Gifted Children

Dee Heinrich thought her son's elementary school was one of the best in Anne Arundel County -- until she asked about its "gifted and talented" program."

At the urging of many frazzled parents, I'm renewing m humanitarian campaign against buying noisy toys for other people's kids. With Christmas coming, this becomes an urgent matter, almost a crisis. Once those greedy little hands rip open the boxes, eardrums begin vibrating.And I will pass along a shopping tip. I seldom do that, but I recently stumbled across a remarkable gift for children.As I noted some time ago, most noisy toys are bought by grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends -- not by parents who have to endure the screeching, howling, clacking, and thumping of these devices.

In most ways, Jeffrey Peck reminds you of every other healthy, alert 5 1/2 -year-old boy you've ever met: He's friendly, outgoing and loves to play with other children his own age. Yet Jeffrey is exceptional. Unlike most children his age, he's a voracious reader, and what he reads goes well beyond Dick and Jane.Consider this: When he was 2 months old, his second word was "book" (the first was "dad"). Today, Jeffrey's library contains about 2,000 volumes."He reads Shakespeare -- and understands it," says Dolores Peck, Jeffrey's mother.

ASK ANY PARENT of young kids what presents you can get the children for Christmas or Hanukkah, and chances are the answer will be: Anything but toys.That leaves aunts, uncles and grandparents with a couple of options. You can buy clothes, which is OK if you're not going to be in the same room when the little darling unwraps the box, frowns and quietly relegates you to least favored relative status.Or you can buy books. Every other Wednesday from now through Christmas I'll review new books that would make good gifts.