 |
GetTextbooks.com
Compare Prices & Save up to 90% |
|
|
|
| Login | Sign up | Settings | My Wish List |
 | | Genius Denied: How to Stop Wasting Our Brightest Young Minds by Jan Davidson, Bob Davidson, Laura Vanderkam ISBN-10: 9780743254601 ISBN-10: 0-7432-5460-0 ISBN-13: 9780743254601 ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-5460-1 Hardcover 2004-04-06 Simon & Schuster Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product 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 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. | ||
Reviews | ||
Genius Denied This book describes the ways that our American society downplays intelligence as if it were a disgraceful way of showing favoritism in the schools, even though athletes are given great accolades for their skills in the same situations. It gives the reasons for these behaviors and suggests ideas for change. It also explains the difficulty of parenting gifted children who are often seen as pushy and/or bored. Real solutions, including patrons, tutors, mentors, and teachers along with school cooperation are discussed. It supports parents who are feeling isolated and rejected by the teachers and schools to continue mentoring and finding solutions for their child. | ||
Great For Educators I am a college student who is pursuing a career in gifted education. I found this book very informative. It outlines the problems that gifted children face at most schools, and it gives many uplifting examples of things done right. This book is full of personal stories about kids who were able to reach their full potential with the help of some caring adults. I found Genius Denied to be quite inspirational. The corresponding web site is also very useful. | ||
Not really worth it My husband and I found the endless little stories about gifted children tiresome. Yes, yes, we KNOW there are gifted kids out there! We both ended up skimming the stories to get to any real informational meat, and even then, the book fell WAY short of our expectations. So sorry we paid full price for the book. Never again! | ||
An analysis of a problem and an outline of a solution This book is not an "advice-book" about the gifted, although it does contain advices. This book describes the state of gifted education in the States and what should and could be done about it. For the benefit of those who think to read this book, I will describe it in a concise manner. The first three chapters outline the sorry state of gifted education. The authors explain that gifted children have special needs, as much as, other "exceptional" children. For me, the third chapter was their apogee. It explains the philosophy and flawed logic of those who are against any exceptions for the gifted. The next four chapters beautifully complement the first ones. They describe successful solutions to the problem, which are and have been used for some time now. They show how easy it can be to change the life of a child and human-being and ultimately of many others and even of the whole country. They give hope and ideas to all gifted children, parents of gifted children and others who "simply hate to see a talent wasted". Finally, the last chapter contains some useful advice to gifted students, parents of gifted children, educators, patrons, etc. Most of these advices can be read on the fine website which accompanies the book [...] A very nice quality of the book is its notes. Instead of any references to them in the text, or in a shape of a footnote, which disturbs the reading (pace and line-of-thoughts) considerably; all the notes are gathered (grouped by chapters) in the end of the book. Therefore, if you read about an author, research-paper or article and you'd like some more details, just go to the notes in the end of the book. If you don't, you shouldn't even think about it while reading and nobody will force some footnotes or artificial numbers in the text, upon you. On a more personal note, the book is informative and very entertaining to read. It is also very effusive. Having a first-hand experience with the subject, the book has brought in me, many emotions to the surface. From melancholy to delight, from anger to bliss, from bewailing to serene hope. I hope that this short description has helped you to understand what the book is about. Regardless of what you were looking for, if you are interested in the state of gifted education or simply in gifted, in any way, I highly recommend you to read this book. Yours Sincerely, G.G. | ||
Eye Opening I bought this because the assistant superintendent of our school district had recommended it. I have been rather at ease with allowing our two sons to go along with their age groups in school, but this book has made me realize that by not challenging them, I am cheating them. People need to realize that gifted education is an important compenent of education and this book shows why. | ||