Gifted & Talented Program

The Ojibwe believed that children themselves were special gifts from the Creator– gifted and talented education was already a natural part of such tribal societies. Parents and tribal elders used praise and reassurance in helping children reach their potential–this is now referred to as “addressing the affective domain”.

Extended family and their roles are still important within the traditional family unit, many tribes consider the aunts and uncles to also be mother and father, cousins are as brothers and sisters. The teaching process in earlier times was the responsibility of the whole community –this has currently been referred to as “a community of intergenerational learning”.

In this extended family system everyone shared responsibilities for the children and youth. This included discipline as well as supervising the social and moral development of the child –this is now referred to as mentorship and cooperative learning. Children were taught that it is important to cooperate, to share and to show respect for elders–now we refer to this as character education and role modeling.

Telling stories and legends was an integral part of the learning process–which in gifted education is referred to as using metaphors and analogies. Teaching children to be good listeners, regard spoken words, and to understand non-verbal communication are key components of life skills and leadership education. A theme of learning throughout a child’s lifetime was the concept of circles in life and the basic concept of “relationship between all things and respect for nature”–now called interdisciplinary learning.

The enrichment program will provide enrichment for those students identified in the five areas of giftedness:

1. general intellectual;
2. specific academic;
3. leadership;
4. visual and performing arts; and
5. creative, critical or productive thinking.

The gifted and talented program will insure the holistic development of each student through cultural, social, physical and intellectual/academic experiences that will provide these students with opportunities to become self-actualized, self-motivated leaders and producers of ideas. You need to fill out a Nomination Form in order to enroll your son or daughter in the gifted and talented program. The Ojibwe school will send one home with the student or send it in the mail.

Contact Information

Colleen Bigaouette MSE.
Gifted and Talented Coordinator
Fond du Lac Ojibwe School
Cloquet MN 55720
218-878-7551 ex:7562
colleenbigaouette@fdlrez.com