Special Education and Gifted Programs

At the first sign that their child has a learning difference, many parents panic and withdraw into a state of denial. That may help you. But it will not help your child. Your child's teachers know what to look for. As a rule, the signs of a child with learning issues are pretty obvious. While teachers may not know how to treat the disorder professionally, they have the training to alert parents and the school administration when they suspect your child has a learning issue.

In this TEDx Talk, Dean Bragonier discusses the true gifts of a dyslexic mind.

Before we dig deeper into the subject of learning differences, here's a definition of the term:

Learning differences, or learning disabilities, affect a person's ability to learn and process information. The signs of learning differences can vary depending on the specific type of disability, but some common symptoms include:

Difficulty with reading, writing, and spelling: People with learning differences may struggle with decoding words, recognizing everyday words, understanding sentence structure, and spelling correctly.

Problems with math: People with learning differences may struggle with basic math concepts such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and they may also have difficulty with more advanced concepts such as geometry and algebra.

Poor memory: People with learning differences may have difficulty remembering information, especially regarding rote memorization of facts or details.

Difficulty with organization and time management: People with

When it comes to schooling our children and grandchildren, we parents and grandparents have faced unprecedented challenges during the pandemic. Deciding whether to send our kids to school or keep them home has been something we have wrestled with and, indeed, still wrestle with because the number of cases of COVID-19 varies so much from one location to another. As we all quickly discovered, there is no "one size fits all" solution. The one bright spot in all the pandemic's darkness has been how nimbly most independent schools have responded to the challenges of keeping their schools open. I attribute that to the thin management layers most private schools have. That allows those in charge to make informed decisions quickly. Standing behind the school's management team is a dedicated group of trustees. These experienced, generous women and men love their school. Their counsel and their generous financial support make the way forward during the pandemic so much easier. These trustees have faced many challenges in their professional lives. They know how to make hard choices and execute plans to implement those choices.

Having sketched out a backdrop against which most private schools have dealt with the pandemic, let's look at some of the items you should have on your personal checklist every day.

Wearing masks

When the pandemic began, I thought that wearing a mask was simple. You put on a disposable or a cloth mask, and that was it. A year later, we now know that you

The amount of confusion over school reopenings in fall 2020 has been astounding. The general public and parents hear and read information that is confusing at best or incomplete at worst. I read several news sources extensively every day to find out what's actually going on. This article aims to show you where to look for information about school reopening protocols, school reopening communications, schools that have closed, and schools with COVID-19 cases, among other COVID-19 related issues. The best source of COVID-19 information in a specific school is always a school's website, where generally you will find communications from the school to current families.

This video explains the CDC guidance for school reopening.

What becomes evident as you read your school's communications is that a tremendous amount of work and effort has gone into creating and implementing safety protocols to protect everybody in the school community. Everybody means the maintenance staff through to the head of school. Here are some of the items you should look for in your school's reopening protocols:

• testing
• sanitizing
• in-person vs. online instruction
• activities
• athletics

Most schools have spent the summer months planning for school reopening in the fall of 2020. Endless meetings have covered every aspect of daily operations. Most schools have relied on data and the advice of experts to develop their reopening plans. Politics rarely plays a part in those deliberations and decisions.

Testing

Coronavirus Testing

Teachers and parents are concerned about the teaching that will take place post-pandemic. I have tried to cover their concerns in the following set of questions and answers.

Question: What happened in March 2020?

Answer: It was as though somebody turned off the power. One day, public and private school teachers were teaching in person in classrooms. The next day they were teaching online.

Question: Was there any warning?

Answer: Very little. The decision to close schools was made on a state-by-state basis by the governors.

Question: When will schools reopen?

Answer: That's a good question. Much depends on the coronavirus situation in your location. If the number of new cases and deaths from COVID-19 are decreasing, your governor will be more inclined to allow schools to open. In general, wherever possible, it seems as though schools will reopen in the fall. Of course, you can expect changes. Children's safety will be paramount, but so will the safety of vulnerable communities such as older faculty and staff. There will be lots of handwashing and hand sanitizer. There will be much less movement about the school. Teachers will move as needed from class to class. Students will remain in place.

Question What kind of protective measures will be in place at my children's private school?

Answer: Again, your governor's health team will recommend several measures that could include social distancing, wearing masks, temperature checks, and other measures. Most states seem to be

Educating Your Gifted Child

We parents worry a lot, don't we? From the time of your baby's first kick in the womb to her graduation from college, her marriage, and the birth of her own children, we just never stop worrying, do we? Now, of course, I don't mean worrying in a negative sense. I use worry to express that parental awareness or sixth sense, which we parents remarkably seem to develop from the time we first hold our child in our arms. Worrying goes with parenting. But let's make it informed worrying. That's why organizations such as The National Association For Gifted Children are so important.

This video discusses the parenting of gifted children.

As you begin to suspect that your child might be gifted, take time to review the information contained on an authoritative website such as the NAGC's. Ruthlessly filter information that you see on television, hear on talk shows, or read in social media.

So, what makes a child gifted? The NAGC lists the following common characteristics of gifted children:

• Unusual alertness, even in infancy
• Rapid learner; puts thoughts together quickly
• Excellent memory
• Unusually large vocabulary and complex sentence structure for age
• Advanced comprehension of word nuances, metaphors, and abstract ideas
• Enjoys solving problems, especially with numbers and puzzles
• Often self-taught reading and writing skills as a preschooler
• Deep, intense feelings and reactions
• Highly sensitive
• Thinking is abstract, complex, logical, and insightful
• Idealism and sense of justice