Any parents of gifted children here ?
-
getz:
Agree. Their first Mainstream exam in the three years in GEP is the school's Prelim! They only started preparing for PSLE after the June holidays. In short, their curriculum is different and not a preparation for PSLE. The kids will be very stressed if they are not naturally endowed with high IQ.Hi every body... just to follow up..some GEP schools do not prepare the kids for PSLE (my son's ex-school)
Why equate giftedness with results?
For parents, if a very good PSLE result is very important to you, you may want to think twice about letting your child into the stream (if eligible).
If your child has already been working very hard to acheive the current good results, think about it; do you want him to 'continue to suffer' for the next few years? If his good results come effortlessly, Then I think he will be very happy in the programme. -
I think most gifted children are gifted in certain areas, such as academic, drawing, music, sports etc. Of course there are some who are quite well rounded but I see most have a special gift in some specific area. However, other than focusing on the gift which the child is born with, we should also look at the other aspects so as to develop the child into a well adjusted being.
We sometimes pay so much attention on the gifts of a gifted child that we neglect other areas. I think we need to strike a balance between developing a child’s gift and the child’s other needs (emotionally, physically etc). Therefore, we need to be very careful and observe the child’s overall emotional/physically development and focus more in this area if we see some misalignment that prevents the child from becoming someone that can contribute to society effectively.
There have been cases where some gifted children have been hurt by “insensitive” remarks/jokes by their more “normal” peers. We do not want an academic sound person to be sickly all his life, or some gifted artist who commit suicide in the end because one cannot cope with the challenges of life.
Character flaws that inhibits someone (whether gifted or not) from eventually becoming a person that can lead a meaningful life is a concern and need to be addressed and sometimes, help from experts may be needed.
With regards to “training” a child to get into GEP, I think a truly gifted child will blossom, even if we do not specifically train him/her. The gifted will be able to find ways and means to satisfy their hunger for knowledge. But of course, we should not deny them the opportunity.
What I mean is we do not have to “teach” them but we can provide them with opportunities to learn such as by giving them books to read, some experiment equipment to explore or an instrument to play etc. With the right apparatus, they will be able to discover things and learn. I don’t think we should look at training them per se. The role of the “trainer” of a truly gifted child is mainly to guide and facilitate, to cultivate the child’s gift so that the gift can be developed fully.
We have to be careful to differentiate a gifted child from a talented child. We might be able to train a talented or bright child to a certain level such that he/she gets into GEP. However, the motive behind this training to get into GEP is imperative to a child’s development. As we know, GEP does not go according to the PSLE syllabus and we read from this forum that preparation for PSLE takes less than half a year. That’s why not all GEP students do well in the PSLE.
If a child is naturally gifted, the demanding curriculum in the course will stimulate and excite the child into satisfying his/her thirst for knowledge. The child will find the joy in learning due to the difference in expectations and the way things are being taught, as compared to if the child is being confined to the normal classroom environment. Hence, the GEP provides a good opportunity to develop the potential of the truly gifted.
However, a bright child who is being trained/forced into GEP may on the other hand, finds it too stressful, or needs loads of extra tuition to catch up. In this case, the child may even lose interest in studying as the focus is now not on acquiring knowledge which satisfies the joy of learning. Instead, the focus may be getting the desired grades/marks, which if unattained, may demoralise the child and affect his/her self-esteem. I think this totally defeats the purpose of the GEP and in the long run, may not benefit the child. In this case, the bright child may be better off being in a normal classroom environment and getting first every year.
Sorry for being so “cheong hei”. Just my 2-cents worth.
-
Fairy:
I think that gifted children can also be very happy in the mainstream. A gifted child can learn things with few repetitions, so he/she can breeze through the mainstream syllabus and do very well effortlessly. He/she can spend very little time on schoolwork, and spend more time developing other interests at home. After all, whatever is provided in the GEP may not exactly suit her interest.
If your child has already been working very hard to achieve the current good results, think about it; do you want him to 'continue to suffer' for the next few years? If his good results come effortlessly, Then I think he will be very happy in the programme. -
Sunflower,
Thanks for your very good post
[quote]The role of the “trainer” of a truly gifted child is mainly to guide and facilitate, to cultivate the child’s gift so that the gift can be developed fully. [/quote]I totally agree with you. But it is not easy to know how to cultivate. For example, a child who has the gift of drawing, should we send her to Arts Class ? What if the child already has a distinctive style ? If we send her to learn from arts teachers, will she be made to conform to other people's styles ? Then slowly lose her own originality ?
I guess for academic learning like maths, science, etc, we can probably just have many maths/science reference books at home, or bring the child to the library regularly so that he/she has the chance to learn everything on her own
What if a gifted child who is not able to spend a lot of time in the library ? Or have no internet access at home ? He/she will probably lose out to those children who have been sent to GEP preparatory class by their parents. -
My girl (11) is also in GEP. Nanyang Primary School. She’s been reading and drawing since 5. However, she only reads English books! Her English level, according to NSW ICAS papers, is at JC level. About her Chinese though…I have nothing more to say…
-
catgoh03:
My girl (11) is also in GEP. Nanyang Primary School. She's been reading and drawing since 5. However, she only reads English books! Her English level, according to NSW ICAS papers, is at JC level. About her Chinese though...I have nothing more to say...
May I know what 'JC level' means?
One can get
- credit
- distinction
- high distinction
in the NSW competition. You will also know if you belong to the 'top x %' of your cohort. The top in SIngapore in the respective subjects will be invited to attend the award ceremony. Someone I know was top in Singapore in Maths. -
I’m grateful for sunflower’s post on the GEP n mainstream programme. It is accurate and objective.
My son is in the GEP at an SAP sch. All I can say is, just like the sports sch is a necessity for children gifted in sports, the GEP is a heaven sent for kids gifted in the academics.
Parents should not view the GEP as a prestigious prog tt they insist on their kids getting into by hook or by crook. The mainstream sch system is not to be belittled. It has done well in educating the majority of our kids.
The GEP is here to help kids like my son who despaired constantly in his lower pri sch years over the slow pace n narrow scope of the math n english sbjts taught. He was an NSW int’l math competition medal winner in P2 n he had consistently been a high distinction winner for science, math and this yr, top2% for eng. And, no, he wasnt sent to any enrichment nor tuition classes. All i did was to help him source for any reading materials tt he needed to pursue whatever passion it was for the period. His focus may be on the periodic table one moment, and on a totally different topic like the pascal’s triangle the next. Or it may be a feverish need to read all the bks by a particular author.
When he joined the GEP at the start of 2008, i was concerned tt he may not adjust to the pace n curriculum and i still constantly ask him if he is happy. So far, he has indicated tt he is happier in this prog i.t.o the like-minded kids in his class, the teachg methods, the worksheets handed out n the projects given to him.
I wish tt parents will one day stop arguing amongst themselves whether the GEP is a waste of taxpayers money or whether it is an elitist prog. Diff kids need to be taught differently, and the gifted need our support to discover their gifts. I wish pple will stop sniggering if the top PSLE kid is not a GEP kid. The aim of GEP is not to be exam smart. Like sunflower said, the PSLE training comes only in the middle of P6 for these kids. I wish parents will stop thinkg tt their kids are’losing’ out on quality education if their kids are not selected for the GEP. After all, after a short 3 yrs, the mainstream kids with gd results and the GEP kids will agn be blended together in the IP at the top sec schs. And the race to the finsh line starts on equal ground agn, where hard slog matters more than brains.
For parents who think the kids fit better in the GEP, my advice is support them, not with more enrichment classes, but with ample resources for the kids to deepen their interest in whatever sbjt it is for tt moment. -
I don’t question the validity of the goals of GEP. Gifted children should be challenged and taught to both manage and grow the full potential of the God-given talents.
What I am against is the manner by which it is implemented in Singapore, which, in my humble opinion, is the reason why parents see GEP both as a mark of honor and as a means to get into the "better" schools. There is no point urging parents not to treat the GEP as a programme for top students, because, by definition, that is exactly what it is set out to identify - the top 1% of students who excel in English and Math, which are also subjects covered by the Primary school syllabus. In fact, most parents want their children to take the GEP tests just to see how their children stack up against others in their cohorts at the national level!
This starts a vicious cycle in which parents believe children should be "trained from young" to pass GEP without understanding the point that GEP is really meant to support the truly gifted children. I have no doubt that children can be trained to do well for the GEP exams - but so WHAT? Does passing GEP exams imply that the child is really "gifted"? -
Fairy:
he is the type who played computer games during exam period. I feel that he is gifted leh, hardly see him study & yet still breeze through O & A levels.
There is a difference between hardwork and giftedness. With hardwork, one can still do very well and be successful in life/studies. With giftedness, one need not put much effort to get the same results.
somehow he wasn't identify during GEP
and I noticed he has interests in a wide variety of things outside his academic area eg. interest in yo-yo, mountain biking, flute, er-hu, skating...yet these interests were rather short-lived. Once he mastered the techniques, he moved on quickly to new things
One person whom I assoicate with the defintion of 'giftedness' is Da Vinci. He was into physics and arts and many more areas and exceptionally good in everything he pursued. Truely gifted! -
sleepy:
Err...I breezed thru my PSLE/O levels without much studying too. I had a wide variety of interests, be it physics, astronomy, Chinese calligraphy, art, Chinese literature, piano/music, wei qi, tennis etc...Most of my peers did mention I was bright/talented and some were even envious that I could still score with minimal study...but I don't think I'm gifted. There was no GEP during my time and even if there was, I would definitely not be identified.
he is the type who played computer games during exam period. I feel that he is gifted leh, hardly see him study & yet still breeze through O & A levels.Fairy:
There is a difference between hardwork and giftedness. With hardwork, one can still do very well and be successful in life/studies. With giftedness, one need not put much effort to get the same results.
somehow he wasn't identify during GEP
and I noticed he has interests in a wide variety of things outside his academic area eg. interest in yo-yo, mountain biking, flute, er-hu, skating...yet these interests were rather short-lived. Once he mastered the techniques, he moved on quickly to new things ... On second thoughts, even if I was some how channelled into the gifted stream (if it existed then), I would not be happy, as I didn’t think that I would have the time to pursue my other interests and enjoy my childhood.
However, I think my elder sibling who was able to learn and solve calculus problems in P6/Sec1 many many years ago (actually there weren't many resources then) by merely reading books without getting any help from teachers is gifted.
I think a gifted child is manifested by some of his/her exceptional abilities in certain areas and cannot be purely measured by academic results.
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login