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Teaching Creatively Gifted Students
This is a topic I frequently speak on at conventions. Although there are many similar lists of characteristics of the creatively gifted, the list of character traits below is my favorite. This list is from the National Foundation for Gifted and Creative Children:
1. High Sensivity
2. Excessive amounts of energy
3. Bores easily and may appear to have a short attention span
4. Requires emotionally secure and stable adults around him/her
5. Will resist authority if not democratically oriented
6. Have preferred ways of learning particularly in math and reading
7. May become easily frustrated because of his/her ideas not having the resources or people to assist them in bringing their ideas to fruition
8. Learns from an exploratory level and resists rote memory and just being a listener
9. Cannot sit still unless absorbed in something of his/her own interest
10. If they experience failure early, may give up and develop permanent learning blocks
Creative students are generally not teacher pleasers or people pleasers. They march to a different drummer. Einstein says “He who marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt.” Because they are independent and out of the box thinkers, they have great potentional to be leaders. When creativity is ignored and not challenged, I believe creative children can get into lots of troubles that could be avoided if we channel that awesome God given creativity in a positive way.
Do the subjects of writing and art go together? Read some of these amazing pages from the journal of the master Indian artist Catlin:
http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/html/catlin/index.html
I am a little bit confused about what programmes to buy. The material refers to Visual Manna 1 but I don’t see that in the list. Could you please tell me what books are in visual manna 1 and how the complete curriculum differs from VM 1 and 2.
Thank you
Loiuse in Australia
There are two large curriculums that include time lines, master works of art, the vocabulary of the arts and techniques. The Visual Manna One Curriculum (the “Complete” curriculum) would supply 2 to 3 years of art education. It has multi level lessons so an older child can do one project and a younger child can do a different age appropriate one in the same lesson.
The lessons encourage creativity and independent thinking and problem solving. The Visual Manna Two curriculum would be on a somwhat older level, however would still have the multilevel lessons. Both curriculums have unit studies to go with them. Please let me know if I can answer any further questions.