Any parents of gifted children here ?

[ZacK]

Ling:

Hi,

This has been interesting reading for me. I used to teach in the Gifted programme so I have a couple of comments on what I have read thus far:

1) Nature of gifts vary: We do come across a pupil who is gifted in all respects i.e. in math, science, english, second/third language, music, art, drama, sports. Often, the pupils I am in contact with would excel greatly in two/three subjects (disciplines) and fair just above average on the rest. Some have no aptitude in a particular subject so they do not do as well during exams but when pitted against the mainstream pupils during common exams, they would still score or average well. Some develop their interests in these areas at some tipping point later on. The key thing is, they develop at their own pace and pursue their interests according to their needs. We should never stifle their quest for knowledge, skills or answers.

2) 10-year-old first : While they may be gifted, all the pupils undergo the angst of being 10 -year-olds first, regardless of their gift. They face the growing up anxieties of being a child of that age even if they are gifted. We must not lose sight of that. Just because at times they think like adults or respond like one, we forget that they are still children. It is important that as parents we do not neglect 'coping strategies' i.e. teaching a gifted child how to cope with his gift, the peer pressure from other gifted kids, as well as those from mainstream pupils. See Little Man Tate where Jodie Foster put up a stellar performance in that movie.

3) Value system : Without the proper parental guidance and value system, our kids can become gifted criminals too.

I was told by a parent that her gifted son had enrolled into a prestigious university overseas and had hacked into the department's computer system, changed the passwords and some assessment scores, 'for fun'. Fortunately, the Head was an understanding person and channelled her son's ability to more productive use by getting him to re-write a security programme.

The gifted programme in schools is an alternative to nurture high ability, gifted children to achieve their gifted potential. The curriculum is based largely on enrichment, expanding the mind and stretching the individual.
I used to tailor my lessons to the learning abilities of my pupils (some are more audio-visual, some more experiential) while balancing the requirements of MOE from the school (X assignments per term etc). Each class of pupil is different so there is a lot more preparation involved to pitch the learning at the right level. Too high and you lose those who are not interested in that subject matter, too low and you lose their interest.

Today, I hold fond memories of having touched their lives, many of whom are friends who hold successful jobs in both the civil service and in the private sector.

Thanks for sharing your experience and the insight on the GEP

[vicky]

gifted:

...Her P3 form teaher called me and asked me whether she read a lot and told me about the GEP screening due in last August...

hi gifted,

Thanks for sharing your experience.

May i know what kind of books does your daughter read (i.e. fiction or non-fiction)?

Agree that gifted cannot be judged by academic result. I know a boy from a popular school who top the level but didn't get selected for the GEP programme. The school had more than 10 pupils being selected to the programme.

[chuanchuan]

Hi EN,

May I know what gifted website were you refering to. Thanks

[gifted]

Hi Vicky,


I'm not too sure what she read. She is a very independent reader and she read very widely, especially science. As long there are books around, no matter friction or non friction, she will pick up and read. She had good memorise and can remember the facts after reading it. Frankly speaking, I can't even understand sometime. I left her in the library when I go shopping and she would sit there and read till I picked her up. Cos' she hate shopping.

[ChiefKiasu]

vicky:

...Agree that gifted cannot be judged by academic result. I know a boy from a popular school who top the level but didn't get selected for the GEP programme. The school had more than 10 pupils being selected to the programme.

Now, that makes you wonder how that boy who topped the level feels about it, doesn't it? Assuming that the boy did sit for the GEP testing and got rejected, is the system telling him \"hey, no matter how hard you work, you will never be GIFTED in my book\"?

I think I would be really sore and demoralized.

[en107rn.01056yahoo.01056com.01056sg]

Hi chuanchuan


Here is the link : http://giftedkids.about.com/ & http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/.

[lizawa]

[quote]Now, that makes you wonder how that boy who topped the level feels about it, doesn't it?[/quote]
there are many reasons why some top students never make it to GEP. One of which could be plain carelessness. One highly intelligent boy in my son's class made this remark, \"I am glad now for a mistake I made in the GEP screening\". He missed one question in the paper but didn't know until the end, so all his answers in the OAS (optical answer sheet) did not match the question number.

The top student in our school did not even make it through the first round of screening. But continue to top the cohort for the rest of the years.

Whether our kids make it to GEP or not, I think in the eyes of us parents, they are always \"gifted\" in some way

[vicky]

ChiefKiasu:

Now, that makes you wonder how that boy who topped the level feels about it, doesn't it? Assuming that the boy did sit for the GEP testing and got rejected, is the system telling him \"hey, no matter how hard you work, you will never be GIFTED in my book\"?

I think I would be really sore and demoralized.

hi ChiefKiasu,

The boy did sit for both the screening and selection test. His mother told me that he felt very demoralised.

I feel sad under this kind of system. On one hand, it is a very good programme that cater to the needs of the gifted children. On the other hand, it would make some other students feel demoralised.

In many countries, 'gifted' is defined as 2-3 percent. It is unique that only top 1 percent being selected under S'pore system. Perhaps, it would be better to open other classes for those being selected in the screening test.

[vicky]

gifted:

Hi Vicky,


I'm not too sure what she read. She is a very independent reader and she read very widely, especially science. As long there are books around, no matter friction or non friction, she will pick up and read. She had good memorise and can remember the facts after reading it. Frankly speaking, I can't even understand sometime. I left her in the library when I go shopping and she would sit there and read till I picked her up. Cos' she hate shopping.

hi gifted,

Thanks for sharing

[gifted]

[quote]The top student in our school did not even make it through the first round of screening. But continue to top the cohort for the rest of the years.
[/quote]The top girl in my girl's ex-school also did not make it too. Her parents were a bit surprise. She not only top the corhort, the class and she also top in 2 subjects. I even made a comment when I was talking to my girl's form teacher about her that she was 'SUPER'. The teacher just said that she is a very hardworking girl. :roll: :roll:

So be it gifted or not, hardwork too count. She might be the top scorer for year 2010 PSLE.

As far as I know, the majority that get through the GEP screening are boys. Last year the ratio is abt 3 boys to 1 girl.