Capacity building for youth led social change is programmed through the Ms. Foundation for Women. As the country’s first national, multi-issue women’s fund, the Ms. Foundation directs resources of all kinds to cutting-edge projects that nurture girls’ leadership skills, protect the health and safety of women, and provide low-income women with the tools to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. CFYS is a program which supports organizations working at the intersection of positive youth development, youth-led social change and gender-conscious programming.
The Math/Science Network is a non-profit membership organization of educators, scientists, mathematicians, parents, community leaders, and government and corporate representative. Our mission is to promote the continuing advancement in mathematics and science education of all people, with a particular emphasis on the needs of women and girls. The goal of the Math/Science Network is to increase the participation, retention, and advancement of girls and women in mathematics, science, and technology.
This organization was created to establish a community of support and affirmation for gifted youth and their families in SE Wisconsin. Members engage in a variety of educational options including public school, independent school, gifted magnet school, charter/choice schools, virtual school, and homeschooling. It is meant to be a welcoming place for parents of gifted youth to find resources including local in-person gatherings for families of gifted children where they may share stories, seek advice, and make friends with intellectual peers having similar interests and experiences. While based in Southeast Wisconsin, anyone with a gifted child is
welcome to join.
The Serteens Club of Hawaii is a service-oriented club comprised of some of the state's brightest gifted and talented students from various Hawaii public and private schools. The goals of the program are to promote social interaction, leadership training, peer association, and service to the community. With various service projects, socials, educational speakers, and camps, Serteens learn about their world and how to give back to the society.
Four experts (Webb, Gore, Amend, DeVries) in the field of gifted and talented provide practical guidance in the areas of: Characteristics of gifted children; Peer relations; Sibling issues; Motivation & underachievement; Discipline issues; Intensity & stress; Depression & unhappiness; Educational planning; Parenting concerns; Finding professional help; and much, much more!
Click here to read a review of this book.
This book is about a teenage boy who moves away from home to become a writer but soon finds himself tortured with conflict over whether to return to a "normal" life with his friends or continue all alone.
This book, written by Trevor Romain and Elizabeth Verdick, is an easy-to-read resource on bullying written for students and parents alike. It has a humorous approach yet effectively teaches children ways to cope with bullying.
Many books have recently been written about bullying in schools, but few, if any, have attempted to combine what has been learned from research with what it would be useful for parents to know about peer victimization in schools. This book by Dr. Ken Rigby attempts to show how parents and educators, principally teachers and school counsellors, can work together to reduce bullying and the associated distress which many children experience from bullying at school.
This book is a manualized guide for therapists treating children with peer problems. This unique, empirically validated treatment is the first to integrate parents into the therapy process to ensure generalization to school and home. Representing more than 12 years of research, this guide presents the comprehensive social skills training program developed by these pioneering authors.
Written by Charlene C. Giannetti and Margaret Sagarese, this book is about adolescent cliques. There have always been "in-crowds" and outsiders among adolescents, but today the social castes of the American high school are proving to be more incendiary, destructive, and even life-threatening to students than ever before. From playgrounds to high school parking lots, kids of all ages need more help than ever in navigating the cruel pressures that can be inflicted by these groups.
Oppositional and defiant children present a major challenge for teachers and other educators. These students must feel they are emotionally and physically safe in the classroom. The authors show how educators can help students move from despair to hope, from anger to comfort, and from failure to success.
For ages 9-12, Free To Be... You And Me is a storybook and a songbook, a collection of poems and a gallery of pictures that bring out the child in readers of all ages. This innovative book celebrates diversity, challenges stereotypes, and encourages kids to be themselves in a joyful, positive manner. Its contents can be read aloud and shared. Best of all, in the midst of all the merriment this book brings, kids experience important messages and learn valuable life lessons.
Written by Fred Frankel, this book is the update to Mr. Frankel's older tome titled Good Friends Are Hard to Find: Help Your Child Find, Make, and Keep Friends. This new edition outlines a systematic plan for parents to help their kids acquire and sustain friendships. Most parents don't know what to do that will encourage their child to be a friend and attract friends. The author offers clear-cut friendship-making guidelines for parents and their children. Some of the book's recommendations include: don't over-schedule a child's time; guide children to participate in "friend-attracting" activities; seek out friends in the neighborhood.
Hundreds of kids ages 6 to 13 talk about school, friends, their families, and the future. In the introduction, Dr. Jim Delisle writes that he hopes that his book will provide young readers with "a feeling that you are not alone.'' Delisle has listened to young voices speak out about understandings of giftedness; adult expectations of gifted kids; parent, sibling, and peer relationships; schooling; and future hopes and dreams.
This book leads parents step-by-step to help them learn how to help their 5- to 12-year-olds make friends and solve problems with other kids. This guide also offers concrete help for teasing, bullying and meanness, both for the child who is picked on and the tormentor. Based on the prestigious UCLA Children's Social Skills Program, this book teaches clinically tested techniques that really work. Click here to read a review of this book. As of 2010, this book is out of print, but the author has published an updated and revised edition with Jossey-Bass that has been re-titled, Friends Forever: How Parents Can Help Their Kids Make and Keep Good Friends, which is available on Kindle.
This award-winning practical source for parents and teachers discusses the unique social and emotional needs and concerns of gifted students. Includes chapters on motivation, discipline, peer relationships, sibling relationships, stress management, depression, and many other issues that parents and teachers encounter daily. See also A Parent's Guide to Gifted Children for an updated version of this book.
Written by Stephen Norwicki, Jr. Ph.D. and Marshall P. Duke, Ph.D., this book aims to help children who are "square pegs" in social circles. The authors, both of whom are clinical psychologists, offer parents strategies for helping their child improve his/her social relationships through improved non-verbal communication skills. Chapter titles include: Use of space and touch, gestures and postures, facial expressions, and the like.
Children learn how to avoid being the target of bullies and how to tap into their own strengths to value themselves and realize that everyone deserves respect. Self-confidence building techniques help children learn that all kids should be treated with dignity. Using stories of a fifth-grade student, the lessons nurture kindness, empathy, acceptance, and positive self-regard.
This is a great book about manners for any and every occasion. Most books on manners are droll do-this-do-that books, but this one is hilarious and still gets the point across. Some of the topics covered in this book are: how to "cope with cliques, handle friendship problems, be a host with the most (and a guest with the best), offer someone your seat, fight fair, answer invitations, deal with rude adults, respond to bigoted remarks, write a letter addressed properly for any occasion, survive a formal dinner..." and much more.
A collection of 26 poems intended to boost children's self-esteem. A companion leader's guide to the book is available and the two titles may make an appropriate addition to a guidance counselor's curriculum.
This comprehensive program by John Schmidt gives students the skills and knowledge they need to form meaningful, healthy, lasting relationships. In 70 engaging lessons, students learn about themselves, others, and the nature of friendship, how to communicate feelings, appreciate differences, resolve conflicts peacefully, and much more.
Author Lisa Yee tells the story of 11-year-old certified genius, Millicent Min. She breezes through high school and college classes, but when it comes to making friends her own age, she's at a loss. Click here to read reviews of this book by several Davidson Young Scholars.
This award-winning book by the author of The Difficult Child shows parents how to deal with their child's, or adolescent's, emotional problems, from aggression to inattention to lack of friends. Topics covered include: lack of friends; poor self-image; sibling rivalry; hyperactivity; sadness and fearfulness; eating problems; nervous habits; aggressive behavior; defiance; sleep problems; lying; and learning disabilities.
This book helps teens develop specific skills for learning about themsef, understand why peers act the way they do, strengthen ability to make friends, develop coping strategies and manage stress.
This book will help you understand how your daughter's relationship with friends and cliques sets the stage for other intimate relationships as she grows and guides her when she has tougher choices to make about intimacy, drinking and drugs, and other hazards. With its revealing look into the secret world of teenage girls and cliques, enlivened with the voices of dozens of girls and a much-needed sense of humor, this book will equip you with all the tools you need to build the right foundation to help your daughter make smarter choices and empower her during this baffling, tumultuous time of life.
This book examines some of the pressures that are placed on today's teens. It give parents information on how to keep communication open between themselves and their teen.
What if every kid had a handy toolbox of ways to get along with others? That’s just what this book is: a collection of 21 concrete strategies kids can pull out and use to express themselves, build relationships, end arguments and fights, halt bullying, and beat unhappy feelings. Like the Mighty Might, which takes all the fun out of teasing. And the Thought Chop, which helps kids resist self-defeating thoughts. And the Squeaky Wheel, a type of persistence that gets results. And the Coin Toss, a simple way to resolve small conflicts.
Stick Up for Yourself!: Every Kid’s Guide to Personal Power and Positive Self-Esteem, written by Gershen Kaufman, Ph.D., Lev Raphael, Ph.D., and Pamela Espeland, is the ultimate resource for any kid who’s ever been picked on at school, bossed around, blamed for things he or she didn’t do, or treated unfairly—and for any kid who sometimes feels frustrated, angry, powerless, or scared. Simple words and real-life examples show how children can stick up for themselves with other kids (including bullies and teasers), big sisters and brothers, even grown-ups.
Scott Cooper helps parents teach kids how to speak up for themselves more assertively, gently, and effectively. Each chapter, based on the characteristics of a particular bird, uses a wealth of examples and imaginative exercises to give kids the confidence to speak truth to power.
Scientific studies show that up to 90 percent of any message is communicated nonverbally, and that nonverbal skills relate directly to academic achievement and social success. Fortunately, nonverbal communication can be both taught and learned, just like any other language. This book is a useful tool for parents and teachers who are interested in helping their children develop nonverbal skills.
Helping a child become aware of the needs and feelings of others is one of the most difficult aspects of parenting. This nine-month program, designed for families with children aged three years and older, combines solid advice and telling anecdotes with quizzes, games, and other activities to guide parents every step of the way.
Written by Sean Covery for ages 13 and up, this book, which is based on his father's bestselling "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", applies the same principles to teens. To keep it fun, Covey filled this book with cartoons, clever ideas, great quotes and incredible stories about real teens from all over the world.
A parenting book for those who have kids ages 3 to 13, this is a guide offering advice for dealing with children's difficult behavior and hot button issues including biting, tantrums, cheating, bad friends, inappropriate clothing, bullying, sex, drugs, peer pressure and much more. Each of the 101 challenging parenting issues includes specific step-by-step solutions and advice that is age appropriate. Chapter 7, titled "Special Needs", features information on ADD, Autism, Gifted, Learning Disabilities and more.
This is an extremely helpful book that both parents and teachers can use to deal with bullying, an aspect of school that the author feels "is a life-and-death issue that we ignore at our children's peril." Starting with a bottom-line assumption that "bullying is a learned behavior," author Barbara Coloroso explains not only the ways that the bully, the bullied and the bystander are "three characters in a tragic play" but also how "the scripts can be rewritten, new roles created, the plot changed."
Cassandra is hassled by her friends for sitting with the “wrong” kids at lunch. Jennifer gets harassed because she’s overweight. Dwan’s own family taunts her for not being “black enough.” Yen is teased for being Chinese; Jamel for not smoking marijuana. Yet all find the strength to face their conflicts and the courage to be themselves. In 26 first-person stories, real teens write about their lives with searing honesty. They will inspire young readers to reflect on their own lives, work through their problems, and learn who they really are.
Like other kids their age, highly capable adolescents experience developmental challenges. They’re forging identity, finding direction, exploring relationships, and learning to resolve conflicts. These are difficult tasks to do alone, no matter how smart one may be. The 70 guided discussions in this book are an affective curriculum for gifted teens. By “just talking” with caring peers and an attentive adult, kids gain self-awareness and self-esteem, learn to manage stress, build social skills and life skills, and discover they are not alone.
Written by Judy Galbraith, this book is a classic introduction to growing up gifted, the GUIDE has now been revised and updated for today’s bright, creative, talented kids. Based on new surveys of hundreds of gifted kids, it speaks directly to them. It includes first-person advice from boys and girls that’s pertinent, realistic, and inspiring. It answers readers’ questions about why they think and learn the way they do, what 'giftedness' and IQ really mean, different types of intelligence, how to handle high expectations, how to make school more challenging, how to cope with teasing, how to make friends, and much more. Click here to read a review of this book.
This one-of-a-kind book is full of sage advice to help gifted teens understand themselves, relate well with others, and reach their potential in life. Based on surveys of nearly 1,400 gifted teens, this updated classic (2011) is the ultimate guide to thriving in a world that doesn’t always support or understand high ability. Full of fresh illustrations, surprising facts, cutting-edge research, revealing quizzes and survey results, step-by-step strategies, inspiring teen quotes and stories, and insightful expert essays, the guide gives readers the tools they need to appreciate their giftedness as an asset and use it to make the most of who they are. Click here to read a review of this book.
This book invites kids to explore and practice honesty, kindness, empathy, integrity, tolerance, patience and respect. Includes inspiring quotes and activities to inspire them to explore what they stand for at school, home, and the community. True stories profile kids who exemplify positive traits, and resources include books, organizations, programs, and web sites. Throughout, kids are encouraged to understand themselves better and develop the traits that are most important to them.
The purpose of this book is to prepare children to make decisions and resolve conflicts before the need arises. The basic premises of the book explains that children are responsible for their lives, can control their lives by making choices, better choices mean better lives, and you can learn to make wise choices. The dilemmas are real, everyday choices children must make.
This book contains practical advice and solutions to show parents how to teach children manners, including more than 50 color photos & illustrations.
This article discusses a study about the effects that bullying has on gifted children.
ePALS Classroom Exchange is the world's largest and fastest growing online classroom community, connecting more than 4.5 million users. ePALS helps learners of all ages become active members of the global community by giving them access to tools, resources and each other. Since 1996, ePALS has allowed learners to broaden their horizons, work together and form new friendships. By developing and offering barrier-breaking resources such as the Internet's first built-in webmail language translation, ePALS has allowed people in 191 countries, speaking 136 languages to have meaningful contact with each other. Our safety innovations, such as monitored email and profanity filters, have helped to make ePALS the leading provider of email technology in schools worldwide.
Bright Kids Club (BKC) provides a community for gifted kids to socialise with other children of above average intelligence. They discover that there are others with the same advantages and the same social problems. They get an opportunity to challenge and be challenged, to experience the stimulation and encouragement that has been lacking in their daily lives.
The Scottish Executive has established the Network so that teachers, parents and young people can share ideas about how bullying should be tackled. It is freely open to all.
Bullyonline.org is an online tool that discusses bullying in the workplace, family bullying and school bullying. "If you know someone who is being bullied or harassed, the knowledge on this site will make a big difference to them; it may save their life."
Ken Rigby addresses the fact that bullying abuse will affect 20 percent of school children and offers strategies to identify both bullies and victims.
Bullying UK is a comprehensive website that helps parents, teachers, and students identify signs that the child is being bullied. From keeping a school record and working with the school to the laws about bullying, this website provides valuable information to help children, educators, and parents end bullying.
"Bullying.org is dedicated to increasing the awareness of, and the problems associated with, bullying and to preventing, resolving, and eliminating bullying in society."
This article, by Roy F. Baumeister, Jennifer D. Campbell, Joachim I. Krueger and Kathleen D. Vohs, discusses how people are consumed by building their self-worth. "Boosting people's sense of self-worth has become a national preoccupation. Yet surprisingly, research shows that such efforts are of little value in fostering academic progress or preventing undesirable behavior."
This brief article gives parents suggestions on how to help their middle school child deal with bullying and other mean behavior often encountered during middle school. Suggestions include talking with your child not only about being bullied, but to make sure your child isn't doing the bullying, and also what he/she can do if he/she sees someone else being bullied. The article is too brief to give much in the way of insight for parents, however it does provide some good common sense strategies as a place to start if one's child is dealing with this issue.
Posted on the website KidsGoals.com, this information gives parents advice on how to keep thier bullied kids from suffering with low self-esteem and depression. Parents are reminded that bullying can take many forms other than physical abuse. Teasing, name-calling, or even sending abusive messages is also considered bullying and must be taken seriously.
This PDF is a booklet from a series that discusses the important and ever increasing issue of bullying. These reports briefly address current educational concerns and issues as indicated by requests for information that come to the Laboratory from the Northwest region and beyond. Each booklet in the series contains a discussion of research and literature pertinent to the issue, a sampling of how Northwest schools are addressing the issue, suggestions for adapting these ideas to schools, selected references, and contact information.
As a culture, we are focusing new attention on childhood bullying and harassment. As we watch children being crushed by bullying, we often feel powerless. No more! There are ways to stop bullying, based on decades of research. There is little need to describe why people want to stop childhood bullying. Childhood bullies are more likely to become young adult criminals than are non-bullies. Bullied children may grow up with diminished self-confidence. The links on this site will lead you through an exploration of interventions that work to reduce bullying in schools.
This website discusses why kids bully, the effects of bullying and what you can do about it. StopBullying.gov provides information from various government agencies on how kids, teens, young adults, parents, educators and others in the community can prevent or stop bullying
This article, by Pamela Darr Wright, M.A., discusses the frustrations parents of special ed kids feel when their children are blamed for certain problems that arise in school.
This website is a principal online destination for people interested in dismantling bigotry and creating communities that value diversity. Through its online resources and ideas, expanding collection of print materials, outreach efforts, and downloadable public service announcements, Tolerance.org promotes and supports anti-bias activism in every venue of American life.
This mixed media kit for exploring feelings awareness contains a coloring/learning book, poster, lotto/bingo game, audio tape, coloring place mat, feelings awareness chart and a "How-To" curriculum/activity guide. It enhances self-esteem, promotes character building, improves interpersonal relationships, teaches feelings awareness and expression and stimulates creativity and imagination.