The article describes a visit to the home of E. Paul Torrance and his wife Pansy. Noted are milestones in Paul Torrance's life, character, achievements, and past and current research in creativity, including the 22-year longitudinal study on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. (MC)

The article suggests that creativity is the interaction of external and internal input, resulting in a unique, purposive, and communicable product. Facilitation of creativity is considered. (CL)

The article describes replies to a questionnaire by recipients of the MacArthur Fellows Program, an award given to individuals with uncommon abilities across a wide spectrum of creative pursuits. Replies touch on school and family backgrounds, acceleration, importance of grades, recognition of achievement, extracurricular activities, and…

The author reviews studies on creativity among Brazilian elementary students and their teachers and notes that fostering creativity does not appear to be a goal in most of Brasilia's schools. (CL)

The author proposes a model for lessons on substance abuse that gives children alternative ways to satisfy the natural desire for altered states of consciousness. The model incorporates stages of progressive relaxation, visualization/guided fantasy, sensory experiences, information, and experimentation. (CL)

The article presents guidelines to aid teachers in evaluating students' products during selection of gifted, talented, and creative children to receive school enrichment experiences. Among criteria described are three categories relating to novelty, appropriateness, and elaboration and synthesis. (MC)

Eight suggestions are offered for parents and teachers to maximize children's creative potential. Suggestions touch on such aspects as balance between interpersonal and intrapersonal experiences, allowance for comfortable regression in growth patterns, and well-defined standards of discipline and conduct. (CL)

Eleven specific suggestions for American advocates of the gifted and talented to follow, based on the Japanese way of handling such matters, are offered, including the provision of creative materials for young children and their parents and training in group and team creativity. (Author/DLS)

Four creativity self-identification measures are reviewed: GIFT (Group Inventory for Finding Creative Talent); GIFFI1 and GIFFI2 (Group Inventory for Finding Interests); and PRIDE (Preschool Interest Descriptor). The characteristics approach as measured by self-report and parent-report inventories is seen as effective and efficient. (CL)

A teacher recounts the case of a creative child who was misdiagnosed as brain damaged and endured failure because of a rigid system that did not allow him to demonstrate his insights and critical thinking. The boy eventually took his own life. (CL)

The development of the LARC (Learning Activities to Raise Creativity) program for academically gifted school students is discussed. Among the goals of the program are exposure of students to multidisciplinary subject matter not encountered in the regular classroom and the nurture of creative thinking. (PHR)

A mother and her 15-year-old daughter respond to observations of Donald W. Mackinnon regarding creative families ("In Search of Human Effectiveness: Identifying and Developing Creativity," 1978). Aspects addressed include parent expectations, psychological distance between parent and child, and parent' avoidance of pressuring the child to perform.…

There are a number of ways parents can help their child gain entrance into a gifted program: completing and becoming familiar with various rating forms; understanding that teachers may be inaccurate in creativity assessments; and claiming discrimination based on the child's age or incompatibility with the teacher. (CL)

Exercises are described to help junior high students understand the scope of non-fiction creative expository writing. The communication of attitude and context through language is demonstrated by an exercise based on "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." (CL)

Parents are given suggestions of home activities to stimulate their preschool child who may be exceptionally bright, creatively gifted, advanced in reading or advanced in math. It is recommended that parents use these activities in spontaneous play situations. (CL)