet with students to discuss if these goals are still relevant or if changes need to be made. If changes are made I will contact you for your approval. If a conference time is needed we can set up times for us to do that.

For some of our exceptional students, coming back to school can be a challenge. New routines, new teacher and classmates, and beginning of year activities can be stressful. If your child needs a bit of extra support these first few weeks, please reach out to me so that I can help him or her to feel more comfortable in the new environment.

If you are new to Eldorado, WELCOME!! I will reach out soon to discuss your child's past experiences with gifted education and to learn more about them from you.

I look forward to working with you and your child this year!

Have a great day!

Rebecca

Thunder Ridge Feeder Book Study - Embracing the Whole Gifted Self

I am happy to announce that the GT Facilitators in our area will be hosting a book study and discussion group for GT parents in the Thunder Ridge feeder. We will be reading and discussing Embracing the Whole Gifted Self, a short book by Patricia Gatto-Walden, PhD.

All of our meetings will be held in the library at Ranch View Middle School, with our first meeting scheduled for August 28th from 5:30 to 6:30. This is a great opportunity to connect with parents of gifted children from our feeder area and engage in conversations centered around topics that are important to understanding our gifted learners such as overexcitabilities, anxiety, and perfectionism.

Please note that parents will need to purchase their own copies of the book. I will have 5 copies to check out if needed. We can do a group order and save on shipping if interested. Books are $15 plus a few $ for shipping.

Please see the flyer at THIS LINK for more information. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

Social Emotional Wellbeing Corner

"The Special Needs of Gifted Children: Dealing with Gifted Children's Intense Behavior" by Barbara Klein, Ph.D, Ed.D

All gifted children and teenagers are special, and naturally they will have specific needs. Fortunately, gifted children and teenagers are the subject of many parenting books. There is a great deal of information on how to raise gifted children, which requires special knowledge and understanding that may not be found in generally focused parenting books.

I have often thought that gifted children could and should be categorized as having special needs because of their passion for enrichment, social-emotional support and sensitivity to life in general. Make sure that you understand what makes your child different from other children with whom they connect and then attend to their curiosity.

To read more of this article, please click HERE.

Twice Exceptional and Executive Functioning Corner

"For Mothers of Neurodivergent Children, Community is Crucial" by Megan Champion

... I had never heard of the word neurodivergent before. Nor had I heard of twice exceptional. What was giftedness, anyway? What about ADHD? SPD? GAD? OCD? ODD?

I needed to first become aware that my son's struggles were actually a thing. No, I wasn't making this up or exaggerating. My son was neurodivergent.

Since it was so hard to find helpful information, a few years back I decided to take matters into my own hands and share candidly about what it was like to raise a neurodivergent child. I created an Instagram account (@on.the.hard.days) and to this day, I make reels, posts, and stories that simply help moms become aware of what's going on with their neurodivergent kids.

To read more of this article, click HERE.

The Gifted Children's Bill of Rights

As we begin a new school year, I want to share this resource with you. I have a poster of it hanging in my office and it will be part of one of my first meetings with kids this year.

The Gifted Children's Bill of Rights

Colorado Association for Gifted and Talented (CAGT) Conference 2024

Right now, October sounds so far away, but it will be here before we know it! One of my favorite events happens in October - the CAGT Annual Conference. This two day conference is held in Loveland, Colorado at the Embassy Suites Hotel. This conference is always packed with amazing key note speakers and breakout sessions for educators, administrators and parents who are passionate about gifted education. This year, the conference will be held on October 21st and 22, and the main key note speaker is Dr. Temple Grandin! She is an incredible speaker and an important advocate for gifted education programs across the world!

Parents are welcome to attend the conference and you may see many familiar names and faces from Douglas County School District in attendance and as presenters! Visit THIS LINK for more information about the conference and registration.

Recorded Media and Resources from Colorado Association for Gifted and Talented

“Gifted Children: Characteristics and Challenges” (First Cry Parenting)

“Why is My Gifted Child So Angry?” (Davidson Institute)

“Gifted Children: The Challenges and Opportunities” (Mother, Baby and Child)

“Supporting Gifted Kids in School & at Home: Interview w/ Erin Vanek from The Gifted Perspective” (Littles Love Learning video)

“NAGC on Gifted Children and a Newly Funded Javits Grant” (Education Talk Radio)

August Events for Gifted and Talented Families

The Faces and Facets of Perfectionism: A Primer

Byrdseed Resources

Byrdseed Puzzlements (watch as a family and discover/discuss together)

1. Did you know that the most endangered animal in Colorado is the Uncompahgre Frittillary Butterfly? Bonus points if you can pronounce that! Here is some information about the most endangered animals in each US state.

2. This x-ray of a mole digging from the New York Times is fascinating! Here is another cool video about the star-nosed mole!

3. French artist JR created an optical illusion at The Louvre using 2000 pieces of paper. Here is an article that gives some great pictures and background information about the artwork and this is a time lapse video of it being assembled!