Wednesday 23 April 2008

Child Genius / Gifted Children

The latest episode of Child Genius will be broadcast on Channel 4 tonight; this is an ongoing series which is charting the progress of several gifted children over a number of years, to examine their development as they grow older. Among the children featured are a three year old maths prodigy, a ten year old virtuoso musician, and a junior chess champion. If you've missed any of the series, it may still be possible to watch some old episodes on Channel 4's Catch-up service.

Further information on gifted children is available from a range of sources. Two of the largest organisations that deal with giftedness in the UK are The National Association for Gifted Children and The National Association for Able Children in Education; each website also has links to further organisations that work in this area.

If you're interesting in policy surrounding teaching gifted children, then the DCSF has set up a 'gited and talented' section on its website with various information and supporting documents. Similarly, the QCA has advice and information on good practice in its Guidance on teaching the gifted and talented area.

If you want to get your teeth into some research in this area, try looking at Nurturing Gifted and Talented Children at Key Stage 1, a DfES report from 2006. Also available is Identifying and Supporting Gifted and Talented Students, which was published lat year by the General Teaching Council for England.

No comments: