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Gifted Awareness Week was March 2 to 6. I know a lot of people out there may not understand what gifted education is all about, or even what it is like for a child to be labeled “gifted.” I would like to share with you what I have learned with my “gifted” son.

Over the years, there have been a lot of definitions of what giftedness is, but there is not a universal definition. The National Association for Gifted Children’s definition is “Students who give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, and who need services and activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities.”

I would like to clarify a few myths and misconceptions about gifted students. Most all the information I have learned comes from a lot of research on my part through the Gifted Association of Missouri and the National Association of Gifted Children. Their Web sites have great information on giftedness. There are tons of other Web sites, but those are the ones in our state that support gifted education.

Some people may think that gifted students do not need an extra class or special teacher to help them in school and that the only thing they may do in their “gifted class” is play games and have fun. But that is not the case at all. Gifted students may be having fun in their special class, but fun to them is learning and being stimulated beyond the regular classroom. They need that extra push to keep them pushing themselves beyond the regular classroom. They also need emotional support from a teacher who understands their unique needs. Gifted students have problems just like any other student; their needs are just different. If they are not helped with these problems, it can lead to boredom and frustration, which can then cause them to have poor grades and work habits. Gifted students also have the biggest drop-out rate in America because of these problems — they lose faith in the school district that is there to help them be the best they can be.

In my experience with my son, he thrives on learning and researching things he does not know. He gets excited about learning.

Another misconception about the gifted education program is that it is an elitist program, but in truth, being “gifted” is not a status, nor should it be thought of that way. Gifted education is about meeting students’ needs. Every student is entitled to a free education, no matter what their level of learning may be. Most schools do offer a gifted program, but the extent of the program may depend on the size of the school district. The money for gifted programs is through state funding, and the decision of school board members and the administration as to where federal and state money will be best spent.

If you would like to research this yourself, some of my favorite Web sites are mogam.org, nagc.org, hoagiesgifted.org, or  you can use any search engine and type in “gifted education” and see how many different sites have information about giftedness and gifted education.

Our children need to be supported and need someone to be their voices to make sure they get the education they deserve to be able to become successful adults and we, as their parents, can do that for them.

Nancy Clark lives in Trenton.

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