Nonfiction Monday: EMOTIONAL INTENSITY IN GIFTED STUDENTS

I love the small school that my children attend, but we don’t have a GATE program. As a result, I know very little about what it means to be gifted. It would have been really helpful information, especially since it turns out I may have a gifted child in my house.

I knew my son was different than other children. I read up on ADHD and the wide spectrum of autism and Indigos. I searched numerous books on parenting, trying to find answers. But none of the scenarios or definitions fit what we were experiencing until I read EMOTIONAL INTENSITY IN GIFTED STUDENTS by Christine Fonseca.

Most people saw only the highly intelligent, cooperative child that my son can be. They thought I was crazy to think something was wrong. They didn’t see the erratic mood swings, the random hyperactivity, his inflexible viewpoint on issues, or the relentless drive for perfection that kept him from trying new things. After I read the first chapter of this book online, I almost cried. I wasn’t crazy. And neither was he.

Amazing how a book can change your life.

I’m not saying that lightly at all. Anyone who reads this blog knows I’m proud of my children. But some days I just wondered what I was doing wrong. How could I get through to my son when he was so intense?

While many of the parenting strategies found in EMOTIONAL INTENSITY IN GIFTED STUDENTS would be useful in any home, what really impressed me were the tips for helping children (as well as parents and teachers) recognize emotional triggers. Once kids and parents learn to see the signs building, they can work together to prevent outbursts and find ways to relax before negative emotions overtake the entire family. Useful tip sheets, checklists and worksheets throughout the book offer practical guidance for working through various issues. The final third of the book helps parents learn how to better communicate and “coach” their children through difficult scenarios.

This book is written in a conversational tone, making it incredibly readable. Christine has managed to give her readers real insight into what it means to be gifted and clearly illustrated the internal struggle that children might face as a result. Anyone who works with kids can benefit from reading EMOTIONAL INTENSITY IN GIFTED STUDENTS, but if you have a gifted child in your home, you won’t regret making this book your guide.

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Since today is Nonfiction Monday around the Kidlitosphere, here’s a listing of what other people are talking about on their blogs. If you have a nonfiction post to add, email me at solvangsherrie at gmail dot com and I’ll include your listing below.

• Paula at Pink Me has a bone to pick with DK's Smithsonian Natural History tome
• Abby the Librarian has a review of The Shocking Truth About Energy by Loreen Leedy 
• Shelf Employed talks about math in picture books with Guinea Pigs Add Up and 1+1=5
• Susan at Chicken Spaghetti has a post on World War I books for kids
• The Wrapped in Foil blog found a useful resource in Danica McKellar's Hot X: Algebra Exposed
• At In Need of Chocolate you can read about The Mushroom Hunt 
• The Happy Nappy Bookseller reviews She Loved Baseball, a book about the first woman inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame
• The Wild About Nature blog celebrates their 100th post with Fabulous Fishes
• Jen at Biblio File also celebrates the ocean with a post about Project Seahorse
• The Simply Science blog has a review of Do You Know About Insects?  
• Mother Reader alerts readers to a great bargain on the book  "Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children about their Art"
• Janet Squires at All About the Books also posts about an art book for the PB set, Snail Trail
• Bookends explores animal poetry with In the Wild 
• The Cath in the Hat talks about Writing Nonfiction for Beginning Readers
• At Wendie's Wanderings read about Calico Dorsey, Mail Dog of the Mining Camps
• The Fourth Musketeer reviews a new picture book biography of rock legend Jimi Hendrix, Jimi:  Sounds like a Rainbow
• Alex Baugh has a post about War Boy: a Wartime Childhood by Michael Foreman
• Natalie at This Purple Crayon looks at Big Babies, Little Babies
• NC Teacher Stuff reviews a book with poems about pets, A Fuzzy-Fast Blur 
• Literate Lives writes about some Cybils nominated books found at the Junior Library Guild warehouse sale 
• The Old Coot goes back in time with Dinosaurs Life Size by Darren Naish
• Anastasia Suen is in today with Letters to a Soldier
• Books Together goes behind the scenes at a museum with The Nine Ton Cat