Vol IV, No 5 - May 17, 2022
FROM THE CREATIVE EDITOR
Yesterday my youngest finished his last day of high school. He graduates on Sunday, and in three months we'll be driving him off to college. This stage of parenting, the one I thought would never end, is about to come to a quiet close.

And even now I still get a little twitchy about the empty summer months ahead. Never mind that he and his older brother have jobs and can drive and will probably only exit their rooms for food and even then only under cover of darkness, I still get twitchy. There were too many springs of horrified realization that I hadn't planned enough activities, and as a bored gifted child is a "where is the cat, the glitter flute, and the olive oil?" gifted child, summer activities are a must. But not just anything will do, as you know. My two were huge fans of Camp Invention, scout camps, and driving me batsnot crazy. I was a huge fan of library reading programs, overnight camps, and not being driven batsnot crazy.

The Journey's Managing Editor, Marna Walthall Wohlfeld, compiled some resources for summer activities. To it I'd like to add the list of resources from a recent #gtchat on Twitter. There are so many more options and activities for G2e kids these days that I'm a little envious. Not enough to repeat the last 18 years of parenting, thankyouverymuch. I'm ready for the next stage of life and parenting.

Welcome to summer, everyone. You got this. Just hide the glitter glue.
Jen Merrill is a writer, musician, ed-tech marketing advisor, and gifted-family advocate. The mom of two boys, she homeschooled one twice-exceptional son through high school while happily sending the other out the door every morning. Her book, If This is a Gift, Can I Send It Back?, struck a nerve with families; her second book, on the needs of gifted parents and self-care, will be finished shortly before the heat death of the universe. In addition to writing on her longtime blog, Laughing at Chaos (currently on hiatus, returning this summer refreshed and relaxed), Jen has presented at SENG, NAGC, and WCGTC.

Jen brings both her acquired wisdom and her experience as a teacher and mentor to her work in the service of parents, teaching them techniques and mentoring them into their own versions of success. Her goal is to support parents of gifted and twice-exceptional kids, because they are the ones doing the heavy lifting and are too often ignored, patronized, and discredited. It is her hope that her sons never have to deal with these issues when they raise their own likely gifted children.
Online G3
Our partner, Online G3, is offering some amazing virtual courses this summer. From WW2 to Psychology to Computer Science, there are courses for varied interests and learning levels. Summer Enrollment is open now: click here.
Poetry

Summer can be a wonderful time for kids with ADHD. It can also be a challenging time for parents. Why? Because kids need to MOVE. At our house, we try to maximize active, outdoor time. We seek out nature-based outdoor programs and camps that require a lot of physical activity like rock climbing and sailing. We swim at the pool, hike, and play at the lake. What works best for you and your family and brings out the best in your kids?

Move

Kinesthetic learner
High energy athlete
Active listener
Creative thinker
Kids move and process in different ways

Some have to doodle
Some have to dance
Some put a fidget toy
In the pocket of their pants
Are there wrong ways and right ways?
Do we all have to be
In lock step with tradition?
Or could we learn in a tree?
When climbing grounds you
And sitting makes you crawl
How do you keep from
Beating your head against the wall?

Let the movers move
Let the seekers seek
Let the creators create
Let’s empower, not critique

Long ago they were the hunters
The ones who fed us, kept us safe
Long ago we praised their energy
Hyper focus, alert gaze

If interested and busy
They bring about the most exciting change
If challenged and mentored 
They achieve beyond the normal range

Focus on the child, not the system
How can we tailor their perfect space?
Allow them to thrive,
Enable them to move with grace?

Let’s champion our differences
Let’s go to great lengths
Start saying ‘gifts’ instead of ‘disorders’
Stop looking for ‘deficits,’ and find ‘strengths’

It’s time to rewrite the rules
It’s time to challenge the norm
If we let kids move and let their minds create
They’ll take the world by storm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marna Walthall Wohlfeld is a doctoral student at the Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education. She is a mother of four children, 10, 9 and 5x2. While drinking buckets of coffee to try to keep up with her highly energetic children, she has deschooled, unschooled and homeschooled various kids at various times. She loves learning about and championing students' unique brains and learning styles. She hopes to use her poetry, as well as her graduate degree, to advocate for twice-exceptional students and create greater understanding about the need for strengths-focused approaches in education and life.
So who is this Aunt Sassy?

Little is known of Aunt Sassy's life. Some say she came off the Tilt-O-Whirl one hot summer evening a changed person. Others say she had a long whispered conversation and handshake deal with whatever lives under the fridge. Still others claim to have seen her frolicking in a clearly marked non-frolic zone. Regardless, she has opinions and no fear of sharing them. Aunt Sassy knows gifted kids and thinks they're pretty neato. She also knows that they're pretty intense. Above all, she knows that humor and irreverence go a long way in life.

Keep Aunt Sassy out of trouble; send her your burning gifted and twice-exceptional questions. We have no idea what agreement she has with the under-fridge dwellers, so probably best if she's kept busy and away from the kitchen.

Summer Opportunities for Gifted and 2e Kids
Summer Programs, Camps, and Courses for G/2e

Athena's Academy: offers virtual classes for G/2e learners. Enroll here.

Bridges: offers in-person and virtual summer talent development courses for G/2e students. Click here for the summer schedule and enrollment.

CTY: Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth offers in-person residential and commuter camps at various sites around the country. To learn more and enroll in one of their summer courses, click here.

Davidson Institute: for residential summer programs designed for gifted students click here.

NAGC: Gifted and Talented Resources Directory for summer programs, click here.

Online G3: offers virtual summer classes for G/2e learners. Click here for more info.

Young Scholars Academy: offers online summer camps specifically geared for 2e students. Click here for the schedule and enrollment.

Recommendation for Unstructured Free Time to foster creativity and personal growth: free! (Marni Kammersell's recommendation.)
Our amazing partner, Athena's Advanced Academy, gets
gifted and 2e kids, with undeniably interesting online classes and a supportive
community that feels safe to engage with. We congratulate Athena’s on their
recent accreditation through Cognia – well deserved!

Please check out their wonderful program, Junior Presenters,
in which students create presentations geared toward other kids for a charity
of their choosing (psst: proceeds for recordings of prior presentations are generously
donated to GHF!). For Junior Presenters click here.

And, of course, to ensure you get the classes your kids really
want and enroll now for summer and fall: click here.
GHF Press Featured Title
1st of its kind!
Dyscalculia impacts about 1 in every 20 children and adults, yet it is not widely recognized or understood. This math learning disability not only affects individuals in educational settings but also impacts their everyday lives when it comes to handling money, telling time, measuring quantities, and performing basic calculations.

In this thoughtful and personal narrative, Laura M. Jackson writes about her child’s struggle with numbers, their shared discovery of dyscalculia, and she and her husband’s journey supporting their daughter in school and in life.
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