The Association for Bright Children of Ontario is an all-volunteer, provincially incorporated support and advocacy group, with many chapters across Ontario. It is dedicated to providing information and support to parents of bright and gifted children and adolescents through newsletters, networking, an annual conference and local workshops. It offers the parents' voice to local school boards, educators, professional groups and the Ontario Ministry of Education.
ABC Ontario Membership is FreeTo learn more please click here or simply sign up now. Free membership registration will be required to fully access all the features of this website including the message board, newsletters and event registration.
This website has been developed by dedicated volunteers who recognize that families and educators need information and resources about gifted learners. ABC Ontario depends on volunteers and the generosity of our supporters to fulfill its mission while providing membership free of charge.
Visit our "Get Involved" page to learn more about supporting the mission of ABC Ontario. Please consider making a donation today.
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A Look at Gifted Education Across Ontario
February 2011
The Association for Bright Children of Ontario surveyed Ontario School Boards in order to determine the range of testing practices, program options and policies pertaining to gifted students across the province.
It is apparent from the data that there is a wide variation in finding and supporting gifted students in Ontario.
The report demonstrates services, policies and support are fractionated and inconsistent across the Province.
Five School Boards, out of the 62 Boards contacted, reported that they had no programming options specific to their gifted population. In addition, 35% of the reporting School Boards do not actively search for gifted students in their school population. ABC Ontario hopes that this report will begin a dialogue amongst parents, educators and legislature towards a consistent and applied policy for all gifted students in Ontario.
Looking for information about Gifted Programming in your local school board?
ABC Ontario's Gifted Information Resource Guide:A Concise Overview of Gifted Education Programming in Ontario School Boards is the place to start your research. Many of Ontario's district school boards have provided basic information on their special education programs and services for bright and gifted students.
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IEP InformationABC Ontario's Resource Guide on Developing Individual Education Plans for Gifted Students is available for download as a PDF document. The entire document is available in both French and English. The sample IEP's are also available with explanation in Mandarin.
The Council of Ontario Directors of Education recently added a sample IEP for a gifted elementary student to their online IEP samples project. It can be found on the CODE website at: http://www.ontariodirectors.ca/IEP-PEI/index.html
It is a step in the right direction, helping to clear some of the confusion surrounding IEPs for gifted students. ABC Ontario responded to the posting of the sample with this email communication (pdf file.)
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ABC Ontario gratefully acknowledges the support of a Parent Reaching Out Grant from the Parent Engagement Office at the Ontario Ministry of Education. This website upgrade and many of the resource materials produced by ABC over the past four years would not have been possible without this financial assistance.
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Did you know?
Giftedness is a recognized intellectual exceptionality in Ontario
School boards are required to identify exceptional students and provide appropriate Special Education services to meet these students’ needs
Parents can initiate the identification process by sending a written request to the school principal
Gifted students are the second largest group of exceptional students in Ontario
Students with other physical, visual, hearing, behavioural or learning disabilities may also be intellectually gifted
Giftedness is a potential for learning, not a guarantee of academic success
Gifted students may underachieve academically and even drop out without appropriate support
Gifted students often need support to develop good time management and study habits
Gifted students often require daily academic challenge in order to be intellectually engaged and academically successful
ABC Ontario holds an annual enrichment conference for educators, parents and children
Everyone interested in the well-being of bright and gifted children is welcome to participate in ABC
An informed parent is a child’s best advocate
Other News:
The Globe and Mail ran a series on the gifted child (November 2010.) ABC Ontario was invited to participate in an online chat about "What's the secret to parenting a gifted child?" ABC Ontario's President, Rosanna Del Grosso was joined by UK author Desmond Morris, a long-time researcher of human and animal behaviour and Globe Life reporter Tralee Pearce. You can find the text of the online chat at the Globe and Mail (What's the secret to parenting a gifted child?).
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Maclean's Magazine published an article about gifted education in the 2009 March 2nd issue -"No Room for Gifted Kids"
ABC Ontario's President responded to the article with a Letter to the Editor. It is posted here for your reference (Letter to the Editor -pdf file.)
