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As
New Zealand's leading authority on giftedness in
school children we are often featured in newspaper,
radio and television articles. Below is some of
the coverage we have received recently.
If
you wish to arrange an interview or a quotation
please contact head office here.
Please
do NOT contact individual schools.
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Auckland
preschool for gifted children proving popular
(Campbell
Live, TV3 Tue, 23 Sep 2008. Click here
to see video.)
Anyone
with children has probably wondered at least once
whether their little ones might be gifted.
That
is certainly the case in Auckland anyway, where a
unique programme for gifted pre-schoolers has attracted
such demand, it is now gearing up to go nationwide.
'Small
Poppies' was set up more than a year ago off the back
of inquiries from parents who wanted extra help.
Today,
three-to-six-year-olds head along for a morning a
week.
Caleb
is a four-year-old Kiwi kid who loves to play, and
one of a handful of pre-schoolers that comes to Small
Poppies, a learning centre for gifted children and
their parents.
Once a week, these bright sparks come together for
a bit of brain stimulation.
Internationally,
to be gifted is to be in the top five percent. Genetics
plays a big part.
At
Small Poppies, they take the top 10 percent, as assessed
by Sue Breen.
Parents
pay $250 for each eight-week block, and say it is
money well spent.
Ms
Breen says identifying and providing for gifted kids
at an early age is important, but in small doses.
And
for the record, there is plenty of time here for kids
to be kids.
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Gifted
pre-schoolers program could soon be running in Wellington
(Newstalk
ZB Wellington news, 12th September 2008)
Story
1
A programme
for gifted pre-schoolers which has been successful in Auckland
could soon be up and running in Wellington.
Kathy
Williams from the Gifted Education Centre says they already
run programmes for primary and intermediate-aged children
at Wilton School and Tairangi School in Porirua, but they've
had a lot of enquiries from Wellington parents about their
Small Poppies programme for children under 5.
She
says they get a lot of calls from parents who suspect their
child is gifted because they might have an exceptional memory,
pick things up quickly, ask unexpected questions or reach
developmental milestones earlier.
And
she says, most parents are right.
Of
all the children they assess, there would be less than 5
percent who aren't gifted.
She
says that's because parents generally know if their child
is exceptional.
Kathy
Williams says they're hoping to have the Small Poppies programme
up and running in Wellington within a year.
Story
2
The
people who run programmes for gifted Wellington children
say most parents who suspect their child is gifted, are
right.
The
Gifted Education Centre, which runs programmes at Wilton
School and Tairangi School in Porirua, is now looking to
extend its service to pre-schoolers here, because of requests
from local parents.
Kathy
Williams from the centre says while most of us consider
our children to be exceptional, more than 95 percent of
the children they assess to see if they're gifted, actually
are.
She
says parents know, because they've seen unusual behaviour,
like children who are very passionate about things, who're
great hoarders and collectors and know incredible detail
about things like butterflies and dinosaurs.
Kathy
Williams says they're hoping to have their Small Poppies
programme up and running in Wellington within a year.
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Toddling
up to new levels of learning
(Christchurch
Press, 10th September 2008. Click here
to see article.)
Two-year-olds
discussing insect proboscises and three-year-olds
comparing notes on the surface tension of bubbles
it is just another day at the Gifted Education Centre.
The
Auckland-based programme for toddlers says a funding
boost will allow it to open centres across the country
next year.
Christchurch
toddlers who got a taste of the programme at an introductory
session in July will be able to join the classes from
January.
"I
thought it would be a little bit tricky to be introducing
some of those science concepts to kids so young,"
Christchurch mother Megan Reynolds said.
Reynolds
has two gifted girls, Emma, eight, and Kate, six.
Her youngest child, Hugh, four, is believed to be
another gifted child, so Reynolds put him on the Christchurch
trial.
"My
little lad at the moment is learning all about hydrogen
bonds and about water and that it has hydrogen and
oxygen and they're bonded together," Reynolds
said. "He's all into it."
Emma
was reading at three.
"It
means that you can have such a great adult conversation
with your kids and they get it," Reynolds said.
Gifted
Education Centre director Kathy Williams said parents
submitted children for the programme and they were
interviewed through play, observation and discussion
before being admitted.
Only
a few missed out, but there had been a few incidents
where parents disagreed with the decision "and
they've been quite adamant".
"It's
very hands-on. It's certainly investigative, experimental
and experiential, but it's operating at a slightly
different level. The language that is used is, for
example, the correct language of hydraulics, in small
doses," Williams said. "When they're working
on insects, for example, the children will be using
the words proboscis and thorax appropriately. They
talk about surface tension when they're looking at
bubbles."
Williams
said the programme was not overkill. "They're
thirsty for it; they just absolutely soak it in."
The
$15,000 funding boost from the Sovereign Sunshine
organisation will extend the programme to another
50 families across New Zealand.
There
are currently 480 students throughout the country
registered with the centre.
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