Any parents of gifted children here ?
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Hi Tamarind,
Sorry to hear about your bad experience in your previous job. At least, you are having a better time now.
Yup, I can understand about what you meant about your gal's fine motor skills. She does have better fine motor skills that most of her peers. You should feel proud of both your gal and boy's achievements.
And I believe you didn't train her fine motor skills. Sometimes, kids just seem to know it. Like my son, I have never taught or encourage him to draw. But one fine day when he was 4+, he just started drawing on his own. But unlike your gal, he's more of a 3D person. He would draw plans of places he had been to. When he drew houses, he would add in the furntiure and people. What surprises me most are his drawings on aeroplanes and helicopters. He drew them without any aids. Of course, his fine motor skills is definitely not as good as your gal. But my gal is the one that amazes me most. I did not spend much time reading to her compared to my son. But she just seems to pick things up easily. Ok, not going into details lest I sound like boasting.
Your kids are really fortunate to have a father that chat with them on such interesting stuffs. As for reading, I was told that some kids, especially girls, are natural sight readers. I suppose that's the case for both my kids. They started reading words long before I taught them phonics (Even then, we only did simple blending). Phonics also further enhance their speed of reading. For my girl, I think she benefitted from having an older brother. She could blend simple words (e.g cat, clap) at 17 mths old and we didn't even teach her how to.
Though I'm proud of my kids, I realise that every kid has his/her own special ability too. I once met a 5+ yr old who can write and draw very well. He could write complicated chinese characters within very narrow and small spaces. Another 6 year old I know can rattle the routes of various buses off his head. And there's this charming 5 year old gal that seems to be gifted in EQ. She simply shows compassion when it is needed and is sensitive to the adults' needs as well. I'm sure every parent in this forum has something to share about their kids too. I don't know, perhaps, kids nowadays simply have the ability to amaze us? -
Tamarind wrote[quote]For children who have the gift to learn effortlessly, I feel that we should not aim to cram them with advance knowledge when they are very young. Yes a 5 year old child who can do algebra or even calculus sounds very amazing. But what is the use of know such advanced knowledge at a very young age ? He will not need to use such knowledge until he is a teenager.
[/quote]What if the interest and aptitude in math is there? Shouldn't we as parents be the person to provide the necessary resources so that the child can explore?
The book that we have just bought, I'm not sure if it can be taught. With my ds good result in math but no aptitude for the subject, it just doesn't work (book is meant for P2 level). But for Chamonix, whose son at a young age, is able to pick it up effortlessly, I think she should nurture her son's interest & not stifle his ability. Nurture does not mean cramming as we know end results, it will simply kill the child interest.
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EN:
What if the interest and aptitude in math is there? Shouldn't we as parents be the person to provide the necessary resources so that the child can explore?
The book that we have just bought, I'm not sure if it can be taught. With my ds good result in math but no aptitude for the subject, it just doesn't work (book is meant for P2 level). But for Chamonix, whose son at a young age, is able to pick it up effortlessly, I think she should nurture her son's interest & not stifle his ability. Nurture does not mean cramming as we know end results, it will simply kill the child interest.
EN,
I am sure that you and Chamonix are nurturing your kids in the right way
I was just thinking about other kids who are very advanced in maths. Are they really that interested in maths ? Did they learn on their own ? I do not think that it is possible for a 5 year old child to learn algebra entirely by reading books on his own. Someone must have taught him.
A child may have excellent memory, and is able to learn basic mathematics like the 4 operators effortlessly, but that does not mean that she loves maths. She may simply be gifted in learning anything, but her true interest may be in music, arts, etc. I think that it is important for the parents to respect what the child is interested in.chamonix:
This thread is meant for parents with kids like yours to speak freelyBut she just seems to pick things up easily. Ok, not going into details lest I sound like boasting.
Nobody should be concerned about boasting here You have every reason to be proud of your kids.
chamonix:
Though I'm proud of my kids, I realise that every kid has his/her own special ability too. I once met a 5+ yr old who can write and draw very well. He could write complicated chinese characters within very narrow and small spaces. Another 6 year old I know can rattle the routes of various buses off his head. And there's this charming 5 year old gal that seems to be gifted in EQ. She simply shows compassion when it is needed and is sensitive to the adults' needs as well. I'm sure every parent in this forum has something to share about their kids too. I don't know, perhaps, kids nowadays simply have the ability to amaze us?
Yes I agree that every child has his/her own special ability. But I believe that kids with high learning ability are the minority. The majority of other kids are average learners. This is based on my teaching experience.
You are blessed with 2 kids who have high learning abilities. In my case, my kids are very different. My 4 year old boy still cannot write \"J\" correctly, he always curve the wrong way. I have already let him practice writing countless times. He also took many months before he can differentiate words like \"want\" and \"what\", \"here\" and \"there\". I spent so much more effort teaching him, compared to my girl. I have to crack my head to figure out effective ways to teach him. I am not complaining. I accept the fact that every child is different. I don't expect him to be do the same thing as my girl as the same age. -
My daughter has a strong interest in Mathematics and logic thinking activities as well as a passion for drawing.
Please visit her blog http://constancecheryl.blogspot.com/
Was wondering what is the best way to nurture her interest in Maths & Arts? Appreciate your feedback & advice. -
explorer:
My daughter has a strong interest in Mathematics and logic thinking activities as well as a passion for drawing.
Please visit her blog http://constancecheryl.blogspot.com/
Was wondering what is the best way to nurture her interest in Maths & Arts? Appreciate your feedback & advice.
Personally I think that we should teach the child the basic concepts. For example, we can teach her what is multiplication, and how to derive the answer by counting/addition. Then she can derive the answer for any multiplication problems. There is no need to memorize the multiplication table. When teaching algebra, we can simply teach her that algebra is basically the representation of an unknown number using a letter. Then let her explore from there. There is no need to make her solve hundreds of algebra problems.
For arts, I make sure that my girl has access to drawing materials and she can draw as often as she likes. I bought \"how to draw\" books for her, for example like this one :
http://www.amazon.com/Flowers-How-Draw-Janet-Whittle/dp/1844483266/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226532552&sr=8-3
She is able to follow the instructions to draw. For the school holidays, I signed her up for a cartoon drawing class at Studio Haroobee, for a period of 8 weeks. I am not going to let her attend one arts class for the long term, because I don't want her style to be influenced by one teacher. I want her to learn from various arts teachers.
I would very much like to hear other parents' views too
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A few days ago I went to meet my girls’ teachers at her PCF kindergarten. I asked her Chinese teacher whether she shows interest in learning Chinese. I was not sure whether I should let her continue to go to the Berries K2 class next year, since she already has a good foundation in reading/writing Chinese now, which I think is good enough for P1. My girl will continue to have 1 hour of Chinese lesson everyday at her kindergarten which I think is sufficient.
Her PCF Chinese teacher said that since my girl has a strong ability to learn, we should give her the opportunity to learn. She said it does not matter whether she has the interest in Chinese.
I guess the teacher has a valid point, and I believe many parents think the same way as her. Personally I think that I should let my girl follow her interest, if she is not interested in Chinese, then there is no need to let her spend too much time learning. The fact is that my girl does not exactly like to learn Chinese very much.
However, I finally paid for my girl’s new term in Berries next year. I confessed that I am a little swayed by the Chinese teacher’s view point, but most importantly, I guess I am kiasu and want to ensure that my girls’ Chinese is even more well prepared hehehe -
My son hates Chinese, and my wife and I have only ourselves to blame. We never attempted to cultivate that interest in him when he was young other than a 3 month stint in Berries when he was 4 years old. We are now trying to make amends for my daughter. After 6 months of weekly Chinese lessons, she is now quite comfortable with the spoken language, and is starting to initiate conversations in Chinese too. We are using her to encourage our son to communicate in Chinese, and it is fun to see them do so.
I’m also starting her at Berries at the Mountbatten CC, which is just a stone’s throw away from where I live. The programme seems quite interesting, and is different from Forever Education programme in Katong Mall where my daughter is now. Berries have lots of "play" time, with a bit of art and craft, and focuses on only a couple of conversational words per week. Forever focuses on poems and songs and traditional children games (丢手绢, 狼来了, etc).
BTW, I thought gifted children don’t have to worry about Chinese to get into the GEP? :mrgreen: -
ChiefKiasu,
I was not thinking about preparing her for the GEP
In fact, both me and my hubby are not going to let her change to another primary school that requires her to take the school bus. So we may not even let her take the selection test.
We do hope that she can get into River Valley High School :mrgreen: The new school, currently under construction, is within 1 km from our flat. I want to make sure that her PSLE grades are good enough. I heard that having higher Chinese will help, but her primary school does not offer higher Chinese.
I am not worried about my girl's Chinese standard, she is reading very well for her age, and writing sentences. She does not hate Chinese. In fact, she likes to recite Tang Chinese poetry, and she does not mind memorizing Tang poetry, and even writes out the poetry on her own. However, I would not say that she loves Chinese either. I know that because I loved Chinese when I was a child. I just don't see the same passion in her. So I was hesitant to use my limited financial resources to send her to Berries class. I would rather spend money nurturing her in something she really loves. -
ChiefKiasu:
But they still have to take higher chinese in GEP, and a different approach from the main stream. My elder gal is also weak in her chinese, and thinking that I have to 'slog' with her after the trasnfer to the GEP....I cannot imagine the stress we will be going thru....
BTW, I thought gifted children don't have to worry about Chinese to get into the GEP? :mrgreen: -
Tamarind wrote [quote]I was not thinking about preparing her for the GEP In fact, both me and my hubby are not going to let her change to another primary school that requires her to take the school bus. So we may not even let her take the selection test. [/quote]
What if your dd says she wants to take the test & has been accepted into the program, what will you do then? I might have the same issue. I was thinking of changing ds to a school with permanent morning session as the timing is friendlier to our family schedule. So, it does not make sense to keep on changing school if he is accepted into GEP.
Mumgals wrote [quote]But they still have to take higher chinese in GEP, and a different approach from the main stream. My elder gal is also weak in her chinese, and thinking that I have to 'slog' with her after the trasnfer to the GEP....I cannot imagine the stress we will be going thru....[/quote]Congrats! So, as a mother, you have actually noticed that your elder dd is developing faster than average kids & the test confirms it. Is your younger dd showing the same development as her sister? Higher mother toungue! So our kids must be an all rounder in everything.
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