Grakauskaité Karkockiené, Daiva

Abstract. This article describes the provision for the gifted children and youth in Lithuania in Educational Center for Gifted in Lithuania as well as creativity training research in Vilnius Pedagogical University. Educational Center for Gifted was established in 2002 in Vilnius. The Center is the first organization in Lithuania aiming to deal with the special problems of gifted children and youth. It seeks to help people to recognize their abilities and use them in the best way in our changing society. The activity of the center seeks to encourage young people to become more responsible for their own future and pay attention to their real abilities (creative, intellectual, special).  There are special programs for children. There are special courses for the teachers and parents. Our Center aims to bring together specialists and talented people who work with children and youth in other organizations which spend hours in a work with talented children with special needs in every week. The Center is a nonprofit public organization. We have already won the project in Lithuania “You can more” from Lithuanian Foundation for Educational Change (2002). In 2006 the Netherlands Foundations for Central and Eastern Europe supported the activity of Educational Center for gifted - the handbook of Creativity training for teachers, parents and students was published as well as summer camp was organized for the participants of the programs. Another part of the article is devoted to the problems of creativity training as a part of gifted education programs. The program of creativity training will be presented in detailes. Research extended during the period between 2004 and 2006 in Vilnius Pedagogical University, the pilot research was done in Educational Center for Gifted.
Keywords. Educational Center for Gifted, creativity training programs