Lists characteristics possessed by gifted young children and provides a checklist of processes necessary to the development of their special talents. Suggests ways to use this information in developing a curriculum for the gifted and talented student. (MA)

An alternative to PSI courses in general chemistry for advanced students is described. It retains some of the better features of PSI, but increases student-teacher contact. (BB)

A teacher of gifted elementary students discusses her class's annual Shakespeare project which involves studying his life, reviewing familiar passages, and finally presenting one of his plays. (CL)

A philosophy course designed for gifted eleventh and twelfth grade students is described. Goals of increasing student sensitivity, awareness and logic are discussed, and general classroom procedures outlined. (CL)

The effects of graded and nongreded curricula on the cognitive and affective development of 246 academically talented elementary students were investigated. (DLS)

Creative thinking and problem solving processes were studied in 233 gifted elementary students. (Author/DLS)

The author's plans for Kinesthetic Initial Training (KIT), a system of interrelated subjects designed to teach handicapped and gifted students basic reading, writing, arithmetic, and grammar skills through the use of concrete materials, are described. KIT components are reviewed, and implications are considered for areas of psychomotor,…

A total of 86 black fourth-grade children and 111 white fourth-grade children randomly selected from normal classrooms in a rural county school system in Tennessee were compared on Torrance's Unusual Uses and Ask and Guess activities. No differences were found on the frequency or flexibility measures for either activity. (MS)

Three short articles discuss the needs of various groups of students that tend to become disaffected with school, focusing in turn on mentally retarded students, obese students, and gifted students. (JG)

Discusses the challenges in evaluating gifted programs and the limitations of current evaluation instruments. Describes the overreliance on self-evaluation assessments, and stresses the need for both qualitative and quantitative data that measure program effectiveness and student growth in order to ward off program budget cuts. (CR)

A study involving 109 secondary school gifted students found that 89% scored high on a quiz designed to detect negative perfectionism. Factors identified as possible dimensions of perfectionism included need for order, organization, need for approval of others, obsessive-compulsive demands on self, anxiety and excessive worry, indecision, and…

Dabrowski's theory that sensitivity and intensity are characteristic of the psychological makeup of young gifted children was investigated in a qualitative study with five gifted children (ages 4 through 6). The study found the five overexcitabilities postulated by Dabrowski were manifested in the children's classroom and home behaviors. (DB)

Suggests ways for making classrooms fun, including giving children opportunities to work together, moving things around, letting children learn to set their own controls, setting up the classroom so students can experiment and discover together, and providing bonuses or incentives for the child who is falling behind. (CR)

Discussion of counseling needs of gifted learners reviews the literature on affective and self-concept issues and discusses strategies for addressing students' psychosocial, academic counseling, and career counseling needs. Counselor, parent, and teacher roles are addressed. Tables link student characteristics to counseling approaches, counseling…

Provides guidelines for buying computers for parents of gifted children. Steps for making decisions include deciding who will use the computer, deciding its purposes and what software packages will be used, determining current and future needs, setting a budget, and reviewing needs with salespersons and school-based technology specialists. (CR)