About
Dona Matthews, Ph.D. has written extensively on child and adolescent development and education. She was the founding director of the Hunter College Center for Gifted Studies and Education, City University of New York, and her interests focus on the circumstances and supports that children need for their optimal development.
Controversies and Misconceptions: Intelligence, IQ, and Gifted Education
Intelligence is a much more interesting, democratic, and dynamic process than a lot of people realize. There’s a dangerous but all too prevalent misconception that some people are born intellectually gifted (and the rest of us aren’t). From this perspective, traditional models of gifted education make good sense. All one has to do is figure […]
Play Outside! Twelve Ways to Health, Happiness, Intelligence, and Creativity, and to Environmental Sustainability
Spending more time outdoors, preferably in natural settings, may be the simplest, healthiest, and most economical remedy for the terrible increase in numbers of children diagnosed with social, emotional, and learning problems over the past two decades. It may also be the answer to many problems suffered by adults in our increasingly rushed, technology-focused lives. […]
From Apathy to Possibility: Scott Barry Kaufman’s Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined
What’s it like to be on the receiving end of well-meaning sympathy for your learning disabilities, accompanied by low academic and career expectations? How does it feel to want to engage in the challenging learning activities that your friends in the gifted class are experiencing, and to be told you never will? Cognitive psychologist Scott […]
The Wonder of the Ordinary: A Crucible for Creativity, Talent, and Genius
Parents can help their kids find their own particular kind of genius by encouraging their sense of wonder in the ordinary. You may or may not want your child to be a genius—an exceedingly rare and extraordinarily high achiever in a particular field—but you can help him develop his intelligence, creativity, and talents, by ensuring […]
Protect Your Child’s Playtime: It’s More Important than Homework, Lessons, and Organized Sports
If you want your child to grow up to be confident, co-operative, intelligent, creative, and successful, protect his playtime from all the encroachments of life in a fast-paced, ambitious, technologically wired world. Playtime is one of the most cost-effective investments a parent can make in a child’s education. It requires nothing more than time, space, […]
Every Child Can Do Math: One Step at a Time, with Patience and an Open Mind
We all know people who can’t do math. They’re better to take the easy math courses and drop out of math as early as possible. That’s what most North American teachers and parents think should happen, and that’s what usually does happen. The kids become adults who ‘can’t do math,’ avoiding careers they might otherwise […]
Slowing Life Down to a Child’s Pace
Time is much more valuable than money. It is the stuff of life, the basic currency. And how we spend it makes all the difference not only to our own health and well-being, but also to our children’s experience and development. By slowing life down to a child’s pace, parents support their children in finding […]
Parenting Teenagers: Build community; Go online; Play video games; Chat online; Learn to manage emotions
When kids reach adolescence, parents are most likely to feel vulnerable and insecure about their parenting, and divorce rates are at their highest. It’s important to listen to teenagers, and respect their opinions and ideas about their lives. One of the challenges for parents is incorporating teens’ opinions about what they need into their own […]
A Call to Action in Support of Giftedness and Talent Development
An editorial in the New York Times on December 15, 2013, discusses the most recent (2012) findings of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), in which the US is once again in the middle of the pack in math and science–34th out of 65 countries. In order to address the declining economy, the author […]
Canadian Aboriginal Students: What They Can Teach Us All about Gifted Education
‘We are gifted and very talented. But you’re not going to find out the way you are asking us your questions.’ Alanis Obomsawin, award-winning filmmaker of Abenaki descent.[i] Although I haven’t been able to find solid numbers on the participation of Canadian students from Aboriginal backgrounds in gifted education programs, there are many indications that […]
