I'm reading the book The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin. I highly recommend it to parents/guardians of gifted children -- especially if they didn't grow up gifted themselves.
Josh Waitzkin was a chess child prodigy. You may remember the book & movie Searching for Bobby Fisher. That was about him.
In the first part of the book, Josh describes in vivid detail the passion he had for chess as a child including points when he stalled out and didn't want to pursue his study of chess. I found it very enlightening in terms of what it's like to be profoundly gifted. I think understanding and accepting the ebb and flow of life will aleviate some parents' anxiety about their gifted child stalling out, taking a break, refusing to do/learn as much or as fast as the parent thinks the child can/should.
Josh also contrasts two approaches to learning. One that is goal/achievement/end-state oriented. And another that is process oriented. It's the process approach that leads to mastery and away from perfectionism. A much healthier approach.
