Any parents of gifted children here ?

[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

[gifted]

[quote]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?[/quote]
Hi En,

No, not that I know of. The school will inform the parents about the selection and we, parents just needed to sign the consent form. She just went through the first round which was held in school. Usually the top 10% of the corhort will get through this round. Then she went to a another school for the second round. This round take 2 days and 2 papers to be answered for both Math and English. If the child is being selected, they will inform the child through the school.

[breguet]

Hi All, I just joined the forum and stumbled on this thread. My son is 5 this year was tested with the WPPSI to be in the high end of the gifted range. What can I say? Sounds great, which it is in some ways. He’s the usual early reader/mr why/full of imagination/laugh-a-minute/math-fabulous etc.


But he has a lot of problems finding friends. He is extremely sensitive to what people say and doesn’t understand why other boys are so prone to pushing and hitting. We’ve just entered a bad patch - he’s so upset with A LOT of his friends all at the same time, and I feel so overwhelmed, sigh. He keeps asking me why he’s different - he’s always asked that, but now, it’s just so sad because he can’t seem to connect. Very heart breaking, sigh.

Have you guys been in a similar situation?

[wwcookie]

breguet:

Hi All, I just joined the forum and stumbled on this thread. My son is 5 this year was tested with the WPPSI to be in the high end of the gifted range. What can I say? Sounds great, which it is in some ways. He's the usual early reader/mr why/full of imagination/laugh-a-minute/math-fabulous etc.


But he has a lot of problems finding friends. He is extremely sensitive to what people say and doesn't understand why other boys are so prone to pushing and hitting. We've just entered a bad patch - he's so upset with A LOT of his friends all at the same time, and I feel so overwhelmed, sigh. He keeps asking me why he's different - he's always asked that, but now, it's just so sad because he can't seem to connect. Very heart breaking, sigh.

Have you guys been in a similar situation?

Hi breguet,
My son is in the SAME SITUATION. When he was in preschool, he oso cannot understand why other boys like to hurt each other and got very upset and asked me why. He was oso upset when he saw his friend being mean to another friend and as a result, he stopped liking that friend. He was oso upset when the class was very noisy when the teacher is teaching.
Now that he's in P1, he is upset every time the teacher scolds the whole class for being noisy, including those who behaves. He is oso upset when the monitor writes down his friends' names for even whispering in class when the teacher is not around. He is upset when his friends made up unfair rules during play. OMG the list goes on and on!
I guess it's very hard when they are so sensitive and the value of fairness means A LOT to them.
What can we do then? It is very heartbreaking to know that they are struggling so much

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

Hi


Sounds familiar. In kindergarten, not much of a problem as there are so many girls & a handful of good natured boys. Now in primary 1, he just choose his friend selectively. Those he thinks that will not be in the same wavelength as him, he just ignore them.

1st day of school, saw a kid asking another kid money. He advise both of them that it is wrong to ask & the other to give, reported it to the teacher & gets upset why such things exist.

As a family, we learn to be very careful of what we say. Some jokes, talks to stranger can also makes him wail. My hubby is exasperated with him. Why a boy can be so sensitive over small little things. I was wearing a strand of pearl & he commented on the beauty of it. As usual pops the question of how pearl is obtained. After a short explanation of how pearls are form, he comes into conclusion that the clams are killed for my vanity. Ah… the sad face again (at least that does not amount to wailing).

Family gathering, he usually hangs around with the older cousins. He ignore those of his age cause they will start finding fault with him. I have an older daughter, so they usually play together.

I hope your kids will be able to adept and find good friends. They usually will click with those of similar interest and background.

[wwcookie]

Do you guys think its a good idea to organise a meetup so our kids can meet and hopefully make friends with each other? Afterall, its quite hard for them to find like-minded kids in their everyday lives…

[breguet]

A meet up would be great! My son is an only child - no more energy after this!! He went through a phase of not eating meat last year because he couldn’t bear to think of animals getting killed. BTW, I spoke to a psychologist before on this and she gave me some tips n how to handle these intense episodes of I-don’t-know-what-to-call-it. Can share with you guys! (most of the psychs here are hopeless btw).


I tell my son to tell his friends to stop hitting him, but it’s not working. The other kids don’t get it anyway, and my son hesitates too much. He says he’s worried about offending them and they don’t play with him, so he holds back. I wonder what happened to his spirit of childish impulsiveness in these situations. He just can’t react first without thinking.

[wwcookie]

Hi breguet,


Just pm-ed u

[breguet]

Hi wwcookie, tks for the invite. I’ve just replied.


I wonder if there are parents with older children out there who have been through this. Do they ever grow out of it? Will they learn to manage themselves so they have a less difficult time?