Copyright 2006 Julie Shepherd Knapp |
Copyright 2006 Julie Shepherd Knapp. All rights reserved. |
about the book |
The Homeschool Diner's Guide to Homeschooling Special Situations Gifted Homeschooling Film and Fiction Dealing With Giftedness by Julie Knapp, copyright 2005 Here are a few movie and book suggestions from parents and teachers. I haven't personally seen all of these films, or read all these books, so I strongly suggest that you pre-view or pre-read them to see if they portray qualities you are interested in discussing and/or promoting with your particular child, and if the themes are age appropriate for your child. Giftedness in Film Searching for Bobby Fischer (life of a boy in tournament chess) Little Man Tate (single mother struggles to raise highly gifted child) Spellbound (about 8 contestants in the National Spelling Bee) Matilda Harry Potter series The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane A Beautiful Mind (based on the life of John F. Nash, brilliant, Nobel Prize-winning mathematician and schizophrenic) Akeelah and the Bee Pay It Forward The Last Starfighter (a gifted video game player ;-) October Sky Finding Forester Whale Rider Mr. Holland's Opus (a gifted musician who teaches high school) Good Will Hunting The Incredibles (if you relate their superhero-ness to giftedness) War Games Ferris Bueller's Day Off Billy Elliot (struggles of a boy gifted in dance) Fly Away Home Spirited Away Spellbound The Last Mimzy Nim's Island Top Kid (Australian Film) Bridge to Terabithia (a boy a great imagination who draws) Anne of Green Gables Hard Problems "Fostering the social and emotional development of gifted children through guided viewing of film" is an article by Tom Hebert of the University of Georgia (USA) -- proposes using guided viewing of film as "...a strategy through which teachers and counselors may assist young gifted students in gaining helpful insights to deal with problems they face..." describes a few films appropriate for use with gifted students. AHA Movie Lovers -- an online group that discusses good movies and ways to homeschool with them Yahoo! Movie Mom's reviews -- includes current movies as well as videos/DVDs, plot details that may be of concern, levels of violence, innuendo, nudity, etc, suggests topics for family discussion after viewing the movie (based on moral issues presented in the movie) Christian Spotlight on the movies -- gives reviews and ratings from a Christian perspective, also has reviews of TV programs Giftedness in Fiction Harold's Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson (a early reader series) What's the Big Idea, Ben Frankiln? by Jean Fritz Carry On Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Lewis The Boy Who Could Fly by Sally Gardner A Wrinkle in Time series by Madeleine L'Engle Alex Rider Series by Anthony Horowitz Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow series by Orson Scott Card Some of My Best Friends Are Books (ISBN 0-910707-51-0) by Judith Wynn Halstead -- describes using books as bibliotherapy to help provide emotional support for gifted children, lists of books by topic See Hoagie's Gifted Education pages for a nice list of more recommended children's literature, with short story summaries. Carol Hurst's Children's Book Reviews -- books listed alphabetically |
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