• PUBLICATIONS
    • Adderholdt-Elliott, Ph.D. Perfectionism: What's Bad About Being Too Good. Free Spirit Publishing 1987.
    • Barrett, Susan L. It's All in Your Head. Free Spirit Publishing, 1992.
    • Berger, Sandra L. College Planning for Gifted Students. Prufrock Press, 2014.
    • Fonseca, Christine. 101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids. Prufrock Press, 2011.
    • Galbraith, Judy. The Gifted Kids Survival Guide (for ages 10 and under). Free Spirit Publishing, 2009.
    • Galbraith, Judy & Deslisle, Jim, Ph.D. The Gifted Teen Survival Guide: A Teen Handbook. Free Spirit Publishing, 2011.
    • Hipp, Earl. Fighting Invisible Tigers: A Stress Management Guide for Teens. Free Spirit Publishing, 1985.
    • Martin, Donald. How to be a Successful Student. Martin Press, 1988.
    • McCutcheon, Randall. Get Off My Brain: A Survival Guide for Lazy Students. Free Spirit Publishing, 1985. 
    • Peters, Dan.  From Worrier to Warrior: How to Conquer Your Fears.  Great Potential Press, 2016.
    • Schultz, Robert A. & Delisle, James R. If I’m So Smart, Why Aren’t the Answers Easy? Prufrock Press, 2012.

     

    EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES 


    College Credit Plus (Formerly Post Secondary Enrollment Options) 
    Ohio Senate Bill 140 has enacted Section 3365.02 of the Revised Code which establishes a Post-Secondary Enrollment Option Program for eligible students. This program was revised to create the College Credit Plus program.  Beginning as early as 7th grade, students may take nonsectarian courses at a post-secondary institution and receive high school and/or college credit. Acceptance by a post-institution is required.  For more information regarding College Credit Plus, plan to attend one of the information meetings this winter or talk to your guidance counselor.


    Credit Flexibility & VCAP
    Students in any grade who are capable of the work may apply to earn high school credit for courses taken in non-traditional ways. This may include, but is not limited to, testing out of a course, taking the course online from a third-party provider, independent study, or summer programs. Applications for credit must be made and approved PRIOR to completing the proposed plan. Contact your high school guidance counselor for more information about the credit flexibility policies for CCS. 

    Podcasts     
    Apple Computer’s iTunes Store offers free podcasts for a variety of topics. iTunes can be downloaded onto any home computer for free from the Apple website. Browse the education podcasts for radio-style lessons or search for the ones below. For security purposes, always preview a podcast. Apple marks questionable podcasts with the label “Explicit” so they can be avoided by parents and children. Still, please use discretion when downloading any content from the internet.
     
    Some possible podcasts include: 
    • Learn Italian Pod – 15 minute Italian lessons. 
    • French for Beginners – Short lessons include printable vocabulary sheets and has been labeled Clean” for content, etc.
    • LearnChinesePod.com – The few existing lessons are about 10 to 25 minutes in length. 
    • Mandarin Chinese with Serge Melnyk – Basic conversational Chinese lessons ranging from 10 to 30 minutes in length.
    • My German Class – There are 20 video lessons in conversational German. 
    • Insta Spanish Lessons – This podcast teaches colloquial Spanish.
    • Japanese Pod 101 – There are nearly 100 beginner and intermediate lessons in the cast. In addition to language and culture, it talks about current events and may be better suited to high school students. 
    • SAT, ACT, GRE Test Prep Vocabulary – These mini-lessons include 5 new vocabulary words a day for test preparation.
    • Big Story Time – About 50 short bedtime stories for kids read by kids. 
    • Calculus Cast – This series of video casts deal with multi-variable calculus skills.
    There are also many podcasts available from specific schools of all levels and backgrounds. Many of them contain single lessons from teachers or single casts with students sharing projects they have completed and teaching others what they have learned.

    iTunes U
    Apple Computer’s iTunes U store offers coursework from K-12 institutions, public organizations, and colleges all around the world. Some courses and resources are entirely free. Other offerings are lectures, seminars, or portions of courses and include audio, video, and even some documents or assignment sheets. Use the iTunes store on your computer or the iTunes U app on your mobile device to access the content. These programs would be ideal for enriched study, independent projects, or as instructional content as part of credit flexibility proposals. For security purposes, always preview a course. Apple marks questionable content with the label “Explicit” so they can be avoided by parents and children. Still, please use discretion when downloading any content from the internet. 
     
    Massive Online Open Courseware (MOOCs)
    MOOCs are online courses available free of charge through universities or other organizations.  They do not result in a transcript or official grade, but they can be a source of content information for independent study, personal interest, or credit flexibility plans.  Below are a few of the more established programs.
    • Class Central - This site collects links to hundreds online courses in all disciplines form nearly 400 universities around the world and other MOOC providers.  Many are free although some "for credit" courses are fee-based.
    • Khan Academy – This site has over 3,100 videos on everything from arithmetic to physics, finance, and history and hundreds of skills to practice to help you learn what you want, when you want, at your own pace. 
    • MIT OpenCourseWare and EdX – Free lecture notes, exams and videos from MIT. No registration required.
    • Coursera - More than 400 courses from over 80 universities are available.  Includes videos, lectures, homework, discussions, and other interactive features.
    • Udacity - This smaller MOOC is focused primarily, but not exclusively, on math, science, and technology.  The courses are self-paced.
    Here are links to lists of other MOOCs:
    http://www.mooc-list.com/
      
    Open Stax - This site is a source of free online college-level textbooks.  Some are standard books used in universities, and others are available only to students at participating schools.  Ohio State is one of those schools.  This could be used to save money on textbooks for PSEO or to gain source material for credit flex proposals.
     
    The Northwestern University Center for Talent Development offers enrichment and high school equivalent courses students can take online.  These are designed with gifted learners in mind.  High school courses could be part of a credit flex proposal subject to district approval.  Tuition varies by type of program, age, and topic.
     
     
    OTHER ENRICHMENT OPPORTUNITIES

    Davidson Institute Young Scholars Program
    Middle school students may apply for this program to receive advising from the Davidson Institute, an organizations for profoundly gifted learners.  Benefits of the free program include advising, get togethers, an online community, and advocacy. 
     
    Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholars Program
    Seventh grade students may apply for one of up to 60 spots as a young scholar.  The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation provides advising and financial assistance from 8th grade through 12th grade as students prepare for college and career and develop their talents.  Applications are accepted January through March. 
     
    Midwest Talent Search
    Through Northwestern University’s Midwest Academic Talent Search (NUMATS), students in grades 3 through 6 take the EXPLORE test, a high school placement test for students in grade 8, and students in grades 6 through 9 take the ACT and SAT tests, the same exams taken by high school students for college admission. It is an opportunity for bright students to find out how academically advanced they really are, and the information gained from the test is used to advise students in selecting appropriate courses and matching them with challenging out-of-school opportunities. 
     
    There is a wide array of Summer Opportunities across the state for students with a range of interests and talents.  These include day and residential programs for students K-12 at a variety of costs.  Financial aid may be available for some families from Support for Talented Students, the Ohio Association for Gifted Children, or other sources.
     

    There is a wide array of opportunities for students interested in the visual or performing arts.  Click here for more information.

     
    STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
    • Stone Soup - This is a longstanding publication that features writing and drawings by students of all ages.
    • Teen Ink - This publication is written by teens and for teens.
    • Ladybug, Cricket, Click, Muse, ASK - This is a family of magazines includes selections for children of different age bands, including a magazine for young children.
    • Skipping Stones - This publication accepts art and writing from students of all ages. It has a multicultural focus that celebrates diversity.

     

    COLLEGE AND CAREER INFORMATION
    • Big Future - This College Board site helps students investigate colleges and help with planning for the transition. 
    • College Board - Information on the SAT and PSAT tests and the AP program
    • ACT – Information on the ACT, PLAN, and EXPLORE testing program along with some college and career planning tools
    • FastWeb – A collection of scholarship and grant funding sources
    • MNSU Undeclared Major Handbook – This book includes a variety of career exploration and self-awareness activities to help with personal career planning.
    • Occupation Outlook Handbook – Created by the U.S. Department of Labor, this site is this Nation's premier source of career guidance featuring hundreds of occupations and describing what they do, the work environment, how to become one, pay and more. 
    • The School Finder by the Princeton Review – A great tool for students, this search engine offers a tailor-made system for finding the right college.
    • Vocational Information Center – This site includes a wealth of documents for college preparation, career planning, self-awareness, resume writing, and much, much more.
    • College Finder – This interactive resource is to help high school students find the university, state college, junior college, or training center that's right for them – financially, academically, and personally.
    • Scholarships for Gifted Students - The following organizations offer college scholarships specifically for students who are identified as gifted.  Visit the links below for more details.

     

    ONLINE ACTIVITIES

    • Arcademic Skills Builders - This site has academic games at a variety of skills/levels. Search at bottom of page for more difficult skills. 
    • Conceptis - Puzzle designer for publishers, but online site includes downloadable puzzles and ones to solve online. Includes Sudoku, logics, and others. 
    • EdHeads – Conduct virtual science experiments ranging from building a cell phone to exploring machines to conducting surgery.
    • Fun Brain – Fun Brain has links to lots of games for all interests and ages. There are arcade-style games, web books, and other interactive activities.
    • How Stuff Works – This site is exactly what it says. It is a group of pages that explain how EVERYTHING works. It is organized and easy to navigate.
    • Kid Chess - Get chess instruction and play practice games at the user's level.
    • Quiz Hub - online interactive quizzes, subscription necessary for some quizzes, online activities cover all subject areas include games, test prep, and other interactive activities. 
    • Set Game – Play the Set game online and learn variations for playing the card game at home. You can also play Quiddler and Xactika online.  
    • Web Sudoku Puzzles – Play the Sudoku game online. Players can choose their level of difficulty. 
    • Wolfram Mathworld - A major reference with definitions, examples, etc.

     

    RESEARCH TOOLS

    • Diigo - This tool allows users to store text clips, websites, videos, and images. Users can set up accounts to access the information from iPads phone apps, and the website. IT can be a useful tool for storing content for research projects.
    • Glogster - An online tool for creating interactive posters. This can be used to create visuals for your students or for students to create interactive posters to share their research.
    • Go! Ask, Act, Achieve - This is a tool to help students in grades 4-10 learn research skills.
    • InfOhio – This site links to databases of professional journals and kids’ magazines. Articles for students can be searched by topic, source, and lexile. There are also links to virtual field trips and much more.
    • LucidChart for Education - This is a digital flow chart, venn diagram, and mind mapping site that allows users to create these documents and manipulate them online.
    • Piktochart - Users can create infographics to share a condensed version of their research.
    • Powtoon - Create animated presentations to present research and share with others.
    • Prezi - This is a spin on presentation slides that works in a mind-mapping format.
    • Research 4 Success - This is an online course to teach juniors and seniors in high school how to do rigorous research projects in preparation for college work.