by Megan Lindale (Editor), Kathleen Casper (Author)
Smart Babies is a guide to help parents, caregivers, and others who work with very young children to identify potential giftedness in infants and young children from ages birth to five, and to provide them with strategies to support them at home and potentially anywhere. Meant to help alleviate the worries parents of gifted children often have when their development and behaviors are different from other children, Smart Babies further provides support and resources that can be shared with others who are also partners in child development (such as medical professionals, preschool teachers, friends and family, and program administrators). The materials for the book were originally compiled for educational trainings of early learning coalition partners including program administrators and teachers who are concerned with early childhood development. And it can potentially also be used for similar types of professional development training for early childhood educators and caretakers. But most importantly, it can be used for those working with gifted infants, toddlers, and preschoolers to focus on the individual needs of the children in their care so they can grow to their fullest potential.
Author Biography
Kathleen Casper, JD., Author Kathleen is an educator and an attorney who is currently the president of the Florida Association for the Gifted (FLAG), as well as a gifted education consultant. She is the creator of the Casper Assessment for Social Emotional Skills (CASES) and an author on the OneWorld Gifted blog. She is the former national secretary of SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted), the Florida Department of Education's Gifted Education Specialist, the Washington Association for the Education of the Talented and Gifted president-elect, and the Tacoma Public Schools' Gifted Education Facilitator. She is also currently on the executive board of Florida's Pasco Hernando Early Learning Coalition and has an extensive history as an early learning educator and early learning center director. She is a foster parent as well as a parent of five gifted children. Kathleen is a child advocate and she presents nationally on gifted education issues. Megan Lindale, ARNP, Editor Megan is an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner with over twenty years of experience in the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of pediatric patients, ages birth through twenty-one years of age throughout the United States. She is also a certified school nurse who has provided school and public health services to children in preschool through high school, including gifted education and special needs programs for over a decade. As the parent and grand parent of gifted children, Megan is concerned about increasing support and knowledgeable care for gifted kids of all ages in the health and education systems.