It can be frustrating to adults when gifted children, who have so much talent and ability, underachieve academically. One reason is a fear of failure, and this book excerpt from “The Essential Guidebook for Parents of Gifted Children” explains why this perplexing and discouraging phenomenon can happen—and, more importantly, how to change it.

We know how critical creativity is to children’s overall well-being, as well as what it can add to their educational experience. That’s why we offer both online courses and a creative curriculum for families who want to inject a little more inspiration into their children’s lives.

We believe that any lesson can be enjoyable if it’s served up in the right package. That’s why we offer so many different approaches to math. From picture books to novels to online courses, every child can find a way to fall in love with math.

Animated movies. Computer games. Smartphone technology. All of these things have in common fractals, which Benoit Mandlebrot opened up for us. Children who learn how this man bested the odds to discover something that has altered the world as we know it today will be welcomed into the subject of math in a way that a worksheet of problems can never do.

We’ve fielded many inquiries lately about instructing children in the arts, which includes the visual arts, music, dance, and drama. Artistic Ways of Knowing, by Joanne Haroutounian, Ph.D., is a comprehensive curriculum for teachers and homeschool co-op instructors who want to offer arts experiences to children of all ages and grades, ability levels, and backgrounds.

“What I came to grasp as my years studying under Asa Briggs went by was how much more than excellence in the writing of history he had to impart. Much of his thinking is reflected in the books that Royal Fireworks produces—books that expect students to expand their horizons.” – Dr. T.M. Kemnitz

Fears about the coronavirus have swept the world, and children are not immune to feelings of stress and anxiety associated with it. Of course we should teach our children ways to avoid infection, and we should do what we can to help them stay healthy and safe, but we can also help them by teaching them how to problem solve when it comes to issues of public health and safety.

“The stories of these mathematical pioneers show that math is done by real people who lived real lives. They didn’t start out knowing everything. They had to study and learn, making both discoveries and mistakes along the way. By following the paths they took, readers can uncover the human side of mathematics.” – Robert Black

“Why do students have to keep doing four-level analyses in every level of the MCT curriculum once they know how to do it? This is a good question. But four-level analysis is different because it is an expansive inquiry into language; it is investigating something that is not concrete or simple but that is essentially bottomless.” – Michael Clay Thompson

“My central concept for ‘The Word Within the Word’ is that it is a profoundly interdisciplinary vocabulary curriculum, interweaving the vocabulary of science, mathematics, history, literature, art, and more into a great vocabulary fabric that will make students better in every subject and prepare them for the future like no other curriculum ever has.” – Michael Clay Thompson

“From time to time, it is healthy for us, as educators devoted to optimizing differentiated education for gifted children, to reexamine our most fundamental assumptions. The assumption I would like to discuss can be expressed in a question: Is gifted education a dream or a goal?” – Michael Clay Thompson

“I want philosophy to be a lifelong friend for my children—and for all of their friends, and for all of their friends’ friends, and for the whole next generation. As they venture into civilization, philosophy will be their defense against me and all of the teachers, role models, bosses, and societal influences who, well-meaning or not, give too many suggestions and with too heavy a hand.” – Dr. Sharon Kaye

“We must advocate for real reading. There is nothing else in education—nothing—that is as educational as reading. By reading serious literature, both fiction and nonfiction, students experience the full range of intellectual experience. They grow in their reading power and can read better and deeper, with more comprehension and enthusiasm for important stories and ideas.” – Michael Clay Thompson

“For many people, learning math mostly involved working a seemingly endless set of exercise problems. Such drills have their place, but if that’s all students do, they’re missing a big part of what math is about. In fact, they’re missing the most important part: the opportunity to see math as a creative, collaborative experience, full of possibilities for exploration and discovery.” – Robert Black