Any parents of gifted children here ?
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deminc:
Such a child can learn so much between the age of 2 to 4. He/she could already learn to read like an adult, count to 100, know addition/subtraction and even memorized the multiplication before the age of 4.
A child who teaches himself/herself the alphabet before 2 doesn't need a special teacher at four. As long as the resources are there, these children can often teach themselves - as long as no one is holding them back or in their way.
Even in a home with hundreds of books, a child still need to be taught to read. No child, no matter how gifted, can teach themselves to read.
I still remember this thread which I read in 2006.
http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/forumboard/messages/353635/374211.html?1140262750
The mommy wrote :
Hi,
Anyone here with a Aug 2003 baby ( i.e 2 yrs and 3 months now ) who's able to read books independently aloud and do maths( multiplication ) ? my boy is able to do all these and was just wondering is this very advanced for his age or just normal ? He can speak very well , in sentences too. In fact, he started reading book ( just words no pictures ,at 18 months )...anyone with the same experience out there ?
The mommy wrote that she taught her son very intensively at home. I do not think that a child that young should be taught so intensively, no matter how gifted he is. But that mommy has proven the learning capacity of a gifted child before the age of 3.
I actually spent very little time teaching my girl from birth to 4 years old. I felt that at that age, she should spend more time developing her fine motor skills. Also, as a full time working mommy, I really cannot find much time to teach her. I am always feeling guilty that I have not done enough to develop her. -
tamarind, so what has happened to this Aug 2003 baby now?
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![](\"http://comps.fotosearch.com/comp/ICL/ICL102/burn-out_~BUC_124.jpg\")
http://comps.fotosearch.com/comp/ICL/ICL102/burn-out_~BUC_124.jpg\">
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CKS: Picture tells a thousand words....
Tamarind wrote [quote]Such a child can learn so much between the age of 2 to 4. He/she could already learn to read like an adult, count to 100, know addition/subtraction and even memorized the multiplication before the age of 4. [/quote]I read through the blog & stop short at the caning part. Dont know why there is a need to cram the child with so much at a very young age.
Deminc wrote [quote]A child who teaches himself/herself the alphabet before 2 doesn't need a special teacher at four. As long as the resources are there, these children can often teach themselves - as long as no one is holding them back or in their way. However, they do need guidance on how to manage their sensitivities, they need someone to bounce their ideas off, and they need someone to shield them from things that they may not yet be emotionally ready to cope with. In other words, they need a loving mentor who respects their abilities while keeping in mind that they are still children at heart. [/quote]Agree. Based on what I read from the earlier post by other parents. Gifted kids are able to learn very fast. Teach them a little, if it gets them excited, they naturally advance further on their own & not wait to be taught.
Tamarind. Out of curiosity, does your ds when taught show polite interest, absorb the information being taught for any topics that you tried to cover or did you notice that there are some topics which makes her very excited & want to explore further? -
hahahahahahaha.....burn out? :lol:
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hahaha, Chief, you ARE so funny! :lol:
tamarind,
I see now that we're on very different tracks. I thought you were interested in identification because of school issues and education options. Now I see you're perhaps more interested in how to maximise potential.
For me, I'm very much a fan of Einstein never Used Flashcards. I believe in creative and free play for all young children. The world is so new to them, even for highly gifted children, there is no need to do more than providing for play and exposure. One mark of highly gifted children is the \"rage to learn\". You can't stop them. They will find their own way through their questionings and exploring, which is why I feel that what is more needed - more than trying to maximise potential - is guidance and tactful supervision. As long as there is someone there to answer their questions, or at least show them where to find answers.
For that hot-housed baby, I feel very sorry for him. I think it's a sin to treat a baby like a performer. With the right training, I'm sure the zoo keeper can get a clever parrot to recite the multiplication tables as well.
He may be gifted, but if his mum put so much emphasis on what he can DO and not who he IS, what's going to happen to him when he goes to primary school and all the other children know their time tables too? Is the mum going to up the ante? Is he going to feel stupid even though he's not? The starting point should always be the child, not the parent's ego or great damage could be done.
Reading - a child can't LEARN to read like an adult. A child can progress quickly to achieve a high reading level, but this cannot be learnt. Reading is a skill of not just word recognition, but also comprehension and understanding of abstract terms. At a higher level, the child needs to understand the context of the given topic, and this context may not be provided for within the text, but for the reader familiar to the topic, is existing knowledge. So a child who is a computer whizz, may be able to read books on computer programming that I, an adult, will just go cross-eyed over.
And actually highly gifted children CAN teach themselves to read. You can look up Miraca Gross who researches in the area of profoundly gifted children. She keeps many case studies, and her area of interest is friendship for gifted children.
At the same time, some gifted children have learning disability like dyslexia that hinders them, and other gifted children learn to read at much later ages of 8 or 9, but once they start reading, they progress quickly to high-level materials. This is because of existing knowledge that have not been withheld from them simply because they can't read. So an overemphasis on skills such as reading and writing in the early years can actually be detrimental. Every child is unique in his development.
Finally, more pertinently, what do we consider maxmising potential?? Are we talking about SPEED? How early a child can do this, how fast they can do that? OR are we talking about a whole lifetime?
Is life going to be a sprint or a marathon?
Becuase if we're talking about speed, hot-housing is the way. If we're talking about a whole lifetime, we need to look at the whole child, not just what he can do. We need to consider if the child is an extrovert or an introvert. Is the child a creative dreamer, or a hands-on mechanic? We need to look at the child's perfectionistic tendencies and how that translate in an exam-oriented system. We need to understand the things that are limiting them and help them overcome these. We need to see what are the life-skills they need to help them arrive at the destination THEY want to go to.
To me, a child who can go the distance to have a fulfilling, and personally meaningful life, is the child whose potential has been realised.
(Stepping off the soap-box now.) -
deminc:
Hi deminc,hahaha, Chief, you ARE so funny! :lol:
And actually highly gifted children CAN teach themselves to read. You can look up Miraca Gross who researches in the area of profoundly gifted children. She keeps many case studies, and her area of interest is friendship for gifted children.
I have read the book. The kids mentioned in the book showed awesome giftedness. However, I do have my reservations about them as well. (That's another story though.)
Do you know how the highly gifted kid taught himself to read at 1.5 year old? Was he ever read to before he started reading? Or was he around when other kids were learning to read? Computer programs? And what type of books he was reading at that age? -
ks2me:
tamarind, so what has happened to this Aug 2003 baby now?
I am not sure how is that boy now. That mommy stopped writing at that forum after a while.EN:
My hubby teaches her a very wide range of knowledge every night, she listens to everything with polite interest, and seems to remember everything. Sometimes when she encounters something, she is able to link that to facts which she learnt a few months back. That is how we know she understands the concepts. Her Daddy mostly talks and talks (in a way that makes me sleep in 3 seconds :P), but she enjoys listening to him, and she will ask him to talk to her every night.Tamarind. Out of curiosity, does your ds when taught show polite interest, absorb the information being taught for any topics that you tried to cover or did you notice that there are some topics which makes her very excited & want to explore further?
She is interested in astronomy and the world map, and likes to explore these areas further. But she is open to learning anything. But she is most interested to do things with her hands.
How about your son ? I know that boys can become \"obsessed\" with certain topics only, like dinosaurs, and then they will spend a lot time learning about dinosaurs.
deminc,
What if a child grew up in purely mandarin/malay speaking environment ? Will he learn to read English on his own before the age of 6 ?
Although nowadays every parent should know some english, I am very sure that in Singapore, there are definitely more families speaking mandarin/malay at home, compared to english speaking families.
Actually I am not concerned about \"maximizing potential\". I am concerned about \"wasting potential\", simply by not doing anything. My girl only started to learn to read from about 4 years old. She could recognize A-Z and 0-9 before 16 months old. I thought that was enough for her, so she spent most of her time playing at home until almost 4 years old.
When I started to teach her to read at 4 years old, I only managed to teach her less than 15 minutes a day. She learned so quickly and effortlessly. Within a year, she could read books like Charlotte's Web. Although Charlotte's Web is a children's book, the words in the book are as difficult as any adult book. She can figure out how to read new words using phonics techniques. I know that she understands what happens on every page, because she reads aloud, and often asks questions or make comment about what she is reading. However she does not understand the satire regarding public relations and gullibility, something which only adults can understand.
I am feeling guilty that I never started to teach her to read at an earlier age. I believe that a child should learn independently. But the child must first be taught to read very well, before she can learn on her own. -
Right brain training focus on input. I read somewhere that right brain development completes (90% if I remember correctly) by age 6.
If the child can absorb (be it flash cards, puzzles, lego, drawing, reading, knowledge in science, maths, music, whatever), I don’t see what harm can be done?
It’s the delivery method that counts. If he is learning in a soothing & happy environment & enjoys acquiring all these new knowlege (not force feed), why not?
The greatest challenge is how to instill independent learning in the child. There is only so much parents can do for the child. The quest for knowledge is a life long journey & he is on that road alone -
sleepy,
Yes the best age to learn is from 0 to 6 years old. I have no experience with right brain children. But it is a fact that as children grow older, they will have more distractions from the outside word. They will have more friends, and will probably learn to play computer games, etc, which may cause them to lose interest in learning. I feel that 0 - 6 years old is the best time to gain a solid foundation in English, and even Chinese. Then the child will be well equipped to learn independently.
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