Extremely gifted children are the envy of many parents-but no childhood, least of all that of the young prodigy, is without stress and frustration. This program visits several such children in the midst of lightning-quick development and progress toward puberty. Peter, at 11, is a chess champion. Adam, now eight and a half, is heading off to a prestigious boarding school, while math wonder Mikhail, still in elementary school, is now a spelling star....

This program explores instructional design, educational technology, curriculum development, organizational learning, special education, and classroom management. It outlines the cognitive, academic, social, and moral goals of learning; presents behavioral, cognitive, functionalist, and constructivist theories of learning; and looks at qualitative and quantitative methods of pedagogical analysis. The program also considers the effects of such factors...

B.F. Skinner developed wonderfully ingenious gadgets designed to enhance his workspace, and he created clever ways of organizing the writing that was the central focus of the last decades of his life. In this program, Skinner's daughter, Julie Vargas, gives viewers a tour of the basement study in which he wrote many of his books and articles. Dr. Vargas and her sister also share fond memories of their father, who was a very involved and loving parent,...

Motivation is the key to learning. But very few parents and teachers have an effective arsenal of techniques at their disposal. With empathy and understanding, backed by decades of experience in the classroom, Rick Lavoie gives parents and teachers the key to unlock any child's enthusiasm and responsiveness. The Motivation Breakthrough will revolutionize the way parents, teachers, and professionals reach out to and motivate all children.

Are the brain and the mind one and the same? How big a role does environment play in cognitive development? Does consciousness have a physical location? This program explores these and other fundamental questions concerning the evolution and function of the human brain. Computer graphics and commentary from an array of leading international neuroscientists provide insights into the human brain's development and the nature/nurture debate. The program...

When leaving no child behind amounts to holding many children back, parents and politicians raise their eyebrows. This ABC News program seeks to understand the ramifications of high-stakes advancement and exit exams-tests that are being used to measure schools' effectiveness, to allocate funding, and to shape the future of the nation's children. The dilemma of how to cope with students displaced and emotionally stigmatized by failing these tests is...

We often think of memory as a record of facts, but it is also a web of sensations and emotions-and a vehicle for traveling, so to speak, through time. This program explores the mechanisms of human recollection, presenting new case studies and medical findings that reveal the complexity of the brain's memory center. Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Randy Buckner explains his research into memory functions and Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Faraneh Vargha-Khadem...

The human nerve center never rests-even during sleep, it works diligently to process and build on the information gathered by our senses. Of course, healthy sleep is only one of many vital ingredients the brain needs to develop and thrive, as this film illustrates in detail. Other factors discussed in the program include ongoing contact with negative (deterring) and positive (dopamine-triggering) stimuli, an environment that offers pattern repetition...

As children begin school and other new experiences, what happens to the values, behavior, and expectations they have learned at home? Why do so many young people follow the crowd? And when does conformity become a bad thing? This program explores those questions, visiting a group of 25 seven-year-olds who are learning to cope with peer groups and situations. Children and parents are given tasks to see who conforms and who is comfortable standing out,...

Using historical footage and photos in combination with video shot at daycare centers, this program offers an entertaining and enlightening introduction to the major child development theorists, how their theories differ, and how the application of multiple theories can be beneficial to parents, caregivers, and educators. Theorists presented include Sigmund Freud, Maria Montessori, Arnold Gesell, Lev Vygotsky, Jean Piaget, Rudolf Dreikurs, Erik Erikson,...