The family, especially parents, is critical to a child’s development and can have a tremendous influence over the fruition of talents and gifts. Parents serve as interpreters of events both within and outside the family, garner educational opportunities for their child, function as role models, and set the tone for family interaction and communication patterns. The literature on the families of intellectually gifted children is small but consistent in finding that their homes tend to be child-centered with authoritative, responsive parenting. Parents espouse values that affect the beliefs and achievement of their children, including beliefs about effort, persistence, and the value of high achievement; the importance and role of education; destiny and control over events; the importance of money, social standing or prestige of occupations; the abilities of girls or other groups in particular domains; and the importance of community involvement or active-recreational pursuits.