Call it the Matilda syndrome. A bright child, far ahead in reading, writing and in thinking compared to kids of her age. Not a prodigy, just very bright. Hold that “wow” for a second. It’s hard to believe, but she/he can be a “problem” kid in the classroom. Ask any teacher.

This is why in the B Ed. syllabus in India there is a complete unit on “How to handle the exceptionally bright in the classroom”.

On July 25, 2008, S Chandrasekar, 17 became the youngest postgraduate from IIT-Madras when he received his degree at the convocation. The teenager topped his class. Born on September 25, 1990, Chandrasekar was dubbed a “precocious” child.  "His teachers used to complain that he would finish his work quickly and disturb other children, so we asked them to give him some books to read," said his father.

Rupa Khadam (name changed) turned six recently.  At four she was reading the closed captioning on TV programs and could choose the channels she wanted by reading the menu. In her Kindergarten class she wrote a story and was given an award for its clarity. She has read all of Mary Osborne’s Magic Treehouse books and is very happy to discuss them with you. Her mom says, “Rupa may not be able to make friends in her class.”

Giftedness or “precocity” goes beyond being able to read Amar Chitra Katha with understanding at age six. Young gifted kids are curious ones. They ask questions in the classroom, sometimes non-stop. They insist on knowing the “how” of things. They want to wander outside the book, outside what the teacher has set as the day’s work. They learn quickly, they remember what they learn. And here’s the nub. Such children get bored easily, to the point of frustration. They get moody, can be loud and distracted.

In a classroom of forty, what is the teacher looking at? A kid who fidgets in his chair, talks constantly, answers questions out of turn, insists on knowing the details and correcting the teacher over them. A kid that goes into a grouch, and in a few instances, gets destructive.

The first step is to recognise giftedness. This needs an open mind, unbiased thinking.  There is no one method, there is no one time to test it.* Recognizing and nurturing giftedness is a challenge. The kid’s abilities might diminish without stimulus and might become less recognisable.

Giftedness can be spotted only through a combination of approaches. A Q&A initial assessment may not show a child’s real or overall talent. What we need is a variety of approaches over a period of time. Often, the child’s gifted skill bursts in flashes – it comes and goes. Sometimes the ability is visible only in things like art work, something they write, something they do, like a “show-and-tell” in the class or a piece they need to recite for a programme. A 10-year-old kid who was asked to be a narrator in a summer camp play effortlessly memorised the lines in a few hours while the main players read from the paper even on the day of the performance. It took a while for the teachers to comment, “Hey, this kid has exceptional reading ability!”

First a small list of behaviours teachers can watch out for: these are common in 4-5-6-year-olds, but not exhaustive.
[1] They are curious about many things, ask questions, a lot of them intelligent
[2] They use an extensive vocabulary and complex sentence structures – “How come I never see you use a plate to eat?”
[3] Have good ability to solve problems
[4] Have a good memory
[5] Show unusual talent in art, music, or art
[6] Use previously learned things in new contexts
[7] Use logical sequences in narration, can make up stories
[8] Prefer to work independently and take initiative – a common remark in their class report is : “Refuses to co-operate, is not a team player.”
[9] Have a well-developed sense of humour  
[10] Some have long attention spans, might be willing to persist in challenging tasks
[11] Naturally read a lot.

Once the giftedness is recognised, what do you do? Tap it of course! The first step is to talk to the parents. Miss Honey went to Matilda’s house to do that, but we’ll assume the parents we meet will offer a better response. You could prepare a questionnaire for the parents to know about the child’s strengths, abilities, learning styles and interests. This could be a year book for noting down progress – at home and in school.

The teacher adds her comments on the kid’s behaviour, his work in class, the kind of questions he asks, the time he takes to finish work, the topics that interest him and most important, his attention span while listening and doing an assigned task.

Based on this, some schools prepare a special syllabus within the broad curriculum for these kids. Where this is not possible, additional work is given to the kids. This includes projects and reading. Some schools have a policy of including additional questions in the regular test papers and leave the option to complete it to the kids.

One of the first steps to consider when meeting the needs of young gifted students is the classroom environment. The classroom needs to be a place where all children can easily engage in activities and projects at their own level and pace. Here are some suggestions for designing a bright-child-friendly classroom:

[1] Prepare extra activities related to the lesson.
[2] Divide class into groups and make the kid a talker for the group. The group composition keeps changing every day, or every week.
[3] Always include application questions while teaching. “Where else can we see this?” Make them challenging. The idea is to give the bright kid a sense of participation.
[4] Devote at least one class for a general quiz. The quiz will be organised by the bright kids. They do an exceptional job of it.
[5] Include poetry, mime, music, dance, speech and drama part of the teaching. Put in activity options in your lesson plan.
[6] Schools that have developed a Math / English / History-Geography labs apart from the Science ones give themselves more opportunities to engage bright ones. A language lab can stock magazines, storybook character puppets, magnetic letters with boards, crossword puzzles, scrabble and computer software for word processing and story writing.
[7] Assign special home-work based entirely on the child’s unique ability. Encourage them to explore information through various resources. Consult the parents before doing that. How co-operative are they?
[8] Have some strictly implemented ground rules in the class. Discuss the rules with the kids making your needs clear. The syllabus has to be completed and the assignments have to be set. So how do we organise the time to do more interesting work?
[9] Encourage creative thinking. In how many ways can you solve the problem? If the kid has a good method of his own, accept it. “What if” questions should be part of any classroom. (What if we had 48 hours in a day?)
[10] When the child asks questions, give him a patient hearing. You may not be able to answer all the questions in that hour, but tell him to talk to you after class. Make sure he does.

Keep in mind the fact that some of these kids become the target for teasing – unfortunately by teachers as well. Check out if they need protection. Above all, make sure you have prepared the lesson very well. Answering the kid’s out-of-the-box question with “You think you are smart?” is bad for the self esteem of both the teacher and the student. This frustrates the kid and from being frustrated to being unmanageable is but a small step.

* Editor's note: Teachers and parents in the Bay Area are aware of GATE, a program run in public schools to recognize uniquely gifted children and provide them with more challenging curriculum. The child is tested in grade 3, 4 or 5 and if he or she passes the test, is GATE-identified. Recent budget cust have limited the enrichment programs offered by GATE but in an ideal situation, this program is supposed to deal with the issue of having unusually talented children in the classroom. More information can be found here.

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle : we hear this everywhere today. Small changes in our everyday life go a long way towards a better environment and prepare us for a greener lifestyle.  Driving hybrid cars (or not driving a car), using alternate modes of transport, conserving electrical energy at home (insulation, using lights only when you need it, using green lights) and yes, using a clothesline, particularly in summer season, are all the things to do to be green.

Last weekend I visited a green event hosted by the City of Belmont and was fascinated by the number of green vendors.   The green industry is taking off in all walks of life.  From the smart car to Segway, Argon filled double paned windows to Compost bins – all these contribute to having clean and less polluted air and a healthier planet.

 
"Home is where one starts from” said T S Eliot and if you are a gardener, your home garden is a wonderful place to start.  Here are some practical suggestions to get you on the road to being green and eco-friendly.  

The approach to a sustainable gardening mimics nature where everything is recycled (water, debris, nutrients) endlessly. Water conservation, energy conservation, building a healthy soil, reducing the garden waste, creating a wildlife habitat for birds and insects are some of the keystones in a green garden.

While planting new flora, consider choosing California native plants or a mix of plants that are locally adapted. This helps conserve water and require less maintenance in terms of fertilizers and pesticides. Another benefit is that native birds, insects, and other wildlife have evolved with native plant species and are able to use the fruits, nectars and habitat these plants and trees provide.  Select disease resistant plants and try to include plants that attract beneficial insects in the landscape.

Grow an Organic garden.  Organic gardening is growing food/plants without using chemical pesticides, herbicides and inorganic fertilizers that pollute our soil and water. It relies on the use of beneficial insects, diversity of plants, and the use of compost to supply the soil with nutrients.  

Eliminate or minimize lawns.  Lawns can be beautiful and are a visual treat when maintained well but they are also one of the serious offenders of the green philosophy.  Lawns use up to ten times more toxic chemicals per acre than commercial farming.  Use of lawn mower for an hour creates as much air pollution as driving a car 100 miles.  The average 2000 square foot lawn requires 10,000 gallons of water per month to maintain, the same amount of water in an average swimming pool.  So, if you need to have a lawn (maybe for children to play), consider green-alternatives – make a smaller lawn or consider synthetic turf installation.

Group your plants in the landscape by their water needs. Install efficient irrigation systems (drip system, timers etc).  Use mulch in the garden to retain moisture and prevent drying out of the soil.  If possible install rainwater collections or gray water system.

Build a healthy soil in your garden: Amend the soil with compost. Add mulch to reduce weeds and to maintain moisture. Protect your soil from compaction.  Reduce kitchen and garden waste by investing in a compost bin and creating an active compost pile and add that to create a fertile and living soil.   Vermicomposting is a great way to reduce your garbage and reap rich benefits all around. All you need to start is a shallow bin that allows air to circulate, newspaper bedding and worms. The worm castings are a great fertilizer for plants. Check out the book “Worms eat my garbage” by Mary Applehof to understand how to make rich compost out of your garbage using a worm bin and worms.

Integrated Pest Management, which is the science of resolving pest problems by the use of natural resources, avoiding the use of chemical pesticides and a multi level approach of using natural controls to stop the pests in the garden is a great way to be earth friendly. IPM techniques can be as simple as planting companion plants to attract beneficial insects, introducing beneficial insects to your garden or making your own pesticides from ingredients you may already have on hand such as borax, ammonia and beer. IPM controls are preferable to chemical pesticides. However, when it is absolutely necessary to use a pesticide, choose the least toxic product.

Reuse pots, landscape materials like pavers, soil, lumber, concrete (broken concrete blocks from driveway can be reused to build dry walls). Explore the latest green concepts such as permeable pavers and pervious concrete (to reduce water runoff).  You can find a lot of these used materials on Craig’s list and Ebay.  Contact your local tree trimming company to see if they provide free mulch (chipped wood and leaves from trimming the trees).  They may not be the best looking mulch but they are free and go towards reusing natural materials.

Save energy by placing deciduous trees on the west side of the house to provide shade during the summer and allow sunlight to warm the house in winter.  Use hand or electric tools as opposed to tools powered with gas.  Select local garden products and buy supplies locally.  Use outdoor lights that are energy efficient or solar powered and of course include a space in the garden for a clothesline.

The best way to start a Green garden is to adopt a few measures at a time and start incorporating them into your life little at a time. So go ahead and pick your thing to do and live the mantra Reduce, Recycle and Reuse!!

Go Green and Stay Cool!

Some sites to visit for more information:
Composting -  http://www.composters.com
Vermicomposting – http://www.wormwoman.com
Green building exchange – www.greenbuildingexchange.com
San Mateo County Recycle works – http://www.recycleworks.org
Integrated Pest Management – http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/
California Native plants – http://www.cnps.org

Laxmi Natarajan is WNI's resident expert on gardening issues. She will take questions from readers on the subject via our feedback form. She also runs Bagicha, a landscape design firm in the Bay Area. 

My students mess up in their writing using capital M for Mom and D for dad in all places. How can I teach them (first graders) when to capitalize mom and when not to. How can I make it easy for them?

Geeta Padmanabhan answers: 

Family relationships are capitalised when used as proper names.

I sent a thank-you note to Aunt Sarah, but not to my other aunts.

Here is a present I bought for Mother

.Did you buy a present for your mother?

If the kids are capitalizing “mom”, they can do it in two situations.

1] When they are addressing “mom”. For example:

Mom, are you there?

[2] When they use it as a proper name.

You know who is in that room? It is Mom. Here the kid thinks her mother’s name is Mom. That’s how the kid has always known her.

You will notice there is no ‘whose’ marker (my, your, his, her, their) before the word “Mom”. If the sentence establishes the relationship with that marker, “mom” starts with a lower case letter. Once the relationship is established, she is just my/your/her/his/its “mom”.

Example: “Is that your mom?” 
So if a kid writes:
“Mom makes me do all the work” or “I buy a gift for Mom” we have to accept it as right.
It becomes wrong only when the sentence goes, “My Mom drives me to school.”

Children learn through drill work. Some of the work we have for beginners:
[1] Write your name on the corner of every page of your workbook.
[2] Your city, district
[3] Names of parents, friends
[4] Then move on to sentences. The sentences are simple first and then have proper names.
Example: River Nile flows through Africa.
Exercises could be
[a] Fill in the blanks
[b] Correct the sentences.
[c] This simple letter has mistakes in capitalization. Can you fix it? Kids get familiar with letters as well.
[d] Game of tic-tac-toe for capitalization
[e] Kids pick a capital letter from a box of cards. Then write a word using it as the first letter.
[f] Make it clear there are no capital letters in the middle of a word. Give a list (fish, fiSh). Which one is right?
[g] Building sentences. Break sentences into three parts. Put them in three columns. Ask kids to form sentences using capital letters as clues.

Hope this helps. 

The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another.  The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.  ~Henry Van Dyke

This morning I looked out of my window and saw the first blooms on my flowering plum and could smell the spring in the air.   This month early spring flowering bulbs such as daffodils and grape muscari start to flower and it reminds me that it is time to get ready for the sowing season ahead.  It is the time to fix your garden structures, ready the flower beds, prepare the soil for the vegetable garden, cleanup the weeds, add a bare-root fruit tree or a rose bush and the list goes on.

For those of us who love our tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and plan to have a good harvest this year the secret is to design and plan the veggie garden keeping a few rules in mind.

Planning your vegetable garden
-    Locate the garden as close to the house as possible and with easy access to water supply. Most vegetables grow best in a level area with loose, well-drained soil and at least six hours of sun (eight to ten hours is ideal). Create contour rows, terraces, planters, raised beds on slopes. South-facing slopes are warmer and less subject to damaging frosts. Avoid planting near trees and shrubs; they compete for nutrients and water and may cause excessive shading.

-    Figure out how much space is available for the vegetable plot. It may be an entire section of your yard or just a few planter boxes lined up on your patio or a few containers on your deck.  An interesting and easy way to do this is by following the square foot gardening as explained by Mel Bartholomew at www.squarefootgardening.com

-    Consider the time you will spend in the garden to plant, weed, irrigate, harvest and some pest control measures in the garden on a regular basis.

-    Plan the garden on paper first. Draw a map showing the arrangement and spacing of your crops.

-    Choose your vegetables and how many based on what you like to eat and how often you want to harvest..  You'll want to grow vegetables that are high yielding. For example, a single zucchini planted in a container could produce a dozen or more fruit over the course of the summer, where the same container planted with spinach might only produce enough for a single serving.  So if you want spinach for the whole family, allocate a bigger area.  Lettuce, pole beans, tomatoes and zucchini are all good choices for high yielding vegetables.  If this is your first time choose easy vegetables like tomatoes and eggplants and zucchini.  Sometimes buying a start (little plant) as opposed to starting from seeds is more convenient and time saving. (especially if you are going to have just a few plants)

-    Placing the plants: Start by placing tall and trellised crops on the north side of the garden so they won’t shade the shorter vegetables. Group plants by the length of their growing period. Plant spring crops together so later crops can be planted in these areas when the early crops mature.  Consider the length of harvest as well as time to maturity. Place perennial crops to the side of the garden where they will not be disturbed by any tillage that is needed.

Succession planting is the most effective way to plant for  a steady supply of vegetables. Plant a group of different vegetables on a certain week and plant the same group again after two weeks and 4 weeks. This way, each group will be ready to harvest two weeks after the previous one, giving you a fresh supply of vegetables for longer and this also makes harvesting manageable.
    
Many factors influence the growth of plants: water, light, air, temperature, humidity, nutrients, and soil. Growth depends on a favorable combination of these factors.  So refer to specific requirements for the vegetables that you choose.

Cool-season vegetables like broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower can be planted in early March. Other crops include beets, carrots, Swiss chard, collards, lettuce, mustard, radish and turnips. These crops grow best in the milder weather of early spring.
The air temperature is important but the soil also needs to be warmed up to be at lease 55 degrees before planting seeds of warm-season vegetables. Peppers do best if transplanted a few weeks later than tomatoes, once the soil has warmed up. So start them now indoors or in protected areas/containers and wait for a few more weeks before you put these in the ground.   You can start growing seeds inside.

Some vegetables that require bright sunlight (8-hours full sun) are Beans, Eggplant, Pumpkin, Broccoli, Okra, Squash, Cantaloupes, Onions, Strawberry, Cauliflower, Sweet Potato, Corn, Peppers, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Potatoes and Watermelons. Also consider including herbs like coriander, rosemary, lemongrass, mint, thyme, oregano, basil in your garden patch. In addition to providing good flavor for your vegetables they will keep some of the harmful insects out of the vegetable bed.

Veggies To Plant In March: This month is a transition month between winter and spring. You can set out broccoli, cabbage, kale, lettuce seedlings, potato tubers, and shallot sets. Make successive sowings of beets, carrots, lettuce, green onions, peas, radishes, spinach, and Swiss chard. You can also plant herb plants such as chives, parsley, rosemary, sage and thyme.

Once you have the plan and the plants in the ground we will move on to maintaining and taking care of the vegetable garden, the joy, the pests and the harvest that comes along in another follow-up article. So now that Spring is almost here, take a step outside and prepare for a wonderful growing season.

Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day.  ~W. Earl Hall

Laxmi Natarajan, our gardening expert, is also available to answer reader questions. Send in your queries via our feedback form. 

A property owner has every right to get property tax relief if the property value, today, is  less than the purchase price. Usually there is a limit of 60 days to appeal from the date you receive your tax bill. Presently, it may be too late to appeal for 2007-2008 fiscal year.

The clerks at the County Assessors office are very helpful in walking you through the process and answer any questions you may have. You will have to do the following:

1.    Ask your realtor to provide you with comparable sales of homes in your neighborhood and do a current market evaluation of your home.
2.    Download the appeal form from the county assessors website (see link below)
3.    Complete the form and send it by certified mail along with the fee for filing an appeal and the market evaluation provided to you by your realtor.
4.    The Assessors office will either approve your appeal or reject it. If they reject it, they give you an opportunity to present your case in person at the court house.

My experience over the years has been that the staff at the County Assessors office are very willing to walk you through the process.
The link to the website for Santa Clara County Tax Assessors office is:

http://www.sccassessor.org/portal/site/asr/

The link to the website for Alameda County Tax Assessors office is:

http://www.acgov.org/assessor/

Q. What criteria should I use when assessing the skill and services of a real estate agent? How can I assess his or her negotiating skills and integrity?

The most important  tool to assess the integrity and negotiating skills of a real estate agent is references from past clients.. Insist on getting at least 5 references from the agent you are interviewing. The references should include both buyer and seller clients..Other criteria should include:

1.    Your comfort level in dealing with the person who will represent you in the purchase or sale of your home.
2.    Knowledge of the local real estate market
3.    Is your real estate a full-time professional
4.    Sensitivity of the agent to the needs of the client
5.    An organized marketing plan that meets your needs
6.    Quality and quantity of business conducted by the agent over the years
7.    Actively conducting business in the local market area
8.    The follow up and communication provided by the real estate agent
9.    Holds a "Realtor" designation that makes your real estate professional committed to the code of ethics for Realtors. This is important as it protects you as a buyer and seller too.
10.    A good understanding of the lending world and how it affects the real estate market.
11.    Professional in their approach to clients and prospects

Arti Miglani is an award winning realtor serving clients in the Bay Area. She can be contacted at Amiglani@apr.com Questions to Arti may be sent to us via our feedback form.

1. What are the diet challenges for a vegetarian who wants to train for a marathon?
For any person training for a marathon, he or she needs to consume a lot of complex carbohydrates which will give him a lot of energy for endurance events, such as marathons. Complex carbohydrates include whole wheat bread and brown rice, NOT white rice and white bread, etc. Moderate to high protein consumption is also needed.  This is one of the challenges for vegetarians.  Good vegetarian protein sources are nuts, lentils, tofu, and cheese.  There is nothing wrong with adding a little protein powder to a meal as well.  Morning fruit smoothie shakes with protein powder is a great addition.
 
The key is not to skip balanced meals when training for a marathon.
 
2. After age 40 what are the diet no-nos and fitness yes-yesses for a woman?

Women need to cut back their sugar intake, including sweets, simple carbs such as white bread/rice, and soda, and increase their iron intake such as broccoli and green leafy vegetables.  Fitness should be increased to at least six times a week. Weight training is a must to prevent osteoporosis, especially after age 40.

1.  Living in the US, one of the things we fear is that something will happen to our loved ones while we are far away, unable to help them. How do we cope with this?
 
Let us not waste our time and life worrying about things that we cannot do, let us see what can be done.  We can reach out to them emotionally, which should not be difficult w/ today’s communication capabilities or you can reach out financially, if that is what is needed.  Going there personally may not solve any issue as such, so it is best to reach out to them in whatever way possible.   And for yourself learn to be meditative, which would be a great contribution to yourself and all life around you.
 
2. What is the ideal relationship between a parent and his or her child?  

The most important thing is to stop being a parent and rather be a good friend.   A child who is growing up, whose body and psyche is changing rapidly is constantly looking for a friend who is just of a little more capability and understanding than his own.  Be a friend to him and also seek his friendship for your own well being.