How to tell if a child is gifted?

[sunshine05]

I have a child who is born in early Jan too. He'll be in K2 next year.

As prata-queen pointed out, the age gap of these early Jan kids and those born in Dec is less than a month.

Thought of the IQ test and even called up KKH. Must see doctor first to assess whether need to go through the neuro... assessment - which may cost $1k ~ $2k. In the end, I dropped the idea.

\"stuck 6 hours a day staring into thin air\"??

Or anyone has any idea to get the IQ test done? :roll:

[2ppaamm]

Nowadays, I've stopped telling school authorities about what my children can do. When DS2 was P2, he was bored stiff with the \"_x_ = to what?\" in class because he knew that. So he was a major source of problem to the teacher when he will blah out his answers and not his teacher a chance to teach.


So, I spoke with the teachers and principal about giving him other work, because he is fast. I'd even prepare them, and they can give them to him after he has finished the class work so that he is not bored. Their remark, \"O, we have much smarter students here before, and your child is definitely not the most gifted in this school.\" But, I did not say he is the smartest or that he is gifted, I was trying to solve a behavioral problem, and it did not even matter if he was gifted or not.

Of course, when DS1 started university at 14, I got the harshest remarks ever, from teachers, principals, educators, parents, coaches and even the ministry.

Here's an article about how some students who are different can be misunderstood, and how we can help.

http://www.dukegiftedletter.com/articles/vol7no2_ee.html

[citygirl]

prata_queen:

Funz:

Personally I do not like the idea of skipping grades especially for kids this young.

actually the age gap of my gal is less than 1 month, compared to babies born in December of the previous calendar year. thus, we are trying to 'push' her 1 month earlier only, strictly speaking. however this entirely depends on MOE.

I believe MOE will not accept this line of reason and will stick strictly to its recommendation that children turn 7 in their first year at primary school. There are countless children born in early January and where would MOE draw the line?

The only exceptions granted are for children born January 1, or those who can prove that they are exceptionally gifted. So if you are planning to approach MOE, best to arm yourself with all sorts of evidence that your child is gifted.

Wonder if MENSA organises IQ tests for children that young? I read somewhere that the youngest Mensan was only 2-years-old!

[sleepy]

citygirl:

Wonder if MENSA organises IQ tests for children that young? I read somewhere that the youngest Mensan was only 2-years-old!

No, they don't. Need to do your own IQ testing externally and submit report to them

[sleepy]

sunshine05:

Thought of the IQ test and even called up KKH. Must see doctor first to assess whether need to go through the neuro... assessment - which may cost $1k ~ $2k. In the end, I dropped the idea.


\"stuck 6 hours a day staring into thin air\"??

Or anyone has any idea to get the IQ test done? :roll:

You may be interested in some of the discussion here
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2353&highlight=

[cnimed]

smurf:

Has anyone read this before? :?


http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/

I have and I take a very dim view of it. I agree with many things that 2aappmm said. When the boy was younger I felt sorry for him, but after he and his brothers went around shooting strong water jets straight in the face of young children and totally ignored the adults who told them to stop, I have nothing but distaste for the adult who should be responsible of teaching them right from wrong but prefer to have him memorising pi for a world record. You hardly see a photo of the boy without the adult. And all this ranting about being sidelined by MOE or the Singapore press because they are not Chinese etc is just plain ridiculous. I feel the bile rising, so I better stop here.

[tamarind]

deminc:

smurf:

Has anyone read this before? :?


http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/

I have and I take a very dim view of it. I agree with many things that 2aappmm said. When the boy was younger I felt sorry for him, but after he and his brothers went around shooting strong water jets straight in the face of young children and totally ignored the adults who told them to stop, I have nothing but distaste for the adult who should be responsible of teaching them right from wrong but prefer to have him memorising pi for a world record. You hardly see a photo of the boy without the adult. And all this ranting about being sidelined by MOE or the Singapore press because they are not Chinese etc is just plain ridiculous. I feel the bile rising, so I better stop here.

I read his blog before. He insisted that he never taught his son how to read, never forced him to learn chemistry, etc, the boy just learned on his own. I was really skeptical, could the boy have learned to read on his own, if he grew up in a family where no English is spoken ? If he is really such a genius, then he could have learned any language, and not just English. He should be reading thick Chinese novels before the age of 7 (many kids in China can do so). The parent must have at least read English books to the child, and this is teaching him.

Also I don't remember that he revealed the grades of the boy's O level chemistry results. If it was an A, he would have announced to the whole world. A large part of chemistry involves memory work, so it is possible that the boy may have been trained to memorize all the facts, enough to pass Chemistry at 7 years old. I will be amazed only if a 7 year old child can get an 'A' for Additional Mathematics at O levels. But then again, who in the right mind will make a 7 year old child take the O levels, no matter how profoundly gifted he is ?

I totally support MOE's reaction, that is, completely ignored his rantings.

[sleepy]

tamarind:

Also I don't remember that he revealed the grades of the boy's O level chemistry results. If it was an A, he would have announced to the whole world.

Read somewhere, don't recall where exactly - He got a C

[mommyNg]

sleepy:

Read somewhere, don't recall where exactly - He got a C

Here's the link:

http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20090804-159119.html

[smurf]

Hmm, then cannot called him a prodigy leh...since he needed help... :?