Any parents of gifted children here ?

[tamarind]

EN,

Thanks for sharing your experience

I read somewhere that highly gifted children do not need to be taught. They can learn on their own. I think your son belongs to this category.

I think the most important thing we can do for our kids, is to teach him/her to read independently, then he/she can read any books and learn anything on his own.

My hubby likes to collect books, and we have about 2000 - 3000 adult books at home covering all areas (science, maths, computer science, electronics, etc). I also have over 300 children's books for the kids. These books are in open shelves and within easy reach. My kids can read any books they want.

I think your approach is quite similar to mine. I also did not send my girl to many enrichment classes. She also studies in PCF kindergarten. Though her development is far more advance than other kids in her class, she loves going to school, simply for the social interaction.

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

Hi Tamarind


Thanks for your reply. I sincerely think that my son is not in the highly gifted range. Bright, fast learner, inquisitive & intense, yes he is. I agree with you on the need for parents to groom their children to read independently. I hope anyone can share with me tips on getting the kids to read independently. Mine, got to choose the books from the library. We take turn to read the pages at night & he does struggle with some words which makes him feels he is incompetent to read independently. Cant blame him, when is interested in dinosaurs (the names are a handful to pronounce) or another eg internal organs & how it functions.

He usually is interested in one topic for eg sharks & I will have to endure finding whatever information that I can find on the topic. Meaning, there will be months that I need to read shark after shark after shark books until he is satisfied with the information that he has gotten (thank god, I have move on to another topic, phew!).

So buying books will not be a good option for me. He even told me to sell off the baby books or toys that is of no use to him since he is a big boy

I welcome suggestions on fiction books which I can get my boy to be interested in.

I have read your blog & awesome job you done! By the way, I know RGPS does Charlotte Web for primary 4 students for their English (enrichment?) class. Pr 1, will be Fantastic Mr Fox, Pr 2 Magic Finger, Pr 3 Stuart Little. There are some extra class activities that are fun too which usually geared towards bright kids (so not just GEP students) and it is for every kids to enjoy.

[tamarind]

EN,

Thanks for reading my blog I personally think that the LadyBird keyword series is the best books to teach a child to read. Only 1 or 2 new words are introduced every page, and the words are repeated so that the child can practice. By the time my girl completed book 12, she is a very confident reader. Phonics techniques are also very important to help a child to read. My girl has a very strong foundation in phonics, she can figure out how to read words which she has not seen before. My boy is also crazy dinosaurs and we also have quite a few dinosaur books. My girl can read words like Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus, Scelidosaurus etc easily.

Charlotte's Web is a wonderful book, deeply moving and superbly written. I was struggling to read Charlotte's Web when I was in Sec 1. I am very happy that my 5 year old girl can read it quite easily. Nowadays the standards are really high, already using this book in P4.

Unlike other parents who make their kids do as many assessment books as they can, I would rather my girl read as many of these children's classics as she can. I already have some books lined up for her : Little House on the Prairie, Little Princess(by Frances Hodgson Burnett), the Narnia Chronicles, etc. I need to find her books with a girl as the central character so it is easier for her to identify with.

For books with a boy as the central character, Charlie and the Chocolate factory by Roald Dahl is very good. I also highly recommend My Father's Dragon(by Ruth Stiles Gannett). My hubby was crazy over Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. He said that the Hobbit is easier to read.

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

Hi Again


We've finished with the LadyBird Series about 2 years back. He hated the reading session & I only do it sporadically as my work requires travelling & looking after my sickly daughter. The dinosaurs words listed, he has no problem either. There are some which escape my mind. I know he can read, just want to boost his confidence so that he can go solo and not wait for me all the time. I forgot to add on that he is currently in Pr 1 this year. Mid year exam, prefect score for everthing except compre. He did not attempt it at all. I was puzzled & received no reply when questioned. Well until two days ago, he brought back his comprehension homework (which surprises me because he usually finishes his homework in school). He was hesitant when he started & asked for my help. Remembering the earlier thread that some kids are prefectionist, I reassure him that it is alright to make mistake. The most important thing is to keep on learning and learn from the mistake we make. Magical words! He finished his comprehension in 15 minutes & it is a prefect score.

Thanks for the books suggestion. I will try Roald Dahl for him to start with.

[wwcookie]

Hi EN,


My son is in P1 this year and we stay in the West too. And he is oso bothered by clothes labels! He likes science too and loves going to this science class at United Square http://ascend-training.com/index.aspx?pid=20936 I oso subscribe Young Scientist mag for him http://www.englishcorner.com.sg/Category.aspx which is his favourite read of the moment. Like your son, he likes to wait for me to come home after work and read to him, except for the Young Scientist mag which he will read by himself immediately upon receiving it

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

Hi wwcookie


Clothes labels. Bring back the memory when my son makes a big fuss, wail, pull the t-shirt neck & trying to find scissors to snip it off. Of course I was cross as I dont know at that time it is one of the characteristics listed.

Will you be able to describe to me about the sc magazine & the science class that your boy attend?

My son does have problem adjusting to P1. I met the teacher in March. Her feedback is that my son is average, very quiet, too serious for his age & I should not push him too much. Of course, this is totally different from the scenario when he was in kindergarten. Always trying to manipulate conversation, he is requested to help his weaker classmate, general knowledged is not graded at the end of the year as he is too advance & always challenging the teacher on more information on a facts.

The teacher manage to pull him out of his shell, starts to interact with his classmate & emerge 1st in the school drawing competition.

I can understand your son frustration. The teacher has to go at the slower speed to ensure non of the kids are left behind. Mine hates revision too. The revision that I do daily is only half hour math & half hour English except Fri & Sat. Remaining of the time is spend reading, surf the net if I can't answer the question, play and doing nothing.

Hmmmm... my kids are not deprived of the normal kids activities. They have transformer, Ben 10, power ranger, computer games & loads of paper to draw. I'm hesitant to buy PSP too but has promised that he will get one in Nov. We do play monopoly & traditional games like Happy Family, Snap, Snake & Ladder etc. The only thing that I don't have & never will (unless he ask) is chess. That he can go and play with his friend in school :lol:

[wwcookie]

EN,


The science class he attended is experiment based. There are about 7 or 8 kids in the class. Once, they learn about chemistry and he concocted a perfume for me in his class. Another time they learn about the embalming process so he brought back a very cute little mummy made of wires, cotton wool and gauze. There's also the time when they learn about biology and the teacher brought in a cow's brain :shock: in one lesson and they dissected a frog in another! He loves this class cos, in his own words, he can do lots of \"gross\" stuff!

Re the Young Scientist mag, its comic based with lots of activities. Click here for a sample of the mag http://www.youngscientists.sg/youngscientists.html

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

Hi wwcookie


Thanks for giving a snap shot of how the class is being conducted. Sounds interesting. However, I will have my son decides if he is interested and is able to withstand the yucky portion. My son close his nose throughout the zoo trip, gag when goes to the market. I might want to give the magazine a try if he likes.


To all parents who read this forum.

I happen to talk to two parents who have their child placed in Singapore gifted program. My question to them was, is the child being sent to any special programs or enrichment class or special regime while growing up before being identified as gifted. One of the parents inform me, that there is no enrichment classes. Just good family bonding, show interest & support in what the child does & instill good faith in God. The other parent is a security guard. The child is self motivated & has not attended any enrichment classes either.

So, I am in agreement with ChiefKiasu. The talent will emerge & no amount of money can buy what that has been in borne.

[tamarind]

I would like to share about my hubby’s childhood. His parents completely neglected him. He was raised by servants, who only made sure he was clean and well fed. They never play or read to him. No enrichment classes at all, except for Chinese tuition. He learn phonics by watching "Sesame Street". Fortunately his father allowed him to buy any books he wanted. He had the complete series of Encyclopedia Britannica when he was in P3. He read lots of books and he turned out to be the top student in ACS. He even taught himself computer programming when he was in secondary school, simply by reading books on computer programming.


My hubby was not supportive of any enrichment classes. I only managed to send my girl to phonics class for 1 year. Now my kids are only attending Berries Chinese class once a week. However my hubby was determined to be different from his parents. While I concentrated on teaching my kids to read, he taught them a wide range of knowledge from astronomy to dinosaurs to how the human body works. He conducts science experiments with them at home. He kept telling me that his parents did none of this with him. But the fact is that he knew how to read and learn on his own when he was a child, and he turned out well anyway.

Personally I think it is not the number of enrichment class that matters. What matters most is that the child must have the ability to read and the desire to learn on his own, and of course parent’s attention is also very important to the child.

[wwcookie]

Actually my son loves going for his enrichment classes. To me these classes serve a very impt purpose besides exposing him to different stuffs - his social needs - he gets to play and interact with the other children in the classes. That's why I try to avoid enrichment classes that are too academic and that requires the children to sit down like in a classroom environment. I go for those that encourages lots of interaction with the other children and have a fun approach. This way, he gets to interact with as many groups of children as possible :lol:

Tamarind, I dont think there are any enrichment classes at all during our time and most of our parents, being not as educated as we are now, only made sure that we are clean and well-fed. I myself really envied my son for having the opportunity to be exposed to all the fun stuffs such as science experiments or going 'crazy' in drama class or solving puzzles and games in maths class. I remember my learning process was so boring and dry when I was a child. I know I would love to have the oppotunity to attend the enrichment classes he's attending now if I can go back to being a child