Links I Find Helpful

Updated July 1, 2014

Gifted Testing in or near Hillsborough County and Pasco County, FL

Since we are about to launch our gifted pilot program in the Fall of 2014, I thought that it would be helpful to share contact information related to gifted testing & assessments.  The following are listings of psychologists who offer gifted testing and assessments in or near Pasco County and Hillsborough County Florida. I am sharing their contact information as they are all licensed and have been listed by other gifted programs, both public and private, in the Greater Tampa region.
I have not personally used their services, but have found all of them to be very professional and helpful when I have contacted them. 

Maria Aranda, Ph.D.

Website: Helping Tampa Families

Address:
Maria T. Aranda, Ph.D.
6601 Memorial Hwy., Suite 308
Tampa, Florida 33615

Phone (813) 431-2798

mariaaranda@tampabay.rr.com

Licensed Psychologist #PY5983
Offers gifted testing and counseling. 12 years experience. Fluent in English and Spanish.

Paige Frecker, Ed.S., NCSP.

Website: Gifted Testing of Tampa Bay

Phone: 813-610-7905
AALAACS@MSN.COM

Offers gifted testing. Licensed school psychologist (Florida License # SS715) in private practice in the Tampa, Lakeland, Plant City, St. Pete, and Clearwater areas.  8 years experience. Helps children in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, and Polk counties.  Offers courses on homework and study skills, in addition to gifted testing.

Rice Psychology Group

Website: Rice Psychology Group

Rice Psychology Group – Carrollwood
14310 N. Dale Mabry Highway

Suite 150
Tampa, FL 33618
North Tampa Phone: 813-969-3878  Fax: 813-969-3887
Info@RicePsychology.com


Rice Psychology Group – South Tampa
1501 South Dale Mabry Highway
Suite A-6 (Second floor)
Tampa, FL 33629
South Tampa Phone: 813-251-3878
Info@RicePsychology.com

Rice Psychology Group consists of:
Wendy Rice,  PsyD, Licensed Pyschologist & Founder, Rice Psychology Group; 13 years practice.
Plus the following additional psychologists:
Lacy Hiltbrand, Psy.D., Licensed Psychologist
Megan Sutsko, Psy.D., Licensed Psychologist
Melissa DeGeso-Jones, Psy.D., Psychology Resident
Jeffrey Smith, Ed.S., Licensed School Psychologist
Heather Hernandez, Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Their offices conduct diagnostic interviews, gifted testing & assessments
cognitive training, therapy, attention, memory, organization coaching, and ADHD work.


These are some of the links that I find to be helpful. I used to have many more listings related to Montessori, when the boys were young. I plan to create an updated Montessori links page and an updated early childhood and primary education links page for those blog followers or Pinterest followers who follow my Montessori boards, or my early childhood / primary education boards.
I have added more links related to gifted education, as those are the links I am currently using for my sons and for Sunrise Learning Lab's gifted pilot program.

Hope that these links are helpful to you too...

• Allendale Academy 
• American Mensa Gifted Youth 
• Art Projects for Kids
• BrainPOP 
• Center for Ecoliteracy
• Children's Literature Web Guide
• Creative Classroom 
• Davidson Institute Database
• Davidson Gifted Issues Forum
• Deep Space Sparkle 
• Enchanted Learning  
• Hoagies Gifted  
• Honeys Life
• Imagine Childhood
• Indianapolis Children's Museum Units
• Khan Academy 
• Laughing Star Montessori
• LEGO Education
• Mensa for Kids Games  
• Middlebury Interactive 
• Models For Gifted Weebly
• Models for the Gifted
• Montessori for Everyone
• Moteaco - Montessori Teachers' Collective
• Moving Beyond the Page 
• National Association for Gifted Children
• National Library of Virtual Maniuplatives
• Parents' Guide to Nature Play
• Project Zero - Dr. Howard Gardner
• Prufrock Press Gifted Publications
• Smithsonian Lesson Plans
• Stanford EPGY 
• The Long Thread Arts and Crafts
• Wikisori
• Zulily

Also, here is a link to a collection of You Tube videos that correlate with Core Knowledge - Grade 3. Little Bro will be starting Grade 3 this fall. Even though he is working at an accelerated pace, I like to see resources such as these You Tube videos, that correlate with what other grade 3 students would be learning.
This list was compiled by Kelly Flick, so a huge thanks to Kelly for compiling this for all homeschool families who use Core Knowledge in their homeschooling! There are 33 videos in this compilation. It lists various videos that tie in with music and poetry appreciation for grade 3. A few of the selections might be ones that Kelly has added personally, as I did not see all 33 in the resources list from CK...but these are all perfect tie ins! So thanks again, Kelly!

Great Games that Get Kids to Think - Games 2-14: Dominoes Around the World

Continuing with the topic of Great Games that Get Kids to Think...

Well, the next is not one game, but a collection of games from around the world.
The games all appear in a well written picture book for children called Dominoes Around the World written by Mary D. Lankford and illustrated by Karen Dugan.

This book will be enjoyed by all who read it and play the games in the book.
The games are clearly explained and the illustrations are wonderful...each page features realistic illustrations of children playing dominoes in their native country.

Dominoes are played in many countries and continents around the globe.
This neat book lists a collection of traditional dominoes games from Cuba, France, Malta, The Netherlands, Spain, Ukraine, United States, and Vietnam, along with modern takes on dominoes.

Dominoes Around the World also gives a great multicultural perspective, as well as a bit of a historical perspective.

What also is nice is that it includes a bibliography. Then, if your child becomes totally engrossed in dominoes and wants to learn more about them, you will have some great ideas for additional resources on dominoes. 


This book gets children to not only think about different ways to play dominoes, and the logic and math involved in playing dominoes, it also gets them to think about the various countries of origin of the dominoes games. 


Dominoes Around the World does not come with dominoes, so you will have to get your own set or sets, depending on if you want to play all of the games in the book.  
The dominoes games from this great book would also be fun to do for a family game night. 
You could also add some flair by serving some dinner from the country of origin for the particular dominoes game you plan to try for that night...
So maybe you could make some neat grilled Cuban sandwiches and then, play the Cuban Dominoes game or make some Crepes Suzette or Quiche Lorraine and then, try out the French Draw dominoes game. 

We love playing dominoes here, especially Big Bro.
Many times, he comes up with his own sort of version of dominoes.
 
We also use dominoes in conjunction with our Montessori bead material as a work / extension of sorts. 


To use Dominoes Around the World as a Montessori inspired work for your homeschool or classroom, place the following items on a tray or in a nice basket: the book, Dominoes Around the World, a map that has the various countries where these games originated, a few sets of dominoes, as well as individual pictorial charts  (for your control of error) to go with each game listed in the book. 
This way, children will be able to see if they have set up the game correctly as they play. 
You could also add some pin map work for them to locate the countries of origin for each of the games.


In another box when the card says to "Work with Mom", you could do a work together activity of looking up the countries and possibly making a snack to tie in with a particular domino playing country. 
The book and the additional items are small enough that it will easily fit into a plastic workbox, if you prefer this system for your homeschooling. For your workbox label, you could simply take a photo of a domino that has the same number of dots as the  number you assign to the workbox.



Dominoes Around the World  is one of several "Around the World' themed books that Mary D. Lankford has written. Some of her other books include:
Hopscotch Around the World, Jacks Around the World, Mazes Around the World, Christmas Around the World, Birthdays Around the World, and others.

Her books are available through Amazon, as well as other online booksellers.