Any parents of gifted children here ?

[tamarind]

sleepy:

Say if the child finishes U at a much earlier age, he can spend the remaining time undergoing more indepth studies such as at master or PHD level
or he can explore new area of interests, assuming he is not already doing that concurrently

And ideally can get a scholarship so not so financially draining for parents

Yes working in the university will the best arrangement for the child, or at one of the A-Star reseach institute. But it is very very difficult to be successful doing scientific research. It is easier to be a PD

kiasulang:

It may seem ok for now when they are children. For adolescents, it is challenging. For a child with a IQ level of 150 at age 4 has a mental age of 6. For a adolescent with the same IQ of 150 at age 12 has a mental age of 18. Is she ready emotionally and socially?

I am actually teaching at one of the IHLs(Institutes of higher learning), my students are young adults above 17 years old. The majority of the students are still crazy about computer games, PSP, etc. Boy girl relationships are actually very rare. Most of them still don't know what they want to do with their future. Young adults nowadays are not as matured as you expect them to be.

Personally I don't think that a very bright 12 year old kid will have much problem emotionally and socially when in a tertiary institute in Singapore. At that level, they don't have a fixed class. Every student move around lecture theatres, classrooms, labs, etc, according to their own schedule. Students can actually skip lessons if they find that the lecturer boring. But a child who truly loves to learn should be disciplined enough to attend all the lessons.

However, I will be worried if the child goes overseas to a university in UK or the USA, don't know what goes on there.

[tamarind]

deminc:

again, without stating that skipping is a must or necessarily desirable, whether or not to skip depends on the child's needs - social, intellectual and emotional. It is not a black-and-white yes-or-no issue. If the need does arise unequivocally, I'm sure the parents' take on O-levels and certificates will be the last thing on the list.

Having said that, there are other paths less travelled besides skipping. But status quo need to be reviewed. It's not a black and white issue.

I also do not think that it is a black-and-white issue. I said \"not much point\", and not \"no point\". I do not completely dismissed the possibility of skipping levels because there may be some kids who are suitable. But the fact is that MOE does not encourage it, and they should have good reasons.

Personally I think that as parents we should not do everything purely based on \"child's needs\". Do children really know what they need ? A very bright child, may have no concept of money, or what it takes to support a family in the future. They cannot possibly spend their whole life learning, well not unless their parents can support them forever.

I hope that my kids can become professionals, and earn enough to support themselves and live comfortably. I will definitely support their interests, but I will advise them that they can still do what they love to do as a hobby while working.

[sleepy]

EN:

Sleepy wrote [quote]Say if the child finishes U at a much earlier age, he can spend the remaining time undergoing more indepth studies such as at master or PHD level

or he can explore new area of interests, assuming he is not already doing that concurrently

And ideally can get a scholarship so not so financially draining for parents

Learning is a life long journey. There is nothing to stop you from learning new things. There is no need to be certified gifted in order to obtain master, PHD or scholarship. Anybody can do it given their own motivation to work for it. [/quote]Yes, true. I studied till 29 yo
Then realized my interests shifted after all these years at home , no longer interested in my specialisation. Oops!

In fact, learning how to be a nurturing mom is a new specialisation for me, still learning everyday

EN:

Sleepy [quote] My intention, if I do send my girl for assessment, is to find out her strengths & develop her in that area, in case there are areas I missed out.

What if the assessment states, high ability in the area of music, but your daughter does not show any inclination towards the area, will you still insist that she must continue?[/quote]Aiya, almost impossible to force my girl. That's why when she refused to practice, I stopped her piano lesson promptly.
If report reflects potential in music, what I can do is influence her to perhaps explore other instruments besides piano. Right now, we neither encourage or discourage her to take any music lessons lor

[sleepy]

tamarind:

Oh I thought most parents can't wait for their kids to graduate and start earning money ? I am counting down to the days when I don't need to work to support my kids :lol:


Ainan Celeste Cawley studied on his own and passed O-Level chemistry at 7 years old. He did not need to attend Secondary school in order to pass the O-Level chemistry exam. In fact, he is still attending primary 3 now, although he is also attending some modules in Singapore Polytechnic. They accepted him after he passed his O-Levels.

http://www.straitstimes.com/Video%2BNews/Singapore/STIVodcast_4159.html?playid=4159&type=Singapore

Amazing!!!
Good to see that he is given the opportunity to take higher level studies in the meantime. At least he needn't wait another 9-10 years to tap his potential in chemistry.

[cnimed]

tamarind:

Personally I think that as parents we should not do everything purely based on \"child's needs\". Do children really know what they need ? A very bright child, may have no concept of money, or what it takes to support a family in the future. They cannot possibly spend their whole life learning, well not unless their parents can support them forever.

Needs are not the same as wants. Knowledge is not the same as articulation. Learning does not always hinge on fees. To marry passion with practicality is maturity. What parents hope for their children are often informed by their own experiences.

Social life in overseas universities would be very different from local unis going by your description. But an overseas education/stint is invaluable in my mind. Singapore for a lifetime can be very stultifying.

[sleepy]

sleepy:

EN:

Sleepy wrote [quote]Say if the child finishes U at a much earlier age, he can spend the remaining time undergoing more indepth studies such as at master or PHD level

or he can explore new area of interests, assuming he is not already doing that concurrently

And ideally can get a scholarship so not so financially draining for parents

Learning is a life long journey. There is nothing to stop you from learning new things. There is no need to be certified gifted in order to obtain master, PHD or scholarship. Anybody can do it given their own motivation to work for it.

Yes, true. I studied till 29 yo
Then realized my interests shifted after all these years at home , no longer interested in my specialisation. Oops!

In fact, learning how to be a nurturing mom is a new specialisation for me, still learning everyday [/quote]Just to add
Agreed nothing to stop us from pursuing Masters or PHD at 55yo or any age
Learning is definitely a life long journey

What I'm trying to say is completing U earlier or even non academic stuff eg. grade 8 piano say at 10 yo is headstart, isn't it?
I guess most parents are looking at that headstart lor, hence the blooming early childhood enrichments, P1 preparatory class & even GEP preparatory class

However, a headstart is just that, a headstart
Whether successful in life & career eventually depend on a lot of other factors, not just academic qualifications or IQ lor

[clare]

<deleted>

[shylyn]

tamarind:

When my girl was below 2 years old, I actually did not believe that any children at that age can understand and recognize words. So I never tried to teach her any words in the same way that you taught your boy. Now I knew that I have wasted that precious period of time when she could have learnt so much more.

Taramind
It is never too late to realize and nurture your kids’ intelligence. To me, I will also try to put some time away each day to spend with my boy, be it reading, playing together or talking to him. In fact, I’ll feel guilty for not accompanying him when he’s awake. Think I need to achieve a balance..cannot have my life centered around him..else it is also like ‘pampering’ him as well.

tamarind:

Your boy is one of those children who are excellent at word recognition Has he started to learn phonics in his MMI class ? That will enable him to read words even without you teaching him

Actually, my boy knows how to pronoun words that he has never come across based on the phonetic manner. I didn’t actually teach him phonics, not sure whether MMI does, but what I did was to ‘break up’ the words, using my hands to cover part of a word & read out the sound to him. He was even able to read out dialect names of my mil, fil, friends..etc So he wasn’t only able to recognize words..I guess when he was younger, maybe he did that but definitely not now. Now I’m only trying to cover more materials to let him achieve understanding/comprehending of the sentences as well..

tamarind:

Your boy is still very young, his attention span will improve when he grows older. At this age, I feel that mommy is the best teacher. You can try to think of interesting ways to teach him at home. For example, you can teach him the concepts of adding and subtracting by using real objects, like grapes, sweets, or even his toy cars, etc.

Crossing my finger that his attention span will improve with age..Thanks for your suggestions of the ways to teach them..I will try to include teaching in daily life as well ..i guess the possibilities are endless. I’m only trying to find time & effort to let him do more creative stuffs (like what u let ur kiddos to do), baking, painting, art & craft etc. I used to do that when I was young..but gave up all once I started JC.

tamarind:

My girl's PCF kindergarten has chinese spelling tests at K1. Checkout my blog. Scroll down to the bottom to see the word lists. The words are not easy !

http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2008/05/learning-chinese.html

Wow..I cant believe that at such a young age, they have to have spelling!! I rem disliking spelling a lot during my Pri sch days..schooling these days are definitely not easy already. How do u teach your girl spelling then? I think I will have a difficult time teaching my boy in the future..

[shylyn]

sleepy:

sleepy:

[quote=\"EN\"]Sleepy wrote
Learning is a life long journey. There is nothing to stop you from learning new things. There is no need to be certified gifted in order to obtain master, PHD or scholarship. Anybody can do it given their own motivation to work for it.

Yes, true. I studied till 29 yo
Then realized my interests shifted after all these years at home , no longer interested in my specialisation. Oops!

In fact, learning how to be a nurturing mom is a new specialisation for me, still learning everyday

Just to add
Agreed nothing to stop us from pursuing Masters or PHD at 55yo or any age
Learning is definitely a life long journey

What I'm trying to say is completing U earlier or even non academic stuff eg. grade 8 piano say at 10 yo is headstart, isn't it?
I guess most parents are looking at that headstart lor, hence the blooming early childhood enrichments, P1 preparatory class & even GEP preparatory class

However, a headstart is just that, a headstart
Whether successful in life & career eventually depend on a lot of other factors, not just academic qualifications or IQ lor[/quote]I also share the same sentiments..thinking back, I kinda feel that all the hard work, studying for exams, kinda comes to a waste once u started work. Maybe for my case, my work is totally unrelated to what I majored in during my Uni days..in fact, I have ‘returned’ whatever I learnt back to my lecturer/teachers..terrible isn’t it? Guess what I have still been applying is still communication and people skills mastered during my schooling days. My priorities have also shifted to putting more emphasize in bringing up my boy and nurturing him to be a better person.

[tamarind]

shylyn:

Wow..I cant believe that at such a young age, they have to have spelling!! I rem disliking spelling a lot during my Pri sch days..schooling these days are definitely not easy already. How do u teach your girl spelling then? I think I will have a difficult time teaching my boy in the future..

For the Chinese spelling test, I let her practice one or two times everyday for about one week before her test. For English spelling, she has no problem because she has a very strong foundation in phonics. She can listen to the sound and figure out how to spell the words. She attended MMI phonics enrichment class. I am sure your boy's MMI teaches phonics, they have a very good system.

Experts in early childhood education actually say that it is a bad thing to make pre-schoolers memorize spelling. They should learn to write words purely based on phonics techniques, not by memorizing the letters. They should learn to write by feeling a \"need\" to write. In fact, teachers should not correct their spelling even if it is wrong, so that they are not discouraged from writing. Your boy's MMI may not have spelling at all.

But since P1 in government primary schools has english and chinese spelling, this kiasu mommy(me) don't mind letting my kids have a headstart

I also let my kids feel that they have a \"need\" to write lah. I tell my girl that mommy is very forgetful, so she must write notes to remind me to do things. That have worked quite well for her :lol: So she has the best of both methods (modern and old fashioned) of teaching.