The holidays are an excellent time to make lasting memories with your kids. However, the excitement of the festive season and schedule changes can sometimes be challenging for children and their caregivers to manage. To make the most of this special time of the year, I’ve put together some tips on scheduling, travel and social gatherings, to help you best support your gifted or twice-exceptional child during this holiday season.

“Though I was bursting inside with stories to tell, I was never taught how to structure a riveting plot that would keep my readers interested. I was never taught how to create vibrant characters and describe tangible settings and add symbolism and nuance to my stories, which to me ARE the important aspects of writing.

So, to get back to the roots, the essence of the story and the character, the things that matter the most, I created a game.”

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | Ladda Tammy Duckworth is one of the most heroic persons to ever sit in the Congress of the United States. She is an incredible role model for women, persons with severe disabilities, critically wounded soldiers and veterans, gifted children and adults, and citizens of bi-racial ancestry. A Life of Service is a book to be read by all readers who admire courage and extraordinary giftedness realized.

Charlie presented to us as a precocious 5-year-old boy with visual processing difficulties, as well as trouble with sensory processing and impulsivity. Charlie tested in the gifted range and had difficulty regulating much of what his brain was attempting to process. He completed his OMST program, resulting in a number of behavior changes that took weeks to regulate and re-establish more proficiently. Charlie is a prime example of a gifted boy who developed many coping mechanisms throughout his life that left his sensory system exhausted and uncertain. OMST deconstructs and rebuilds those sensory systems. Read more about Charlie’s progress and other OMST success stories.

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | Aaron Reynolds’s moral is simple. Growing up can be scary, but every act of courage is rewarded. Never be afraid of the dark. Peter Brown again uses graphite-shaded illustrations with the singular exception of ghoulish green underclothing that glows even in the dark.

“Twenty-five years ago, three of my four children were diagnosed as twice exceptional (2e) at Gifted Development Center. Their teachers, and my husband and I, spent lots of time trying to figure out how to help them gain the skills of “paying attention,” “perseverance” and “legible handwriting.”  It was time that we felt would have been better spent encouraging the full expression of their giftedness. We questioned why we could not find a solution to the issues caused by our children’s atypical neurology that prevented the full expression of their talents and gifts. We wanted them to be all that they were meant to be.”

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | A Is for Australian Reefs is a wonderful example of the alphabet book genre. It is filled with revealing information, cogent and insightful writing, and brilliantly colorful illustrations.

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | In Berry Song, the artist celebrates life on an island surrounded by the wild sea that has been the home of her Tlingit ancestors for countless generations. Berry Song is a lovely celebration of Mother Earth. The narration is brief yet inspirational.

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | If there is a lesson to be learned from this unique double biography, it is that truly creative people never give up. Christo and Jeanne-Claude considered their life work a success despite the reality that they were at least one project shy of even realizing 50 percent overall success of their monumental dreams.

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | Academic competitions are part of the lifeblood of many programs for gifted students and perhaps the most famous such event is the Scripps National Spelling Bee. How Do You Spell Unfair? is a beautifully written and illustrated picture book tribute to a brave young girl who was the first African American finalist in the National Spelling Bee.

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | Readers of all ages will get a hoot out of the consummate picture book, Knight Owl, that was this year named by the American Library Association as a Caldecott Honor Book. This seemingly simple picture book is filled with laugh out-loud word play and cleverness. But, it is also a book about courage, confidence, and diligence.

A tribute to Frank Falk, his work, and the deep connections he had to those in the gifted community.

Gifted Development Center and Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG) are offering a series of professional development courses for psychologists and examiners of gifted and twice exceptional children. The series generates APA Continuing Education Units (CEUs), but others can enroll without earning the APA CEUs. The courses are also of interest to university instructors in gifted education, school counselors, therapists, coordinators of gifted programs, Directors of Admission at schools for the gifted, teachers, and parents.

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | The canine hero of Hot Dog is a Dachshund, but the title is not a nickname for that popular breed. The title is quite literally a story about the day in life of a dog (actually a pup) whose existence becomes increasingly wretched due to the stifling summer heat of his home in New York City.

We are creators. Every day we design our lives. We choose to survive major illnesses, to overcome obstacles, to do our own part in making this a better world. We seek meaningful lives, and we desire that our children do the same. Most of our GDC parents want their child to be happy—now and in the future. They don’t say, “Tell us how to make our child successful.” I believe happiness comes from following our drive to create.

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | Betsy Franco is a prolific author of more than 80 books for children, including several titles that combine mathematics and science with poetry. Priscilla Tey’s frolicsome illustrations superbly complement the text of Counting in Dog Years. Readers will have an amusing time visiting familiar mathematical functions and perhaps even learn a few new “sassy” math terms and tricks.

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | Reading for gifted youths is basically divided into two major genres: fiction and nonfiction. The essence of fiction is storytelling and the primary format is the use of the narrative voice. Nonfiction writing may use either exposition or narration. Expository writing is information based. One of the characteristics of expository writing is the presence of extensive author research. The text introduces and explains information that may be new to students.

Acceleration is allowing a student the opportunity to move through an educational program at a younger age or at a faster pace than typical. It is the most research-supported intervention in gifted education. Is this the right course of action? Read more about our expert recommendatioons.

Lee Ann’s dedication to the children, parents and community of GDC will be sorely missed. She knew everything about the organization and made sure everyone had what they needed. Read more for details about her scholarship fund and memorial service.

Review by Dr. Jerry Flack | Lighthouses along the coasts of the North Atlantic, especially from New York to Newfoundland, are portrayed in this luminous and highly informative picture book. They serve as steadfast sentinels that from dusk to dawn send out the life-saving message, “Hello, Hello, Hello” to ships at sea that may be in peril in all kinds of weather.