Emotional Child = gifted

[Andaiz]

tamarind:

I thought teachers should be taught to be more understanding to kids of different abilities. What do they expect a child to do if she completes her work very quickly ? Sit and stare at the ceiling ?

I hate to say this but BINGO, TAMARIND!!! :x :x :x

While most enlightened teachers have no issues with a child's learning style or abilities, there are those who draw the line as far as \"disturbing peace\" in the classroom is concerned. What this lady doesn't realize is that pupils like my DD1 probably pushes the class along.

[tamarind]

Andaiz:

tamarind:

I thought teachers should be taught to be more understanding to kids of different abilities. What do they expect a child to do if she completes her work very quickly ? Sit and stare at the ceiling ?

I hate to say this but BINGO, TAMARIND!!! :x :x :x

While most enlightened teachers have no issues with a child's learning style or abilities, there are those who draw the line as far as \"disturbing peace\" in the classroom is concerned. What this lady doesn't realize is that pupils like my DD1 probably pushes the class along.

Quite often kids don't understand what the teacher is trying to explain, but they can understand if their fellow classmates explain things to them, because kids can communicate at the same level.

Sad to know that there are teachers like that, totally not applying what they learned at NIE.

[tamarind]

http://www.brainy-child.com/expert/gifted-characteristic.shtml


Q: How do I identify a gifted child?

A: To recognize if a child is gifted, there are numerous characteristics that are distinct to gifted individuals and quite easily observable, especially for parents. The following description would give a rough indication of these characteristics.

By the broad category of giftedness, characteristic traits are listed as general intellectual ability, specific academic aptitude, creative thinking and production, leadership, psychomotor ability, visual and performing arts. More specifically, if your child demonstrate about three quarter of the following characteristic traits, it is likely that s/he is gifted.

Variety of Interests
Excellent memory
Long attention span
Unusual curiosity
Persistence in attacking difficult mental tasks
Creative ability/Divergent thinking skills
Good problem solving/reasoning abilities
Rapid learning ability
Leadership qualities
High degree of energy
Above average language development
Early/avid reader
Preference for older/matured companions
Unusual emotional depth and intensity
Heightened sensitivity
Non-conformity behavior
Above average ability with numbers/jigsaw puzzles
Keen powers of observation
Vivid imagination
Good sense of humor
Sense of justice and moral sensitivity
Perfectionism
Apparent maturity in judgment

Researches on giftedness indicate that the best way to identify giftedness in your child is by carefully observing his behavior, not by formal testing of IQ especially if the child is very young. The best age to do an IQ test is still debatable. I suppose, as soon as the child is able to read/write and understand questions; s/he may be able to do such tests without much bias. Most of the indicators of giftedness become evident even before a child turns one! So perhaps that's when you may be able to look out for some of the indications listed above. However, do be aware that your child may not necessary be gifted in all areas.

On intelligence testing, the accuracy of an IQ test is still questionable. Nevertheless, it is still the single best predictor to test general intelligence. Intelligence and giftedness are not synonymous - as thought by many. Gifted individuals have different abilities, talents, and personalities. Even so, a sizeable proportion of the individuals categorized as gifted are distinguished from their non-gifted counterparts by virtue of superior general intelligence, which is measured by intelligence tests. This is how giftedness becomes associated with intelligence.

A note of caution, some parents tend to want to believe that their child is \"gifted\" as it may associate one with the pool of elitist, especially so within a competitive society. This may lead them to \"force\" giftedness upon their child, forgetting other aspects of development, especially their affective needs. With proper nurturing and access to educational materials, children would be seen to perform, but if their emotional and physical needs were not met, these children would be at risk of burning out.

Then, to turn the tables around would be rather difficult and requires a great deal of effort as the damage is already done during the critical age of growing. Hence, give your child what you believe would help him/her make the most of his/her abilities, but at the same time allow your child to enjoy growing. Focus on your child's strengths, at the same time pay attention to his/her weak areas and get help.

Believe that every child may not meet the early sign of gifted characteristics that are listed, but every child is special in his/her own way - focus on that specialty and you would be nurturing a well-rounded and emotionally stable child.

[Andaiz]

mrswongtuition:

I recently went for a course on special needs children (covers gifted children too) and we were advised by the lecturers at NIE:

If a child is a fast worker and finishes classroom work very quickly, the teacher should explore the following (of cos after discussing with parents):
- Prepare higher order/more challenging work for the child
- Give the child a responsibility to help out others who are struggling - maybe read the question to them or show them how to work the sum out
- Allow the child to read other materials related to the lesson (teacher has to find other resources for the child to read)

I remember that one of my teachers actually gave me more work than the rest of the class. Usually Maths teachers will only pick out certain sums from the textbook for us to practise in class but my teacher will ask me to finish every single question (well, it was to my benefit since I scored very well for Maths). Reason was to ensure I had something to do and will not disturb my classmates by chatting with them.

If your child has given you feedback that he/she is bored after finishing his/her work quickly, do check with the teacher on what they can offer to your child. But beware, not all teachers are willing to come up with 'extra' worksheets. You might need to resort to buying your own materials and getting your child to ask for permission to complete it in class if he/she has completed his/her schoolwork.

Although her Math scores were not fantastic, this teacher did mention that she gladly let her (encouraged her even) help the other children along. She asked that we get \"higher order\" math material (I've got some and am exploring UNSW Math - see my other thread) - will ask if she can do it in school. Thanks for the tip, mrswongtuition.

[mrswongtuition]

Andaiz:

Although her Math scores were not fantastic, this teacher did mention that she gladly let her (encouraged her even) help the other children along. She asked that we get \"higher order\" math material (I've got some and am exploring UNSW Math - see my other thread) - will ask if she can do it in school. Thanks for the tip, mrswongtuition.

No problem. I have some students who are like this in P1 this year and I encouraged their parents to get Maths Olympiad books for them to try (with the school teacher's permission). I do go through the answers with them during tuition. They like it because it's challenging and the questions are non-routine.