Any parents of gifted children here ?

[tamarind]

deminc:

What has changed is that there are no longer anyone making him learn the same things 8 times, and there are no longer any children secretly pinching him and scratching him. No more adults who say - as long as no one cries, I don't want to hear about any of it.


The good thing is now even my ILs think I'm right to pull him out of school next year. My FIL actually told me a few days ago that finally, DS1 is back to himself again and he supports my decision.

I am surprised to hear about the pinching and scratching, and the teacher not doing anything about it. I would definitely pull my child out of that school if such things happened.

[metz]

tamarind:

deminc:

What has changed is that there are no longer anyone making him learn the same things 8 times, and there are no longer any children secretly pinching him and scratching him. No more adults who say - as long as no one cries, I don't want to hear about any of it.


The good thing is now even my ILs think I'm right to pull him out of school next year. My FIL actually told me a few days ago that finally, DS1 is back to himself again and he supports my decision.

I am surprised to hear about the pinching and scratching, and the teacher not doing anything about it. I would definitely pull my child out of that school if such things happened.

I suppose some teachers view such situations differently. When my ds first encountered 'bullies' acts in the first preschool, I was angry too and wrote to the teacher about it. The principal responded that based on their observations, my ds was capable to defend himself against all those older kids. Therefore, there was nothing to be alarmed about. DS couldn't be more happy when I told him he no longer had to attend school.

[metz]

kiasulang:

They are very focus, read a lot, very good memory, creative, observant, good problem solving skill and confident.

These are also the qualities I observed from some bloggers who talked about their GEP kids.

[cnimed]

tamarind:

I am surprised to hear about the pinching and scratching, and the teacher not doing anything about it. I would definitely pull my child out of that school if such things happened.

That's why I said I was a clueless parent. :oops: I was told such good things about the teacher, and gave her opinions so much weight I didn't have confidence in my instincts as a mother. It was as Chamoix said, the teacher said they have to learn to defend themselves for it will get worse as they move up the higher levels. I can see where she is coming from, but after one year of it, I can finally say with conviction that this is not the way to prepare and raise children.

[en107rn.01056yahoo.01056com.01056sg]

deminc, we all learn from our mistake. I remember reading that wide gap in vocabulary will be narrowed as they grow older as other kids started to catch up. The vast difference is noticable when they are in pre-school. When your son is older, he will also know which kids to avoid & which kids he can be friends with.


Chamonix, went to Popular just. Are you referring to Challenging Math 4-1, Primary 1, EPH publication? If yes, the question are reasobly placed for current P1 students. Some questions are not easy but can be taught & learn.For those still in kindy, should be difficult. The hard ones are the \"Challenge Yourself\" found at the end of each topic.

By the way how do you come up with such question [quote]Btw, does creativity goes hand in hand with critical thinking? [/quote]Have you digested the link yet? From my understanding, it simply states, creativity is the phase where an individual brain storm & list down all kind of ideas to solve a given problem. Critical thinking is then applied to choose which idea gives the best result given the constraint of the problem.

Tamarind wrote [quote]But if parents insist that the child gets 100 marks for every subject, for the purpose of topping the class every year, then the child will have to spend a lot more time doing assessment books, and not much time nurturing passion. [/quote]Ouch! :lol: PS: Minimum 85 for Band 1.


Re: Creativity. Did some thinking. Beside free play, how about guided free play? For eg, my dh birthday is coming. Intend to allow them to draw $10 from their saving. Bring them to Daiso & let them find the best present, make their own cards & wrap their own present.

Another eg, 2 years back, I was jokingly telling ds that I dont have enough $ to send him to school. What will he do? He really thinks hard, gave me several solutions & I'm quite impress of the ideas that he has. It actually shows creativity not in terms of creating something but more of solving an existing problem.

Another creative play that we can have with our kids will be completing a story. The story line can start with anyone. Say out a few sentences & another person will need continue with the story. It can be done verbally or in writing.

By the way, ds is languishing with his PSP. I'm gritting my teeth now but I let it be since it is school holidays. Once school start, there will be schedule as to when he can play. :evil:

[metz]

deminc:

I can finally say with conviction that this is not the way to prepare and raise children.

I shared the same view initially. But I'm also beginning to see it in a different light. For some kids, they just need a different environment. My ds obviously couldn't handle it. Somehow, I feel my dd would have thrived better in that type of environment.

[cnimed]

kiasulang:

I find that gifted kids do well in school with minimal guidance. They are very focus, read a lot, very good memory, creative, observant, good problem solving skill and confident. They are usually talent spotted very young.

This would be the \"optimum\" level of giftedness - level one or two giftedness. Or a child who has an achiever-personality. A child who is of higher levels of giftedness, without an achiever personality, may underperform significantly, especially in their areas of strength, because they find the work demeaning.

I don't think my son is significantly gifted in all areas, but his English is advanced. His English teacher said he's a real dreamer in class with poor attention span, his Chinese teacher said he's sharp and very focused. I was very surprised with the former since he can stay on his own projects for two to three hours at home, but after I spoke to the CHinese teacher, I realised what was going on. The Chinese teacher herself has a daughter in GEP, and she understands that kids who learn fast get bored fast without new materials.

There are also kids in primary schools who are very exceptional in e.g. Maths, but does not fall into the gifted category as tested by MOE, and they may not even score well for exams because they refused to show the step-by-step working. One look and they have the answer worked out in their heads already - and indeed, they may not even be able to demonstrate how they get the answers, their minds just work differently.

The thing to look out for is how they learn when they are in their field of interest.

There is an interesting book I read - The Call to Brilliance. The author with three advanced kids that all went to college early argues that all kids have their talents and if only we find and nurture them at an early age - instead of insisting on exam-based, lock-step learning for everyone - every child will do well in their area of passion. I do agree with that. The blanket pursue for academic excellence cannot possibly make sense across the entire population.

Btw, two of her three children were considered (very) late developers.

[metz]

EN:

Chamonix, went to Popular just. Are you referring to Challenging Math 4-1, Primary 1, EPH publication? If yes, the question are reasobly placed for current P1 students. Some questions are not easy but can be taught & learn.For those still in kindy, should be difficult. The hard ones are the \"Challenge Yourself\" found at the end of each topic.

Yup, that's the one. DS has completed the book (except money topic). Just wondering what's your view on the book. Thanks for the feedback.
[quote]By the way how do you come up with such question [quote]Btw, does creativity goes hand in hand with critical thinking? [/quote]Have you digested the link yet? From my understanding, it simply states, creativity is the phase where an individual brain storm & list down all kind of ideas to solve a given problem. Critical thinking is then applied to choose which idea gives the best result given the constraint of the problem. [/quote]The idea came from my husband. Based on his experience, he feels a lot of people are able to come up with ideas. Unfortunately, not many are capable of critical thinking.

[cnimed]

chamonix:

I shared the same view initially. But I'm also beginning to see it in a different light. For some kids, they just need a different environment. My ds obviously couldn't handle it. Somehow, I feel my dd would have thrived better in that type of environment.

Is your dd a chilli padi? I get what you mean. Because my second one is a real terror when he thinks he's been wronged. While DS1 implodes, DS2 explodes. He'll run after whoever it is and give them a hard whack (or as many whacks as he can get in). Just yesterday, after DH scolded him, he cried for me to carry him. After I did (without knowing what had transpired), the first thing he did was to turn around and hit DH as hard as he could! And for the next 5 min, he kept signing to me to go nearer to DH becuase he wanted to give him a few more whacks! Terrible! When he was 13 months old, he was so angry with DS1 once he ran after him and rammed him with his head! I wonder if it's partly a second /youngest child thing. My neighbour's youngest daughter - the sweetest-looking two year old - is a real chilli padi too.

[cnimed]

EN:

deminc, we all learn from our mistake. I remember reading that wide gap in vocabulary will be narrowed as they grow older as other kids started to catch up. The vast difference is noticable when they are in pre-school. When your son is older, he will also know which kids to avoid & which kids he can be friends with.

Thanks for the consolation. Yes, I'm looking forward to that! I think the nursery year is probably the worst because some kids are barely talking yet and there are a lot more physical tussles going on. Things should be much better by P1.