Parenting for High Potential

» Gender Issues in Gifted Achievement: Are Girls Making Inroads While Boys Fall Behind? . 2 By Dr. Sylvia B. Rimm » The Perfect Girl Syndrome: Perfectionism and Self-Esteem in Gifted Girls . 6 Fall 2015 2015 Fall By Cassie Worley » Patrilineal Ability: Nurturing Giftedness in Grandfathers, Fathers, and Sons . 8 Volume 5 | Issue 1 Volume By Fiona Smith » It’s All Fun and Games! . 11 By Bethany Mullins r » Girl Power! How Parents Can Support Girls’ Academic Success in STEM . 16 % By Ann Gadzikowski 0 » The Creativity Crusade . 22 By Dr. Rick Shade and Patti Garrett Shade parenting for high potential a note from the editor hen the planets aligned and different articles focusing on gifted girls or boys started appearing in my editorial mailbox earlier Wthis year, the timing seemed right to devote an entire issue of Parenting for High Potential to explore new perspectives on gender differences among gifted males and females. While it’s impossible to cover every subtopic related to gender differences, Dr. Sylvia Rimm’s overview article offers a crisp launching point for bringing readers up to speed on some of the most recent thinking on gifted boys versus girls. New voices offer new perspectives on topics such as, for females, perfectionism and STEM, and, for males, the “aha” moments gifted fathers experience when their son is identified as gifted. This issue of PHP also encourages families to take time out for play with NAGC’s annual guide to some of the newest toys most exciting for young gifted minds. And, we welcome creativity champions Dr. Rick Shade and Patti Garrett Shade, who will author a regular column in upcoming issues to ignite imaginations and spark innovation. With this issue, the print edition of Parenting for High Potential is returning to a quarterly, seasonal moniker—Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer—and will arrive in subscribers’ mailboxes in November, February, May, and August. This schedule better aligns with school calendars, staggers PHP 6 Exploring the with delivery of sister publications Gifted Child Quarterly and Teaching for High Potential, and provides an easy-to-remember schedule readers can Splendor of Gender gleefully anticipate. PLUS: 2015 Annual Toys & Kathleen Nilles Editor-in-Chief Games List helping boys & girls succeed Gender Issues in Gifted Achievement: Are Girls Making Inroads While Boys Fall Behind? By Dr. Sylvia B. Rimm chool and life achievement patterns for girls and women differ from those of boys and men. While girls have made dramatic progress in school, they need to be inspired to connect S 1 to lifelong achievement. Both research and clinical work at the Ohio-based Family Achievement Clinic find that more boys than girls underachieve in school.2 There is much that parents and teachers can do to help both genders achieve their full potential. Boys’ Issues Several approaches that encourage achievement for both boys and girls have been used effectively in the Family Achievement Clinic, and Menlo Park Academy, a tuition-free Cleveland- based community school for K–8 gifted learners. 2015–2016 Parent Editorial and Content Advisory Board Published by Janette Boazman, J. Denise Drain Nancy B. Hertzog Rhoda Rosen Chair Mooresville, IN Lake Forest Park, WA Evanston, IL Dallas, TX Editor-in-Chief: Kathleen Nilles Thomas Fairweather Susan Jackson Patti Garrett Shade Editorial Assistant: Denise Notz Gerry Charlebois Destin, FL Fountain Hills, AZ Denver, CO Georgetown, TX Layout & Design: Julie Wilson Leigh Friedlander Kathy Jones Joan Franklin Smutny Lisa Conrad Elkridge, MD Chanute, KS Wilmette, IL Ambridge, PA Parenting for High Potential is published, and is distributed as Rosina M. Gallagher Michele Kane Carolyn Welch a membership benefit by the National Association for Gifted Vanessa DeFina Chicago, IL Long Grove, IL Northbrook, IL Children (NAGC). The views expressed in the magazine are Bartlett, IL those of the authors and do not necesarily reflect the views of Stephanie Georgiades Kathleen Robinson NAGC or its Board of Directors. Copyright © 2015. National Tampa, FL Parker, CO Association for Gifted Children, 1331 H Street NW, Suite 1001, Washington, DC 20005. 202-785-4268. www.nagc.org. NAGC Board–Parent Representative Parent & Community Network Chair NAGC Staff Liaisons For advertising information, contact Keri Guilbault Tracy Inman Kathleen Nilles [email protected] Bel Air, MD Bowling Green, KY Karen Yoho To access digital issues of Parenting for High Potential, visit http://nagc.org/resources-publications/nagc-publications/parenting-high-potential 2 PHP | Parenting for High Potential “ Gifted male readers…lag behind their female counterparts…This literary gender gap manifests in Common Issues Affecting males’ reading behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs and has persisted historically and globally.” Males & Females - Alexander Pagnani, Gifted Male Readers: Males Current Understandings and Suggestions for Future Research • Boys receive lower grades than girls and are more likely to drop High Energy . Hands-on activities writing or by typing their stories once they out of high school. help boys thrive at home and at school. have expressed them. Viewing models of Constructing models, conducting experi- quality writing by other students can help • Boys with high energy (a char- ments, and active participation in learning them to learn what teachers expect. acteristic typical of many gifted build their confidence. Involvement in Reading Disabilities . More boys have children) are more likely to be sports and recess games are important reading disabilities which frequently go diagnosed with Attention Deficit for releasing energy and increasing their undiagnosed.4 Reading disabilities can Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). attention in the classroom. Gifted boys decrease verbal IQ test scores by as much are often highly competitive and may as 20 points and can prevent the identifi- • Boys are more likely to have avoid organized team sports where they cation of a child’s giftedness. Early identi- reading and writing disabilities.1 may not feel as skilled as compared to fication of reading problems is crucial, but • Fewer boys graduate college or their academic abilities. Parents might is difficult to do. Tutoring and eye muscle encourage their participation in individual exercises can be of assistance. Listening to earn graduate degrees. sports like track, tennis, and swim team; audio recordings of books simultaneously non-athletic team activities may include while reading them can help improve a Females Future Problem Solving, Destination child’s ability to read, and can also provide • Many girls are perfectionistic and Imagination, or Science Olympiad, for important information in other subjects. deal with math anxiety. example. The Importance of Male Role Impulsive Talk . Talking out of turn Models . The majority of teachers in • Girls struggle more in coping and disruptive talk can cause boys to be elementary schools are women. For some with competition, and experience labeled as behavior problems. Teaching boys, a good male role model seems to be peer pressure to underachieve in boys to keep a note pad on their desk pivotal to inspiring effort and a positive middle school. where they can write down their thoughts, work ethic. Involving fathers in homework then shorten and organize them, can help supervision and work projects can inspire • Bias against girls and women them to garner the appropriate attention and motivate underachieving boys toward continues to take place in school for more organized contributions. learning.5 Sports coaches and male teachers and the workplace. Pencil Anxiety . Boys who begin can be important role models and mentors. • There continues to be much avoiding writing early struggle greater conflict between career with a fear of expressing themselves in written form and and parenting roles for women can easily become long-term than for men.2 underachievers.3 Preschool encouragement of coloring Endnotes and writing often prevents this 1 Davis, G., Rimm, S., & Siegle, D. (2011). problem. Occupational therapy Education of the gifted and talented (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: can also be helpful. Learning to Pearson Education. touch type early can help these 2 Rimm, S., Rimm-Kaufman, S., & Rimm, boys communicate stories and I. (2014). Jane wins again: Can reports more effectively using successful women have it all? A fifteen-year follow-up. Tucson, AZ: computers. Voice recording Great Potential Press. their writing prevents thought paralysis and facilitates their verbal expression. They can transpose their recording in Fall 2015 3 helping boys & girls succeed Issues for Girls The role of women has changed dramat- ically. There has been great improvement in girls’ school performance and involvement in successful careers. There is now equity in many areas including math scores, grades in school, and earning of university and graduate degrees. The genders are equal in medical and law schools and participation in the biological sciences. However, there continues to be major inequities in some areas (see Figure 1). Parents and teachers can inspire girls to be strong and resilient both in childhood and adulthood. Perfectionism . The continued success at home and in school and will assist them careers is crucial. Girls who want to help that gifted girls find in school easily traps in developing better resilience. Parents make the world a better place should learn them into assuming that they can perform who are role models for positively dealing to recognize that math is a tool that will perfectly in life and are expected to do with pressures help girls to understand allow them to do just that. Brief extra just that. They often believe they must that failure is also a typical and necessary tutoring can sometimes be the step that continue to get all A’s and they struggle part of success. allows girls to recognize that they, too, can with criticism. Extreme praise promotes Math Anxiety . Girls continue to be “math” people. perfectionism and can be habit-forming. avoid complex math and science classes. Coping with Competition .

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