Any parents of gifted children here ?

[lizawa]

[quote]How did he knows his result??[/quote]
Well, he doesn't know. But he knew at the end of the test that he made that mistake. Probably it was his parents who have told him that if not for that mistake, he would likely to end up in the GEP
[quote]Bright children almost always top the class but not necessarily so for gifted children. [/quote]Gifted children are really talented in certain specific area. The first GEP screening focuses on Maths and English. Those who made it past the first round are probably top 6 - 8%. But not sure if this screening cater to those who are talented in areas other than Maths and English.

[ZacK]

wwcookie:

Pls click on the following to see the differences between a bright child and a gifted child. Bright children almost always top the class but not necessarily so for gifted children. Their motivations are different.


http://giftedkids.about.com/od/gifted101/a/bright_gifted.htm?once=true&

Thanks... The chart is very useful as a reference for parents to know what to expect of their child

[wwcookie]

ZacK:

wwcookie:

Pls click on the following to see the differences between a bright child and a gifted child. Bright children almost always top the class but not necessarily so for gifted children. Their motivations are different.


http://giftedkids.about.com/od/gifted101/a/bright_gifted.htm?once=true&

Thanks... The chart is very useful as a reference for parents to know what to expect of their child

You are welcome

[tamarind]

Hi all,

I was too busy to visit this thread. I am happy to see so much discussion here now

[tamarind]

Some parents believe that "gifted" can be trained. But being "gifted" has nothing to do with how hardworking you are.


I remember when I was young, I bought a Rubik’s Cube. I failed to solve the puzzle no matter how hard I tried for many months. But my older brother(only a teenager back then) solved it within one night. He has never played with the cube before. Some kids are simply born more gifted then others.

However, we must also remember that there are many kinds of "giftedness". Mozart is gifted in creating beautiful music. But was he very good in maths as well ? I don’t think so.

The problem with the gifted programme in Singapore, is that the educators seem to think that a gifted child can do every thing from maths and science to literature and poetry. I think that this is not the correct way to develop a gifted child.

[tamarind]

EN:

Hi Tamarind

I have given some thoughts of the suggestions that you have made. I'm sorry if I'm too quick to brush off your suggestion. :oops: I think back & I know there is a period that my son is not intense in a certain subject. It will then be a phase of finding what subject interest him. During this period he can jump from one topic to another until he finds something of interest & he will then intensify his readings on a particular subject for months. Having a variety of books at home will help him when he is in the searching period instead of waiting another week to get his question answered. I wonder in this millenium age, is encyclopedia still being sold?

I realize that there is no short cut in bringing up a child. Sending him to Science Club will give me some relief. However, that does not mean that he will stop asking those wonderful questions. So, must instill on our kids to be confident reader & desire to learn.

EN,
I am not offended at all I fully understand why you feel that the enrichment class will benefit your son.

I want to clarify that I am not totally against enrichment classes. In fact I insist that both my kids attend Chinese enrichment classes, and they do learn so much more from there. They do not have a Chinese speaking environment at home, so this class is important for them.

When I was in university, there are some students who almost never attend any of the lectures or tutorials. But they pass every subject, and some even did very well. They actually read the books and studied on their own, because they felt that the professors are simply reading from the slides and they did not want to waste time attending the lectures.

I want my kids to know that they don't have to attend a class in order to learn something. So long as they have the ability to read on their own, they can learn anything.

[tamarind]

ZacK:

To some extent enrichment classes do help... But more importantly... For a child to be able to grow up to harness their fullest potential... My personal take is the following is of equal or more importance:

- Always encourage and support their inquisitive minds. Kids are curious by nature... They start to lose this attribute when they keep asking the adults around them but gets put down instead. I make a point to search for answers that I may not know and make it a group activity that we do together.

- Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence. With these two attributes, the kids will then have the courage to go explore this world on their own. Parents can only be with their kids up to a certain point in time. So I find that it is important to equip them with the right skills/values for them to go \"fish\" on their own. One thing I forbid in our household is the use of derogatory remarks... Especially like using the word stupid on another person. We use other words like someone is being silly or if I have made a mistake... I'd be saying like ... Oops silly me etc. I tried not using words with negative connotations like NO or WRONG etc... Not easy most of the time... I guess we are all doing our best at being the \"ideal\" parent :oops:

I am glad that we share the same views ! I totally agree with what you wrote above.

I also don't use derogatory remarks at home. One day, I was reading a book with my girl, and we came across the word \"stupid\". My girl has never heard of the word \"stupid\" ! I am happy that her teachers at her PCF kindergarten also do not use this word

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

Hi Gifted


I read in Hoagies that testing is usually followed by questions posed to the parents on the child history & parents observation. So is this scenario applicable to the selection process for the gifted program in Spore? If yes, how are the questions posed? Open ended questions to be answered on papers or face to face interview?

[ZacK]

tamarind:

Some parents believe that \"gifted\" can be trained. But being \"gifted\" has nothing to do with how hardworking you are.

Hmmm.... To me I feel there is a distinction between being gifted and being bright.

Gifted is nature's gift and cannot be nurtured... For many of us parents here... I guess all that we are doing is to make our kids brighter assuming they are not gifted

In any case... I would prefer my child to be bright and not gifted... As we are mainly concerned with them being able to make a better living for themselves and survive the rat race.

tamarind:

The problem with the gifted programme in Singapore, is that the educators seem to think that a gifted child can do every thing from maths and science to literature and poetry. I think that this is not the correct way to develop a gifted child.

By my definition above... MOE should rename their GEP to BEP >> Bright Education Program ... Based on what you have reiterated above, a gifted child should not be expected to excel in every subject... These expectations should be more appropriate for a bright child :roll:

[ZacK]

tamarind:

I am glad that we share the same views ! I totally agree with what you wrote above.

I also don't use derogatory remarks at home. One day, I was reading a book with my girl, and we came across the word \"stupid\". My girl has never heard of the word \"stupid\" ! I am happy that her teachers at her PCF kindergarten also do not use this word

We cannot control what our kids learn from others outside of home... What we can stress is what phrases are appropriate and what are not.

My son knows the word stupid but he knows that he should not use it on anyone... I guess it actually not the specific words but more imptly the appropriateness and when the word is used... We were at a Harrods toilet overseas and they have an attendant there... I was so embarassed when my son asked me within ear shot of the person why that person was so FAT?? :oops: ... When we were alone together, I just pointed out to him that it's not appropriate and rude to say that of a person ... Reason given was that the person could feel hurt and sad over the remark.

My son actually felt bad after hearing that... Not heard him say again of anyone yet... If so, just need to remind them gently again