Gifted Education Consultant

Gifted Teens in School and Home

Sonia White is a New Zealand Gifted Education consultant working nationally and internationally in this field. She is author of "Designing Defensible Classroom Programs for Gifted Secondary School Learners". Sonia has worked with gifted students and their parents as Gifted Education Coordinator for over fifteen years, and was gifted education advisor to schools for 8 years in the Auckland and Northland region from 2002 - 2009. Sonia's Curriculum Vitae is on the 'About' page.

Schools

My in-depth experience working in all levels of school life from primary through to upper secondary, enables me to work very closely with school management, gifted education coordinators and teachers to raise student achievement. After conducting an in-depth needs analysis in partnership with school management, I will tailor professional development and specialist services according to your school needs. For more detail go to Schools.

International

I am available internationally as a seminar, workshop, or keynote presenter for conferences and organisations. For details, go to International

Parents
I have extensive experience assisting parents of gifted teens who have concerns about their gifted sons or daughters. This may involve academic progress, or social & emotional issues specifically related to giftedness such as motivation, perfectionism, high sensitivity (or 'overexcitabilities'), stress, and global awareness. For more details go to Parents.

Students
Gifted teens have lots of questions about themselves and giftedness. They often feel like 'frauds', and are very unsure of themselves and their ability. They may worry about things that their peers are not concerned with, or feel pressured to be perfect. Sometimes they feel that they are very different and are not sure how to deal with this, or they may feel that there are very few peers that they can relate to. Such feelings and concerns are normal, and it is important that gifted teens understand themselves and their giftedness so that they are empowered rather than crippled by the complexities of being gifted. For more details about how I can assist gifted teens to better understand themselves and their giftedness, go to Students.