When Gifted Kids Don't Have All the Answers: How to Meet Their Social and Emotional Needs

Some fresh perspectives, especially on underachieving, and very practical. Student's thoughts and input interesting. Good resource for teachers.

As an educational psychologist, I often recommend this book (along with the classic, Guiding the Gifted) to parents whose bright or gifted children are struggling with social emotional issues. This is a well-written, easy to use guide that looks at important issues such as self-esteem, self-image, and gifted underachievement. The authors go far beyond identifying these problems and offer lots of practical advice on how to help gifted kids who are struggling at home or at school. Clearly written with lots of sidebar material, checklists, anecdotes, and quotes from gifted kids, parents, and teachers - this book is a joy to read. Another great book on this topic is Gifted Children: Myths and Realities by Ellen Winner

"When Gifted Kids Don't Have All the Answers" isn't just an excellent book for teachers and parents of gifted children (though it definitely is such a book). I just picked this book up at the local bookstore, and, as a gifted child (well, young adult, now) myself, I can honestly say that this book has been just as much help for me as I think it would be for any teacher or parent, if only because it validates everything about gifted kids that I've known and felt ever since I was little. I think that every gifted child should have a chance to read this book, if only to understand him- or herself a little bit better, as well as to understand the struggles that teachers and parents of gifted kids go through, trying to teach and parent such children. And I thank the authors very much for writing such an interesting, useful book.

This book is exactly what I hoped it would be- it gives solid information on gifted children and suggests ways to help them talk about concerns and challenges that come with the "gifted" label. This book was a wonderful discovery for me-- a brand new teacher of the gifted. (One chapter is devoted to the teacher.) The information in this book is encouraging for those new to the field and provides valuable insights into some of the general characteristics of gifted kids and the issues they face. It has some questionnaires and material that could easily lead you and into meaningful discussions.

I think it is too bad that somehow the title of this book doesn't convey (at least to me) that it is intended for teachers. This could be the companion to the Survival Guides for Gifted Kids. Too bad the title Survival Guide for Gifted Teachers doesn't quite work.At any rate, I have found the book to be packed with good, concrete suggestions for adding a much needed social and emotional component to any gifted program. It would be wonderful if it were in notebook size, so the questionaires and exercises could just be photocopied, but at least they are laid out well. This book is full of good, workable suggestions and is recommended highly for all teachers, but especially those teachers who deal with gifted students.