October 2018

A Message From Our President
Don't miss our big fall event, coming up this week!  Richard Rusczyk is speaking in Woodinville on October 16 and again on Bainbridge Island on the 17th. 

NWGCA seeks to bring top quality speakers to our community. Last winter, we brought speakers from GRO-gifted.org to teach us the latest neuroscience about the gifted brain. In the spring, we partnered with SENG for a smorgasbord day of amazing talks. This fall, we continue the tradition by bringing you the founder of the Art of Problem Solving (aops.com), Richard Rusczyk.  

AoPS got its start by training top math students for olympiads and the AMC 8/10/12 competitions. As time went on, they continued to specialize in math instruction for advanced students, publishing some of the best textbooks for algebra through calculus, as well as other important topics like number theory, probability, and combinatorics - and providing a novel model for afterschool/weekend online classes that has made advanced math accessible to anyone with a computer.  

As the years passed, AoPS kept going younger and younger. Their elementary curriculum, Beast Academy, writes its textbook in full color comic book format (no kidding!) paired with workbooks that have deep problem solving appropriate for advanced students in grades 2-5. Just this year, Beast Academy went online into a new self-paced format that can be used in classrooms as well as at home.

Personally, I've found Richard Rusczyk's talk to be one of the most impactful messages I've ever heard. His insights have greatly affected my personal beliefs about what gifted students *really* need. I am delighted that others will get to experience hearing Richard's wise words firsthand! Hope to see you there :)

Austina De Bonte, President NWGCA

More Therapists for Gifted Children & Families

NWGCA is in the process of updating its website. One of our goals for the update is to better connect NWGCA parents with providers that will best fit their needs. 

As such, we are requesting that providers, who wish to be listed on NWGCA's updated website, complete a form to help families gain a better understanding of the services provided. If you are a provider who serves the gifted community in Washington State, please request a form by sending an email to [email protected]. 

Use this link for a current list of providers. 

NWGCA Fall Event
Problem Solving: Key to a 21st Century Education and a Rewarding Career
Presented by Richard Rusczyk, Founder of Art of Problem Solving (aops.com)

Tuesday, October 16
7:15 PM - 9:00 PM
Brightwater Community Center, Woodinville, WA
Register Today ($20, bring a friend for only $5 more)

Wednesday, October 17
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Bainbridge Island School District Board Room
9530 NE High School Road, Bainbridge Island, WA
Free event

The rote memorization of facts is an insufficient means of educating the youth of today. Instead, problem-solving skills enable students to use the information they've learned in infinitely useful ways. Jobs that involve repetitive procedures are becoming increasingly automated. There is a growing need for those who can solve non-routine problems. The memorizer can only solve problems he has encountered already, but the problem solver can solve problems she's never seen before, and above all, she can create.

Art of Problem Solving Founder, Richard Rusczyk, will talk about the importance of a problem-solving based math curriculum in today's educational climate. Parents and educators will find Richard's message to be wise and insightful, as well as full of practical tips for how to access math curriculums that build students' problem solving muscles, from elementary through high school.

Richard Rusczyk has authored 7 textbooks and was past Director of the USA Mathematical Talent Search. He was a participant in National MATHCOUNTS, a three-time participant in the Math Olympiad Summer Program, and a USA Mathematical Olympiad winner (1989). He received the World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions Paul Erdös Award in 2014. He graduated from Princeton University in 1993. At AoPS, Richard gets to pursue his life's passion, educating motivated students.
Upcoming Learning Opportunities

Bellevue SENG Group Informational Meeting 
Wednesday November 14, 2018   
Lake Hills Library Multipurpose Room  5:30-6:30 PM
Come meet and hear from other interested parents, receive a free lesson and discuss the characteristics of gifted and talented children. View the syllabus and text for the four week class series, set dates and location.
Discussion is held in a non-judgmental and nurturing atmosphere where we learn from the facilitator and one another. Topics include such aspects as social and emotional growth, motivation, discipline, stress management, peer relationships, organization and executive functioning, twice -exceptionality, and perfectionism.
For more information, please contact Susan Jackson M.Ed at [email protected] or Bellevuewaseng.com


Putting together the Puzzle of a Gifted Family (Seattle)
Assessing Gifted Intensities, Addressing Ongoing Conflicts, Applying Creative Strategies
Date:  November 3, 2018
Timing:  9:30 AM - 3:30 PM
9:30 am - 3:30 pm
Phinney Ridge Center
6532 Phinney Avenue North
Room 31
Seattle, WA 98103
Facilitators: Anne van Roden and Gloria Sandford - both experienced parents of gifted children and licensed mental health professionals.
Purpose: Come join us for an interactive and inspiring workshop where you will learn key tools to help your gifted family thrive. This full-day workshop will apply SENG concepts at a deeper level focusing on the whole family. Specific tools include: 1) measuring certain gifted traits in family members, 2) examining how different patterns can cause ongoing conflicts and misunderstandings and 3) identifying some strategies to help address those challenges. Participants will leave with uniquely crafted strategies to help their family live together in a more cohesive and harmonious manner.
Register Here
 
NAGC Annual Convention (Minneapolis, MN)
The annual National Association for Gifted Children Convention is in Minneapolis this year from November 14-18. Several WA state professionals will be presenting this year, including NWGCA President Austina De Bonte. If you'd like to go, rates go up after September 14, so now's the time to register. www.nagc.org  Convention rates are better if you are an NAGC member - get a parent membership here (if you list NWGCA18 as the referrer, we'll get a small percentage back from NAGC)  
 
Know a great event or speaker coming to town?
We're always happy to spread the word!  Email us 
 
Resources

"Understanding Giftedness" 
A video explaining the social and emotional components of parenting a gifted child.  Extremely helpful in understanding the underlying reasons for puzzling behaviors in your gifted child.  Clinical examples are used to get to a deeper understanding of how the two fundamental theories of Overexcitabilities and Asynchronous Development drive behaviors in gifted individuals.  This video includes "the basics" of understanding giftedness. 
More Information 

"Putting Together the Puzzle of the Gifted Family" - 
 This video helps to understand relational patterns and interactions within a gifted family, using the case study of the book A Wrinkle in Time. Specific tools in this video include: 1) measuring certain gifted traits in family members, 2) examining how different patterns can cause ongoing conflicts and misunderstandings and 3) identifying some strategies to help address those challenges and conflicts. By watching this film you can create uniquely crafted strategies to help your family live together in a more cohesive and harmonious manner. 
More Information
Opportunities for Your Student

SeaburySquared (Tacoma)
Explore gifted education at Seabury Squared - with enrichment classes (after school programs, clubs, camps, workshops, and accelerated weekends) that stretch the imagination and provide engaging, challenging experiences for youngsters in the greater Tacoma community and those who are Seabury students. 
More information 
 
AoPS Academy (Bellevue)
The Art of Problem Solving has recently opened the new Bellevue Academy campus, just in time for the new school year! AoPS after school courses provide challenging material for math and language arts students, from grade 2 to high school. 
AoPS also offers world-class math competition preparation courses, helpful for contests such as Math Kangaroo, AIME, MATHCOUNTS, and mathematical Olympiads. Students ready for Prealgebra and above can take competition courses at the campus, or online at AoPS.com, The free Alcumus platform is a great tool to help study, or for math enrichment. 
Please check the course catalog for information. Use this application to have your student considered for admission. 
 
Athena's Advanced Academy (Online)
Online webinar-based classes for homeschoolers, specifically designed for gifted learners. A few classes are held during afterschool hours that might work as enrichment as well. Athena's Advanced Academy. 
 
Beast Academy (Online)
For homeschoolers or parents wanting to provide a fun, but challenging, supplemental math program for their children, there's a new paid option that has been recently launched. Beast Academy Online is a paid subscription service for online math instruction. Math is taught through games and puzzles, allowing for independent learning or guided assistance. Beast Academy Online currently covers units 3-5, although due to the challenging nature of the units, it's often recommended that students start a unit below their current grade level.  With a 14 day full refund option, it can be tested with your kids to see if it's a fit for supplementing your school's math curriculum, or using for a full home school curriculum. 
More information here
 
Online G3 (Online)
Smart classes for Smart Kids. Online G3 nurtures critical and creative thinking in a diverse community of gifted learners providing a supportive and flexible online learning environment. By pairing passionate teachers with engaging and interactive academic content, G3 offers appropriate acceleration within an accredited, secular, and affordable education program. Check out their courses. 
 
Gifted Homeschoolers Forum (Online)
GHF Online offers original curriculum designed by the instructors who teach it. Registration is now open. Check out classes like "Newton at the Center," "Historical Geology" and "Journalism for Teens." Get the full list of online classes. 
 
Social Media

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ArticlesGifted Isn't Good
Gifted education is not a privilege or a prize. It is not an elite club. Believe it or not, "gifted" is not a label to aspire to. Changing the mindset of the public on this issue is difficult.
Read the Complete Article Here
Helping Gifted Kids Become Self Advocates
TILT Parenting's podcast with Deb Douglas on the topic of self-advocacy for gifted learners. 
Deb has been an expert in student voice for over 16 years, advocating for gifted children in the US Upper Midwest and beyond. She led the first GT Carpe Diem workshop in 2002. Her advocacy for gifted children grew out of her own life experiences as a student, mother, and teacher. Deb served as gifted education coordinator for the Manitowoc (WI) Public School District for over 20 years and also developed their International Baccalaureate Diploma Program.
Listen here

12 Brain-Building Food Rules
Is your diet sabotaging your ADHD treatment plan? If you're skipping breakfast and carb-loading at lunch, you need to read this overview of powerful nutrients and how they can help your brain. Food rarely comes up when we talk about the mind and brain, even though what you eat determines how effectively your brain operates. It is so obvious that it is often overlooked. The most common food errors, like skipping breakfast  or self-medicating with food, can sabotage the best of ADHD treatment plans.
Read the Complete Article Here

Help Your Gifted Child Make Sense of the Recent News
All children old enough to have some awareness of the news may be affected by it - but gifted children, with their often heightened sensitivity, tendency toward overthinking , concerns with fairness and justice, and ability to appreciate life's complexities - may be particularly troubled. Our children need our help. How can we help our children understand the many issues raised by the news? 
Read the Complete Article Here