Genius Denied: How to Stop Wasting Our Brightest Young Minds

I strongly recommend reading this book if you are the parent/educator of a gifted child. This book is a real eye opener into school life of American gifted children - even those that seem to be doing just fine. My son is highly gifted and absolutely loves school. He had a wonderful teacher in third grade and likes his 4th grade teacher even better. He scores 100 on most tests and generally seems happy. So - what's the problem? He's not learning anything! Until I read this book, it never even occurred to me to ask my son if he has learned anything new this year. He does homework daily, has tests and quizzes in all subjects - of course he's learning - right? When I asked him yesterday if he thought he was actually learning - he said no - nothing new. On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being new work that is challenging) he rated last year and this year a 4 (I think he would have rated it lower, but he could tell I was heading for a slight freak-out).Genius Denied points out that many bright children are just coasting in our school system. They already know the work and "learning" the material comes effortlessly. Even if they aren't having emotional difficulty with being forced to repeatedly learn things they already know, it can become a serious problem later on when they actually come across material they don't know. Many won't even know how to study.I think the book gives great information about the different types of "gifted" classes offered by schools, especially in the elementary grades. My son was in a math pullout last year and will probably be in it again this year. The author questions how a 1-hour a week enrichment class is supposed to provide the learning enrichment these children need. Heck - I never even questioned that as I thought it was so awesome our school even offered enrichment programs.I am not criticizing the American school system - I am sure the teachers and administration want the best for all the kids in the US and the system is working hard to make sure every child learns the basics. However, this book clearly shows how the school system fails gifted children. Incredible quantities of money are spent on special education programs, IEPs, etc., to help children with learning problems reach their maximum potential. But few states have any sort of funding or mandated programs to help bright children reach theirs. This is a huge loss to our country at a time we really need all the knowledge and talent our youth can muster to keep up with our increasingly technological world.The book also provides loads of suggestions on how to work with your child's school, participate in outside classes and alternative learning environments, etc. After you read it, make sure to pass it on to your child's teacher and then the principal. Something needs to be done soon!

When I learned from this book that our school system only works for 30% of the population I was horrified. I thought this book was a must read for the 70% of the population that the school system does not work for. Children from both sides of the spectrum are denied the ability to do their best in school due to our current education system. I don't think my son will be fully challenged in public school but I have to say Middle school is more challenging then elementary and I am grateful for that. I only wish this was required reading for those in charge of our school systems. Parents can do a lot to advocate for their children after reading this book.

I have a gifted grandchild whose educational needs are not being met by the public school system; so this book was very helpful to me. I wish that the public school teachers would read it. A child can not get into a gifted program until the 3rd grade; so from kindergarten through the second grade, the gifted child is expected to sit there without making a noise, listening, reading, and hearing repeatedly the things the child could read and knew when he or she was 3 years old. This book will help anyone with a gifted child or grandchild understand the child's needs and ideas about things you can do.

This book describes the ways that our American society downplays intelligence as if it were a disgraceful way of showing favoritism in the schools, even though athletes are given great accolades for their skills in the same situations. It gives the reasons for these behaviors and suggests ideas for change. It also explains the difficulty of parenting gifted children who are often seen as pushy and/or bored. Real solutions, including patrons, tutors, mentors, and teachers along with school cooperation are discussed.It supports parents who are feeling isolated and rejected by the teachers and schools to continue mentoring and finding solutions for their child.

A better title would have been simply Genius Denied. The book is long on examples of what is wrong and short on suggestions about how to make things better.I don't think anyone involved in teaching or parenting the gifted is unaware that gifted kids are not reaching their potential; unfortunately, however, I don't think many of us have great ideas on how to improve things. I think we need ideas on how to improve things.I am eager to check out the website for the book. The website provides a list of books g/t kids love. That is my next stop.

The premise of this book, though almost reasonable, is poorly argued by its authors. From the beginning, we see how ill-informed the authors are when they describe the golden societies who nurtured historical geniuses like Michelangelo. Michelangelo is more a testament to the decadence of the Medici empire than to a society that nurtured genius. He succeeded because he worked hard and his parents were rich. Few historical geniuses were the children of peasants, and those who were succeeded in spite of a society that cared little for them. The idea may be true, but it is neither new nor meaningful: we have talented children who do not fit the mold that our school system has created for learning. These children will never fit a mold, and unless they have talent coupled with ambition, no matter what type of support we give them or how much money we throw at them (all inevitably institutional), they will not perform well if they can't meet the rest of society on common ground, and rather than offering suggestions as to how we can help them do that, this book simply says that we've failed them.

I read the first 100 pages tonight and I felt a duty to give it a review.At an early age my son was noticed to be very curious, interested in numbers and letters in the environment eg. Letter boxes, car registration plates, wall clocks, signs, etc We didn't think much of this, being our first child. One day at the shopping centre he ran up to a window and yelled out.SALEWhat?! Did he just read those letters? But he’s just turned 2.When his carers at daycare had exclaimed "he can read!" "he can count!l“He can tell the time!”We had just smiled and thought “oh..interesting”But as time went on, it became evident he could read could words at age 2, write at aged 3. And the questions! How does the fridge work, how does the microwave work, what are rocks made of, what is smaller than sand, what’s smaller than atoms, what is electricity? They got harder and harder.At kindergarten he was clearly learning at a different rate to his peers. As the children were learning the alphabet, he was reading for himself eg. Andy Griffith's Treehouse series, Roald Dahl books. He loved numbers and number games/facts even more. By 4 he was talking about square numbers, cubic numbers, Fibonacci whilst we were trying to shower him. And he seemed to learn in the most odd/unusual times. One day I overheard his swimming teacher telling the kids to “reach out, grab some lollies and put them in your pocket” (whilst making the motioning of a freestyle stroke).By that afternoon he told me has taught himself multiplication eg 19x 5= 95, 18x7= etc.With all the questions, seems to be teaching himself, right? He’s taught himself to read, play with maths, ride a bike, YEARS earlier than his same aged peers. Yet he wasn’t reclusive or shy, he was friendly, sociable, chatty and liked to talk to adults. So he couldn’t be gifted, right?But what was going on?But after reading this book, I realise I’ve been wandering through the dark, wondering what to do to support or nurture my child.The Davidsons’ have shone a light in this area. It is by far, the best treatise I’ve read on the subject.Through the use of case studies of gifted children they’ve worked with, including but not exclusively twice gifted children, this book highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the egalitarian education system in America. Unfortunately, I see many parallels in my home country of Australia, too. And unfortunately, the anti-intellectualism is all too familiar.At times I’ve felt alone in this journey of uncertainty.When I was reading this book, I though to myself, “why didn’t I buy it earlier?”.Bravo for writing this treatise on gifted children.

i found book to be good as it shares cases and helps one to understand that he or she is not alone. Do not expect ready made solutions as there are none in such context.