Any parents of gifted children here ?
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tamarind:
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 ?[/quote]Yes, I think we as parents may not be equipped with the know-how of developing our children special gifts. I’ve seen reports of highly gifted children overseas being taught by piano professors. They advanced really quickly in their piano playing and their gifts are developed to the fullest.
[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.
With reference to your example of the gift of drawing, my take is to send the child to an arts class. This is to let the child learn the basic techniques/forms and foundations for the child to build her drawings/paintings on.
However, we have to be careful to select those arts classes that are more “creative” in nature where the teachers do not force a certain way/style of drawing onto the child. Instead, the child is exposed to the different styles in art history which the child can in turn draw on to further develop his/her own unique style. However, depending on the level of a child’s giftedness, sometimes having individual attention/training from some “expert” or artist may help develop the child’s potential more.
I heard that NAFA arts is quite good, but I’m not too sure whether it’ll be suitable for your child.
[quote]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.[/quote]I think by letting the gifted child have ample access to library/internet does help greatly with developing the gifts of a child. These resources serve to enhance the development and cultivation of their gifts. If parents are able to provide these resources, well and good. If not, I think these children would still be able find ways and means to satisfy their own curiosity and thirst for knowledge.
I think ultimately, they may still be picked up by the GEP screening if they’re really gifted. If not, they’ll be in the main stream but would probably do well in their studies. Anyway, prior to having the GEP, many of such children went on to excel in their studies. As mentioned by naggo-nitemare, GEP and top students will eventually merge and set out on an equal footing in top secondary schools. -
hmmm not too sure about the GEP stuff but if the giftedness in question is pertaining to art, then I think encourgaement in topics related to art and frequent trips to the museum, bookstore and librarys and plenty of art materials to experiment with will be equally beneficial if you feel formal art classes may be restrictive in terms of teaching.
Totally agree that ample access to library/internet does help greatly with developing the gifts of a child. It is great that information is so readily available now adays. You can find people demonstrating different drawing styles for different subjects on you tube and find samples of art from many artist in wikipedia. -
Hey, great ideas, mincy! I guess as opposed to sports or playing a musical instrument, having a coach may not be absolutely necessary in order to excel in the giftedness pertaining to art.
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naggo nitemare wrote
[quote]All i did was to help him source for any reading materials tt he needed to pursue whatever passion it was for the period.[/quote]Would you be able to share your experience in finding reading materials for your son when he was young, prior primary school? Do you face the problem to source the right material suitable for your son interest, his ability to read & his ability to comprehend? I have this problem as I don't find my son development to be asynchronous.
Less problem now because he is currently in P1. More confident in reading available reading materials.
My son's interest in science & his fascination in memorizing facts does not end there. He wants to share his knowledge to friends & teachers. So when requested to write about favourite animals, he shares his facts in writing. Content unlike a P1, grammar & spelling totally a P1 student eg amphibian becomes amfibian.
The school requires to write 5 lines for English paper. The teacher is looking out for grammar & spelling. I have a hard time telling my son, to write simple story & cut his story to 5 sentences only & only write those words that he knows how to spell.
I don't want to break his spirit but I don't want his enthusiasm in learning and sharing is dampen by his inability to write his thoughts. -
Hi EN, i can understand ur concerns rgdg misspelling of words in P1. It’s wonderful tt ur son is keen to express himself in writing. A gd P1 teacher (eg my son’s) will encourage her students to write regardless of misspelling, in their daily routine. Unfortunately, when it comes to the year-end exams, if ur son wants to be a top scorer, he does hv to be exam smart by sticking to familiar words tt will be spelt correctly. But by doing this once or twice a year should not dampen his enthusiasm in learning, if his daily work doesnt limit him in this way. My son treats exams like a game, to play within the scoring requirements.
On the topic of sourcing for reading materials, like other parents, i start with the community library. In his pre-pri years, some bks tt really drew him in were written by richard scarry, jim benton (franny k stein), suzie kline, nancy mcarthur, R dahl, joanna cole (magic sch bus), goscinny n uderzo (asterix n obelix).
i make library reservations n rent fr sunny bkstore if the library does not hv any copies available. I buy only when he reads them many times like the murderous maths series by kjartan poskitt.
If ur son loves science, horrible science series is gd. I trawled the internet and found out tt wendy isdell’s A Gebra Named Al (library repository has it)is suitable for kids who love stories with science content. She also wrote a 2nd bk A Chemy named Al but u need to buy it on the internet as none is available here. David J Sobol’s Encyclopaedia Brown series are mysteries solved with science concepts.
encouraging/ supporting ur son to compile his own scrapbk or projects is impt. Kids nowadays are blessed with the internet. Researchg is sooo much easier compared to our days of going to the reference section of the libraries.
there is much more i can share but it’ll be too cheong hei. -
Hi naggo-nitemare
Thanks for replying. I kind of forget the magic words when faced up with work & exam stress. \"Only for exam, write 5 sentences\" :roll: My son has no interest in fictional books. Occassionally now, he reads Road Dahl & Scooby Doo (he is more interested in solving cross word puzzle). He jumps straight to non-fiction when he was first introduce to community library. So, it's difficult to find books that he can read on his own at that time. We read horrible science series & we love it a lot.
Hi Tamarind
Not sure if it is a good idea to open a new tthread on \"To meet the need of bright child\". I'm sure there are a lot of parents who have kids that are not selected for GEP or kids like ours who is able to do things beyond their age but not tested for giftedness. I'm sure parents like us, faces difficulty or at lost as to how we can assist to help them.
For GEP parents, a topic like how to help our children in preparing PSLE will be a good start. -
EN:
Hi Tamarind
Not sure if it is a good idea to open a new tthread on \"To meet the need of bright child\". I'm sure there are a lot of parents who have kids that are not selected for GEP or kids like ours who is able to do things beyond their age but not tested for giftedness. I'm sure parents like us, faces difficulty or at lost as to how we can assist to help them.
For GEP parents, a topic like how to help our children in preparing PSLE will be a good start.
EN,
I noticed that many parents who posted in this thread have kids in GEP, that means their kids are \"certified gifted\". Other parents who have bright kids who are still very young, probably don't want to say anything, because they are not sure whether their kids are gifted or not. Most parents will say that their child is gifted only when he/she successfully gets into the GEP !
I think it is alright for this thread to be a place whether all types of parents can come in for discussion
I started this thread because I have come across quite a number of very young children in Singapore, who has amazing ability to learn at a very young age. These children need not be drilled, since they can learn things after being taught only once. The problem is that there are no preschools which can cater to needs of these children. A 5 year old child may already be reading like an adult, but we cannot find any K1 class in Singapore that truly suits his/her abilities. So it will be interesting to know how other parents cater to the needs of their gifted children.sunflower:
The problem is that it is very difficult to find such teachers in SingaporeHowever, we have to be careful to select those arts classes that are more “creative” in nature where the teachers do not force a certain way/style of drawing onto the child.
ChiefKiasu:
The current GEP selection process results in GEP being an elitist programme. GEP tests the students on what they already know. So parents who are high income earners, can afford to send their kids to the most expensive GEP preparatory schools so that they can acquire knowledge far beyong their level. These children, whether gifted or not, will certainly have a better chance of passing the GEP tests.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\"?
A gifted child does not mean that he knows things without having been taught. He might have read widely and learn on his own. But in the first place, someone must teach him to read very well at a young age. What if the parents of the gifted child are unable to teach him, and cannot afford to send him to enrichment classes ? He may not stay within walking distance to a library. I don't think any parents will allow their 5 year old child to take a bus to the library. These gifted children from low income families will definitely lose out to those from higher income families.
I wrote in this thread, a few pages back, that the selection process should not test the child on what he/she already knows. The process should test the child on how fast, and how deep, he can learn new knowledge on his own. -
tamarind:
EN, I noticed that many parents who posted in this thread have kids in GEP, that means their kids are \"certified gifted\". Other parents who have bright kids who are still very young, probably don't want to say anything, because they are not sure whether their kids are gifted or not. Most parents will say that their child is gifted only when he/she successfully gets into the GEP!
Hi, tamarind and other kiasu parents. In fact I have been following this thread for quite sometime and have learnt a lot from some parents here (especially yourself). I have also realised that I see some of the characteristics of giftedness (mentioned by parents with gifted children) in my boy throughout his growth. However, I am still quite uncertain and also too shy to discuss about him over here. Just few days ago, we were told that he got into GEP.
I believe from my postings here, you would have noticed that I am just an 'O' level graduate, including my husband. Our family of four are surviving on a single income, we have to save and skimp on ourselves to meet our ends every month. Of course, we also send our children to enrichments (Learning Point and Tien Hsia for my boy) just like what other parents in Singapore are doing but definitely not those GEP preparation courses. We understand that if a child is gifted, he is gifted even no training is given.
The reason why I post my comments here today is not because I want to boast about my boy getting into GEP. I am just eager to know other GEP parents in order to learn from them, to find out how they have helped their children cope with GEP. -
Windflower,
Congratulations to you and your boy for getting into GEP
I definitely don't mean that you, or anyone else is boasting. In fact, I guess many other parents think that I am boasting about the abilities of my girl :lol:
I do not speak to any of my real life friends (not those who I chat with in the forums) about the abilities of my girl, because I don't want them to think that I am boasting. But in the internet, since nobody knows us in person, I think we should be free to speak :lol:
Just to clarify, I actually wish that more parents who think that their child is gifted, regardless of whether he/she is in the GEP, can join this thread for discussion
All other parents who have any opinions about how gifted children should be raised, are also very welcome -
EN:
Would you be able to share your experience in finding reading materials for your son when he was young, prior primary school? Do you face the problem to source the right material suitable for your son interest, his ability to read & his ability to comprehend? I have this problem as I don't find my son development to be asynchronous.naggo nitemare wrote
[quote]All i did was to help him source for any reading materials tt he needed to pursue whatever passion it was for the period.
Less problem now because he is currently in P1. More confident in reading available reading materials.
My son's interest in science & his fascination in memorizing facts does not end there. He wants to share his knowledge to friends & teachers. So when requested to write about favourite animals, he shares his facts in writing. Content unlike a P1, grammar & spelling totally a P1 student eg amphibian becomes amfibian.
The school requires to write 5 lines for English paper. The teacher is looking out for grammar & spelling. I have a hard time telling my son, to write simple story & cut his story to 5 sentences only & only write those words that he knows how to spell.
I don't want to break his spirit but I don't want his enthusiasm in learning and sharing is dampen by his inability to write his thoughts.[/quote]Really interesting sharing... my 5 yo loves to read too, and he really reads whatever that he can pick up... He is reading encyclopedias and storybooks meant for older children, and is picking up some undesirable vocabs, such as : you are such a nuisance (to his brother) or you are crazy! (which is quite rude...) sigh... not sure how to teach him to be careful in using his words as he is merely using what he has read in the books...
and yes, tho he speaks well and reads widely, he still doesn't know the spelling of many words, so I foresee the same prob in his P1 that you ahve outlined here.
A side question, for those kids who started reading early, are they wearing glasses already? My boy started reading words at 2, and reading independently at 3+, and have been reading voraciously since then.. and yes, he had to wear glasses at the beginning of this year
the rest have tips to protect their eyesight??
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