Does your child tend to be an introvert despite having impressive intellectual abilities? Does he or she think abstractly, analyze and process information in a linear fashion as opposed to a more emotional or intuitive manner? Are you finding that he or she is having problems successfully socially interacting with other children at school?

 According to GSE lecturer Katharine Beals, these are classic characteristics of "left brain children" who often have trouble thriving in school.  As the mother of three left-brain children, Beals says she has grown increasingly concerned with the problems that these often-misunderstood kids face in the classroom and in society.

Her book "Raising a Left-Brain Child in a Right-Brain World" provides parents with strategies to meet the needs of these dynamic youngsters.  On her website, katharinebeals.com, she explains that "the conversational dynamics of today's classrooms" pose challenges to left-brain children, who love learning but prefer work independently.

Beals adds that left-brain children are often labled "nerds" or "geeks" by their peers. "One of my goals …is to encourge people not to put these children down, but to celebrate them for their many wonderful quirks and talents," she says on the website.

On Jan. 19, from 7 to 8 p.m., at the Penn Bookstore, Beals will offer free practical advice to parents to help them nurture and support left-brain children at home and at school.  For more information visit www.upenn.edu/bookstore.