January 2022 - Volume 2
WATG Mission: To educate about and advocate for the needs of gifted in Wisconsin.
As you may have noticed, WATG’s activities and reach have been growing! To keep you more informed on a more timely basis, our Board of Directors voted to send out news TWICE each month. The first installment will always arrive at the beginning of the month, and the second installment will arrive in the middle of the month. With this change, we hope to keep you more curious, informed, motivated, and engaged.
WATG Blogs
(WATG desea extender un enorme agradecimiento a la Esther Vazquez Guendulain of Appleton Bilingual School por traducir este artículo al español para nuestras familias y educadores hispanohablantes. La traducción también se puede encontrar en los blogs de nuestro sitio web)
Gifted @Home - Dealing with Stress and Anxiety
Stacy Novak, WATG Board Member and President-Elect
Gifted children tend to have more stress and anxiety than other children due to their higher intensities and sensitivities; they also tend to put more pressure on themselves. There are many things that can cause stress and anxiety for gifted children. With the end of the first semester coming up, many students are also preparing for tests and midterms. This can be a stressful time for both students and parents. Additionally, gifted kids may overbook themselves, suffer from perfectionism, or succumb to pressure from others.There are many other things that can also impact a child’s stress and anxiety.
Dr. Wanda Routier
Former WATG Board Member
Ask the Doctor: Reflect and Plan
At the end of December I received an email from Ian Byrd at Byrdseed.com. Do you know about Byrdseed.com? Ian Byrd, a gifted person, spoke at the WATG fall conference a few years ago. He has a website; an e-newsletter; resources; a subscription video site called Byrdseed.tv that offers lessons, videos, professional development; and more. Byrd has a unique approach to teaching and learning for gifted students since he himself is gifted. Because of that, I have followed his website for years.
In a recent workshop with school counselors at the Wisconsin School Counselor Association Conference in Wisconsin Dells, we shared ideas about how to help gifted students understand themselves, their emotions, and other people’s reactions to them. So often there are many ways to approach guidance and counseling, (and parenting), and one of the ways that can work well with gifted students is to use bibliotherapy and/or videotherapy. Bibliotherapy, as the name suggests, uses books to help students solve problems. Videotherapy, on the other hand, uses films, videos, or plays to achieve the same goals. Students can examine characters in books, respond to situations, consider appropriate/inappropriate emotional responses, bond emotionally with characters, and see problem-solving in action. 
Jackie Drummer
Past President and WATG Advisory Board Member
Gifted Meandering: Archiving of our History
Ruth Robinson, Past WATG President
Another year is gone. We keep hoping for better days, and are grateful for the vaccines that have given us hope and allowed safer visits with family. As we enter this new year and look forward, it is also common to look back on our past, and several of us have been doing just that with WATG’s history.

Carol Wright, WCGT Past President 1990-91, has been helping to document the specific dates of importance from the 1970’s and early 1980’s, prior to the writing of State Standard (t). 
FREE PARENT MEMBERSHIP
Parenting gifted children can be an exciting, yet challenging journey, and WATG is committed to providing information, resources, and networking opportunities for parents and caregivers of gifted children.
As a service to gifted children and their families, WATG is offering FREE memberships to all parents/caregivers beginning now and extending through September of 2022. Benefits of WATG membership include:

  • Support for educational outreach
  • Support for parents/caregivers and advocates
  • Voting privileges
  • Consultation and coaching
  • And so much more!

So far, over 150 parents/caregivers have taken advantage of this outstanding opportunity! We encourage more of you to join us by filling out this Free WATG Parent Membership Form, and look forward to meeting you and growing with you.
Any organization mentioned in this newsletter does not constitute an endorsement by or partnership with WATG. No recommendation regarding the services of these organizations is being made by WATG. Families and educators are urged to perform due diligence in researching all organizations.