Any parents of gifted children here ?

[shylyn]

sleepy:

[Because I know she's special. I don't need a professional to tell me that :mrgreen:

With or without assessment, whether she is labelled gifted or not makes no difference to me. I will still do the same. Gave her ample materials to read. Provide as much exposure as possible to find out which area interests her & encourage her to pursue her interest. I don't believe in the age bucket. If she can understand that topic, it's alright to input as much as she can absorb

I agreed with u that whether our kids are gifted a not, we should still give them the same amt of love, attention and effort in bringing them up. To all parents, the kid is always special to them. I guess..for me, being assessed will put an end to my doubts whether his ability is norm for kids of his age or he is really above average. Of cos, I’m still hesitating whether to send him for assessment after reading the posts by some of u here..guess there are two sides to a coin. I shall see how..

sleepy:

[Academic wise, easy for her. Emotional wise, not that ready. Part of the reason I withdrawn her was because she had an argument with her best friend in MMI & that girl refused to speak to her. My girl was depressed! She was an introvert before 5yo.
I only see her transformation after she entered K1. Kindy teacher feedback that she's outspoken & has leadership skills. Hubby & I were so surprised, thought teacher was referring to another child :lol:

That’s what I’m initially worried that my boy will not be able to make friends in his new class, given that majority are a yr older than him. However, I can see the transformation when he joined his new class (since Aug), he has been speaking in longer sentences (consisting of 10 words) previously, it was at most 3 to 4 words. He has also become more mature in a way & we always say he is an old man in a small boy’s body. Hee..

U mentioned that u noticed a transformation in your girl after she turned 5..so what resulted in the change? Was it becos of sch? Cos she was homeschooled & started sch when she was 5. I have read a few articles on gifted kids & they also mentioned abt gifted kids having difficulty coping interacting with classmates who r older than them as emotionally, they are not ready

sleepy:

Mainly using Kumon materials. She started Kumon Maths & English around 3yo.
[At 4yo, she was already doing addition/subtraction & reading passages so I suppose need not send her to kindy since too easy for her. Kept her at home for a year before deciding to place her in kindy at K1 so that she has a chance to interact with other kids. Was rather worried about her extreme shyness at that time

Hmm..Kumon materials..I have some Kumon books as well, more on developing fine motor skills like cutting, sticking & colouring for my boy. However, trying to get my boy to do such work is difficult as being a typical boy, he prefers to play with his cars, trucks..or watch his fave cartoon, Dora instead. Not that I’m restricting his time to do things he like, but I also want him to do more activities to work on his fine motor skills and develop his understanding for instructions. How did u get your girl to do the worksheets? Unless they enjoy it, else it is rather diff to get them to do.

sleepy:

[same same. My girl attended Shichida when she was a toddler, before we switched her to Kumon.
We engaged a piano teacher to teach at home when she was 3yo+. After a year of trying, really no interest so we stopped her lesson. It's alright, at least gave her the opportunity to explore that area

Don’t mind me asking, why did u stop Shichida? I’m also thinking of signing my boy for piano class but at this point, I doubt he will like it..rather think he will prefer those with music & dance..he likes interactive rather than one way lesson.

[shylyn]

chamonix:

[Hi shylyn,

If you are interested in homeschooling, you can try to contact Angie from http://www.thehomelibraryonline.com/. She'll be most willing to share with you her experience in homeschooling.

There's also a homeschooling yahoo group that organises activities and events on a regular basis @ http://singaporehg.byethost13.com/ as well as a public platform for discussions @ http://singaporehg.byethost13.com/forum1/

Hi Chamonix

Thank you so much for the info. will definitely find out more abt homeschooling..

[shylyn]

angel64:

Now my elder one is going K1 next yr, I have decided to pull him out and put him to those PCF program which is preparing them more towards classroom teaching with a bigger teacher to children ratio. Initially, I am quite relunctant to do it as he really loves the current school he is attending now. Made a lot friends there. But come to a point, I have to face reality. Eventually he is going to attend a MOE governed school not those international school. That's the reason why I decided to pull him out.
Fortunately, I managed to speak to some of his school friends parent. They are doing the same as well.

Hi Angel64
Wow..I can imagine your hands full with your two active boys.

I guess my case will be similar to yours in time to come as my boy is currently in Montessori cc..thus encourage more free play rather than classroom style teaching. Eventually, he will be gg to govn sch when he is in P1..just hope he will be sensible & cooperate with the teacher then. Of cos, I dun encourage him to blindly follow rules & regulations (which majority of the Singaporeans does due to our upbringings). Currently, he wants to do things his way & he has his own ideas & opinion even at such a tender age.

angel64:

[As for enrichment, I am still sending him to Berries Chinese, English Speech and drama. and a English program at Lorna Whiston coming up next yr and a music lesson as well. Many of my friends, colleagues told me English language is very important. Some how the mathematics question are more towards understanding the sentence than numbers.

I am not sure if I have overloaded my child. I see some parents still can load their kids with Kumon, martial arts, swimming lesson, etc.. Feel very taxing for the child.

I guess, most imptly, is whether the kid enjoy the enrichment programme. No point signing them up for any programme if they dislike it. Of cos, we as parents, want the best for our kids.
English language is definitely impt but to me, I find that we hv to balance English with Mother tongue, in this case, Mandarin. My boy’s English is good but not his Mandarin as he seldom speak Mandarin. Trying to find ways to let him speak more..usually I’ll speak in English follow by a Mandarin translation.

[jaewee]

my boy is actually the opposite… more mandarin than English.

[corneyAmber]

Sleepy, just curious, given the advanced state of your kid academically, which primary school will be suitable for her, i.e. which primary school you have selected for her?

[sleepy]

ks2me:

Sleepy, just curious, given the advanced state of your kid academically, which primary school will be suitable for her, i.e. which primary school you have selected for her?

I think not much diffence since every primary school is following the same MOE syllabus. I chose a school nearest to our house for convenience.
Being slightly more advanced doesn't mean she will top her school automatically. It's a matter of how many careless mistakes the child made during exam. My girl can be quite careless leh.

By the way, it's not a big deal to do advanced level in Kumon. It's the norm rather than exception. There are some kids doing 9 years or even more beyond their school level in Kumon.
I call that my reality check, there's always another higher mountain. I don't expect my girl to be the highest mountain, I am satisfied if she can maintain on a hill top

[corneyAmber]

sleepy:

I don't expect my girl to be the highest mountain, I am satisfied if she can maintain on a hill top

Thanks for sharing. I believe this is a very healthy thought from parent that being \"highest\" is not the main consideration. Being always highest is the highest stress a kid can ever experience.

[sleepy]

shylyn:

sleepy:

[same same. My girl attended Shichida when she was a toddler, before we switched her to Kumon.
We engaged a piano teacher to teach at home when she was 3yo+. After a year of trying, really no interest so we stopped her lesson. It's alright, at least gave her the opportunity to explore that area

Don’t mind me asking, why did u stop Shichida? I’m also thinking of signing my boy for piano class but at this point, I doubt he will like it..rather think he will prefer those with music & dance..he likes interactive rather than one way lesson.

Cost is one consideration. At that time, I intend to enrol my younger child in Shichida and cost will be too high if both my kids attend Shichida together.

At 3yo, there are more enrichment choices available for my elder girl. I feel that Shichida is more for toddlers.

shylyn:

U mentioned that u noticed a transformation in your girl after she turned 5..so what resulted in the change? Was it becos of sch? Cos she was homeschooled & started sch when she was 5. I have read a few articles on gifted kids & they also mentioned abt gifted kids having difficulty coping interacting with classmates who r older than them as emotionally, they are not ready

Yes, I believe it's because of the interaction in kindy. My girl is by nature an introvert. Going to a kindy boast her confidence & self esteem as she realized school is easy.
She also became more cheerful & goofy :lol:

[kiasulang]

jaewee:

my boy is actually the opposite.. more mandarin than English.

You are doing the right thing. Let your child cultivates his interest in this subject. Most children, when come to primary school don't spend enough time on this. His English will come along well if he reads regularly. In fact, most of the time in school, they are conversing in English.

[metz]

ks2me:

sleepy:

I don't expect my girl to be the highest mountain, I am satisfied if she can maintain on a hill top

Thanks for sharing. I believe this is a very healthy thought from parent that being \"highest\" is not the main consideration. Being always highest is the highest stress a kid can ever experience.

I don't dare to dream or hope mine will be at the top of anything. There are simply far too many bright/gifted, disciplined and industrious kids around these days. In order to be at the top, one has to put in a lot of effort to score just a few points more that the rest. My kids are not cut out for this. That's the reality I am seeing and acknowledged.

As long as my kids can show marked improvements consistently over time and find their own goals in learning and studying, I am more than satisfied.