What is Gifted Education? You believe your child should be in a gifted school. Now what?

Welcome to Vanguard Gifted Academy’s educational channel. This is the sixth episode in our series called “What is Gifted Education?” My name is Elizabeth Blaetz, and I'm the Head of School at Vanguard Gifted Academy. Today, I'd like to talk with you about what to do now that you know you need to find a gifted education opportunity for your child. I have three key points, so hang in there until you get to the third one. 

The first thing that's really important is to know your child. You are the parent, you know your child best, but you also need to know who your child is as a gifted individual. You need to understand his personality type and emotional structure. Does he tend to be a little more anxious? Does he tend to be a real competitive go-getter? Is he a perfectionist? When you're out looking for a school for your gifted child, you need to know your child first. That's the most important part. 

The second step is to find what's available in your area. You might be surprised because there's a lot more available than you realize, and finding the right school means you're going to have to do your homework. You're going to have to go to the web pages and look to see what each school values, what part of gifted education they are focusing on, and then go out and visit. Make sure that you get an opportunity to talk about your child when you visit. Some schools have group tours; some schools have individual tours. Whatever they offer you, make sure you get that opportunity.  If it’s a group tour, ask to schedule an appointment. It is important for you to talk with them about your child and about any challenges they've been having in their current school along with the strengths you observe and the goals you have for your child because the school really should want to know who your child is. 

The next part of this homework is to get your child into the classroom. It's really important for the gifted child to spend some time in the community. It's kind of like when you take a kid to a college and they get a feel for it the minute they walk on the campus. I know when I took my son to visit colleges, it was like he wanted to turn around and leave right away because the feeling on the campus was really competitive and my son was not competitive in any way. So when you're looking at schools for your gifted child, make sure the child has a visit or shadow day. Some schools do two-day visits to allow the child to feel the nature of the school and the nature of the classmates they would be learning with.  Listen to your child when he comes home from the visit. Listen to him tell about his day, his social experiences (which is really important for gifted children), and his experiences with the teacher. That really is so important. 

Finally, when you're visiting the school, have them tell you what they think is important about giftedness. Find out if they have an accelerated program and really want to move the students quickly through the learning in a fast and furious race, or if they have a program where they want to explore and spread out the learning and get really in-depth with learning. Perhaps their program is a combination where students learn at their own level and their own rate, and then they do a lot of project-based learning where they're putting domains together and working with peers. You need to know what the school's goals are for their gifted students. 

Most importantly, try to find the best fit for your child.

It's not about whether your child can fit into the school. It’s about whether the school fits your child!

I know when I give tours, when I talk to parents, I never say the goal is for your child to come to Vanguard Gifted Academy. I say the goal is to see if Vanguard Gifted Academy is a good fit for your child, and if they feel like Vanguard isn't the best fit, that they should continue to look, I'll even be glad to help them look. Sometimes, the environment in a particular gifted school isn't for everyone. So it's really important that parents feel comfortable with saying it's not a good fit, that they’re going to look somewhere else. I want you to feel like we're on this road together as we try to serve gifted children. That's where my passion is, and I know that's where your passion is for your child. 

If you have any questions or comments, I'd love to hear them. If you're looking for some more resources, I'd be glad for you to look at our website, vanguardgiftedacademy.org. Keep in touch, and let's see what we can do together to find the best gifted education for your child.