On Sunday January 8th we had our first #ohiogtchat of the year. It was an exciting chat with Catherine Rogliano from SIG (@SIGifted). Catherine went through in some detail on what the SIG has to offer.
SIG offers gifted children from ages 9-17 a residential program at the University of Chicago. There is also a day program in Hudson Ohio this year. You can find all of the information for SIG on their website. SIG is a great program for gifted children, and hope teachers and parents will continue to send their children there to participate. They have multiple campuses they work with to meet the needs of parents and children.
There are several reasons why parents and teachers should invest money and time into going to summer camps. At SIG they focus on giving gifted children an experience to be challenged and to find their passion based on classes and curriculum they wouldn't get at their school. Having gifted children come into contact with other children who are just like them they can make friends for life.
The emotional and social needs of gifted children are also an aspect that can be focused on during summer camps. Having friends, and giving those friendships a context to be made is a great aspect of summer camps. Technology can help these friendships to continue past the summer camp.
I would hope that as teachers we encourage parents to send their children to summer camps. The experiences they will receive will help them be more competitive in life after high school.
I hope parents continue to push their children to participate in summer camps. Look for ways to get scholarships or sponsors. These experiences are an investment in your child, and their future.
I want to one again thank Catherine and SIG for taking the time to chat with us on a Sunday night.
#ohiogtchat will be back on January 22nd at 9pm ET. We are continuing this chat theme by looking at internships and field trips that engage gifted children.