Parent Resources and Organizations Supporting Gifted Learners, Parents and Teachers

Gifted Services Parent Resource Materials: The APS Gifted Services Office provides a mini-library of resources to the families through the Parent Resource Center (PRC). The PRC is located at the Syphax Education Center, 2110 Washington Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22204. Please call before visiting as hours fluctuate, 703-228-7239.

Your school’s resource teacher for the gifted may also have resources to share with parents.

National Association for Gifted (NAGC) Parent TIP Sheets

The Timely Information for Parents (TIP) Sheets are for parents and caregivers of gifted children to download, read, and share as needed.

Please keep in mind these are developed for a national audience and each school district will varying in implementation.

Giftedness 

• Early Childhood: Your young child is showing signs of advanced abilities, what do you do next?
• Gifted 101: What does gifted and talented mean for your child?
• Talking With Your Child About Giftedness: Many parents and caregivers question how to talk with their high-ability children about giftedness.

Giftedness in the Classroom

• Acceleration: A proven strategy to ensure the level and pace of your child’s academic needs are met.
• Assessments for Identification: Why, when, and how do you have your child tested for gifted identification?
• Enrichment: Experiences in after-school activities may be the most important of the day.
• Nurturing Gifted African American Children: African American children may exhibit giftedness differently than others and need some different types of support.

Advocacy

• Advocating for Gifted Services: Steps to take when your school doesn’t have effective gifted programs and services.
• Classroom Advocacy: Working collaboratively with the teacher will be important to your child’s success in school.
• Self-AdvocacyStudents need to know how to speak up for themselves to find the right opportunities to fit their needs.

Creativity

• Arts: Build critical and creative thinking and expression through the arts.
• Nurturing Creativity: Supporting your child’s creativity often depends on those at home.

Social Emotional Development

• Asynchronous Development: Gifted children can develop at an uneven rate, confusing parents, friends, and teachers.
• Bullying: Recognize warning signs and provide support for children who are being bullied.
• Cyberbullying & Gifted Children: Learn how to recognize and combat cyberbullying.
• Finding a Mental Health Professional: How do you find a counselor, psychologist, or therapist for your gifted child?
• Making Friends: Friendships might be more related to mental age than chronological age.
• Perfectionism: Help your child avoid unhealthy perfectionism which can can cause excessive stress and anxiety.

Virginia Department of Education Web Site
This web site contains FAQs about Gifted Education, links to the state regulations and state and national organizations related to Gifted Education. Other documents available on this page include: Understanding the Regulations Governing Educational Services for Gifted Students and the Reference Guide for the Development and Review of the Local Plan for the Education of the Gifted and Supporting the Identification and Achievement of Twice-Exceptional Students.

Virginia Association for the Gifted
VA Gifted advocates for gifted children and services at the state level, publishes a quarterly newsletter, and holds bi-annual conferences.
Virginia Association for the Gifted Summer Scholarships
VA Gifted offers summer scholarships designed for those gifted students who wish to attend academic or artistic programs during the summer months. Scholarship application deadline is mid March . Get Summer Scholarship Application Form at https://vagifted.org/scholarships.htm

Focusing on the Future:
A Career and Academic Planning Experience for High-Ability Students in Grades 6-12 and their ParentsAn annual add-day career and academic planning event sponsored annually in January by The Center for Gifted Education at the College of William and Mary and held in Williamsburg, VA.

 Virginia (VDOE) Gifted Education page and Summer Residential Governor’s Schools
Offers a variety of information from the Virginia Department of Education Web site. The Commonwealth of Virginia provides services to identified students, kindergarten through grade 12.

National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC)
NAGC is a non-profit organization of parents, teachers, educators, other professionals, and community members who unite to address the unique needs of gifted children and youth. NAGC publishes a quarterly journal, a parenting magazine, and holds an annual conference.

Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG) SENG is dedicated to fostering environments in which gifted adults and children understand and accept themselves and brings attention to the unique emotional needs of gifted children.

National Society for the Gifted and Talented (NSGT)
The National Society for the Gifted & Talented™ (NSGT) is a non-for-profit foundation created to honor and encourage gifted and talented children and youth.

Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
CEC is the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities. CEC includes a TAG (Talented and Gifted) division.

Davidson Institute
Formed in 1999, the Davidson Institute is a 501(c)3 private operating foundation funded by Bob and Jan Davidson to recognize, nurture and support profoundly gifted students and to provide opportunities for them to develop their talents. A variety of free brochures that can guide parents in the support of their children. The Foundation also provides a variety of scholarship opportunities.

Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
The Jack Kent Cooke Scholarships are designed to encourage and support outstanding students from 7th grade through graduate school who have a breadth of interests, work hard, demonstrate a strong will to succeed, and have financial need.

Emerging Scholars Program
The Emerging Scholars Program (ESP) is designed to encourage and support outstanding students with financial need in grades four through six. ESP was established in late 2002 by a consortium of seven independent schools serving the Washington, DC area.
Emerging Scholars Program Graduates undergo 14 months of rigorous academic and leadership training. Graduates have been accepted into grade six at independent schools where they will receive need-based financial aid or graduates go on to greater success at their home public schools.

Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page
This Web site is an “all-things-gifted” resource for parents, educators, and gifted teens.

Early Entrance College Programs in the USA
Early entrance programs, often referred to as radical acceleration, provide an opportunity for groups of students who have yet to complete high school to become a part of a supportive peer environment within a collegiate setting. Various college early entrance programs allow these students to work toward either a full college degree or a high school diploma plus transferable college credit. PEG, the Program for the Exceptionally Gifted, at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia, https://www.mbc.edu/peg/ offers an opportunity for bright and accomplished young women to complete college during their high school years.