Gifted Children

As a child I needed something to cling to as much as the next guy, but I couldn't grasp the power of the security blanket. I understood the power of the stuffed frog and the corduroy clown, but the blanket didn't do it for me. My brother was different. He would drag his security blanket from room to room, day after day, rubbing the yellowing material between his right thumb and forefinger in that meditative way children have.

O. Henry's enduring holiday classic "The Gift of the Magi," about a man and a woman who each sacrifice something precious in order to give the other a gift, is an unusual choice for a theater company whose target audience is around age 4 and up. But in its simply staged adaptation of the tale, "The Gift" by Karen Hardcastle, Creative Play Ground (formerly Imagination in Residency) has maximum kid-friendliness in mind.

County representatives have joined volunteers from various churches and organizations to sponsor a gift and fund-raising drive to benefit children in foster care and those who are victims of abuse and neglect. Residents shopping at major malls in Ventura, Oxnard and Thousand Oaks can give cash or donate an unwrapped gift after selecting an ornament from a "Giving Tree" placed at each location, sponsors said.

There are only 19 shopping days till Christmas. Do you know what you're getting your kids this year? Every year for Christmas, I get my nephews toys. I do this not because they ask for them, but because I'm afraid of being labeled the "clothes uncle" or the "book uncle" or the "boring-gift uncle." Last year it was computer games. The year before that, a set of walkie-talkies. Did they really need walkie-talkies? Of course not.

Two more hours, and 15-year-old Paul Wiancko will open his cello case, which is bedecked with fuzzy dice and peeling stickers from places like Pedros taco stand and rock station KLOS-FM. Two more hours, and with cold hands in a temperate theater, Paul will play for Yo-Yo Ma, the world's most famous cellist, a 12-time Grammy Award winner. In a way, Paul plays for Ma every day--Ma's picture is tacked to the wall he faces when he practices at home in San Clemente.

Very early on, even before Francisco could talk, his parents noticed something was different about him. Even a little strange. At age 1, Francisco LePort spent hours toying with appliances--like the family VCR--trying to figure out how they worked. By the time he was 9, he had read so many medical texts that he could join the conversation when his parents--both physicians--discussed their patients.

Unless your children are star athletes, their chances of getting into a top college or university without honors and Advanced Placement classes are slim indeed. Clearly, those who attend schools that do not offer many of these classes are at a great disadvantage. But even attending a school with a wide variety of challenging courses is no guarantee that a student will actually be able to take any of them.

Faculty and staff members of the North Hollywood High Magnet School for the Highly Gifted were commended Monday for helping to produce a district record--four national Advanced Placement scholars. Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. Ruben Zacarias lauded the teachers and administrators, who all played a part in producing the scholars. The previous district record of two Advanced Placement scholars was set the previous year by the magnet school.

Inside Room 530 at the Juilliard School of Music, Dorothy DeLay is in the midst of cultivating her latest miracle: a 9-year-old violinist named Rachel Lee. The child is dressed in a pinstriped jumper, white ankle socks and shiny black patent leather shoes. Her long hair is drawn back with a velvet bow. In a barely audible voice, she announces: "I'm going to play Mozart's Sonata in G major."

* Re "Trustees to Discuss Halting Early Exams to Identify Gifted Children," Nov. 18: Why are parents in such a hurry these days? My own children were in gifted programs. I've also taught gifted children for 30 years. And I still believe that we can wait until second or third grade to place our children in a gifted program. Gifted children are also children who are maturing emotionally and physically.