Any parents of gifted children here ?
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Hi,
I’m new here and happened to see this website. It seems to me that everyone here is very interested in the topic ‘gifted’. Having a child that is special as compare to the kids of the same age do make some parents stress out.
My girl had gone through her GEP screening last year and fortunately she was being selected to the GEP programe. Currently, she is in the GEP programe which I think is taxing. -
Hello Gifted
Welcome to the hot thread. Care to share the joy, the heart stopping moment, the anxiety and stress that you have experince with your daughter?
What is gifted program in Singapore school all about? Does the program relief your stress in bringing up your daughter or is it an added burden now that she is in GEP program.
Feel free to share as we are truly curious. -
EN,
In the GEP programe, the children are being taught in a very broad base manner. As they are all fast learner, they are learning things 3 to 4 years in advanced of their age. They dun work on activities books, but worksheets and projects. They are expected to think out of the box and handed stress. They are arm with skill that will help them in the future.
My girl likes the programe but hates the workloads as she cannot find time to play. They dun ready have any text books to teach on and all the P4 text book that were bought are for parents references only. 'Charlotte Web' is the only book for English. As for me, I dun have any past year paper to refer to.
When my girl was in the mainstream, we sailed through with ease and both of us were very happy. She only did her assessment books during exam time and she usually scored well even she dun ready study. I am quite stress out and sometime regret on the decision that we have made. I always tell my friends that she is gifted and I'm not.
One thing for sure is that everyone in the family must have a very positive mind set and have to learn to accept that she is no longer among the top. I have to constantly reminder her that is alright to fail in any test and she can make it if she tried harder next time.
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Hi gifted,
Do you mind sharing which school is your girl in now? Was she from a ‘non-GEP’ school previously? I wonder if all GEP schools have the same kind of program? -
Hi EN,
Are you going to sign your boy up for the science enrichment class at United Square? There’s another centre, Science Buddies, that offers similar hands-on programs too. My boy has been to their hol programs. -
She is now in Nan Hua and previously she is from a neighbourhood school in Jurong.
I heard from my cousin who has a boy in another GEP school, basically they are doing the same thing. All their programe are all tailor by the MOE GEP Department and at the end of the year all the 9 GEP programe school will be taking the same exam paper.
The only different maybe their enrichment programe given by their own school. -
Thanks, gifted, for your sharing
Can you also share what kind of enrichment programs is the school offering? -
Hi Cookie
Now that my son is excited about going for Science class, I just realize that I have logistic issue which cannot be resolved until the new year starts (err... biz trip that I keep on delaying & my son minor surgery that puts him out of activity for 2 wks). I have not decide which one to enrol. I will need to find out more beside what type of program is available (carpark, road congestion, what to do while waiting for his class to end, classes clash with daughter's etc)
Hi Tamarind
I have given some thoughts of the suggestions that you have made. I'm sorry if I'm too quick to brush off your suggestion. :oops: I think back & I know there is a period that my son is not intense in a certain subject. It will then be a phase of finding what subject interest him. During this period he can jump from one topic to another until he finds something of interest & he will then intensify his readings on a particular subject for months. Having a variety of books at home will help him when he is in the searching period instead of waiting another week to get his question answered. I wonder in this millenium age, is encyclopedia still being sold?
I realize that there is no short cut in bringing up a child. Sending him to Science Club will give me some relief. However, that does not mean that he will stop asking those wonderful questions. So, must instill on our kids to be confident reader & desire to learn. -
Hi EN,
You can try these two online encyclopedia websites. They are free, don't occupy space in your home and you won't risk them becoming white elephants
http://www.answers.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page -
tamarind:
I must say I share your views on this... Which is why I am very hesitant to sign my son up for all sorts of enrichment classes.
I totally respect your decision to send your child to enrichment classes. Many other parents are doing the same thing. My point is that enrichment classes are not the most important factor in developing a child's potential. Personally I think that 2 things are most important :
- ability to learn on his own
- parents' attention.
My son currently goes for K1 classes at Growing up Gifted for half a day from Mon - Fri... So far I'm happy with the curriculum there and the knowledge that they impart in him.
On Sat... He goes for right brain training at iGenuis for 1.5hrs... His course is ending soon and I'm contemplating on signing him up for some mental maths courses.
Other than these... I want him to still have his own free time to play and do the stuff he likes doing without our intervention.
When my boy was 2... I would point out to him the various car brands on the roads or in the carparks... So it's no surprise that he can recognise any car brands on the roads now.. From your normal Toyotas/Mazdas/Hondas to Porsches/Ferraris/Bentleys/Bugattis. Anyway now he is asking me to go to the specifics with him on the exact brand and model of the cars we come across... Sort of a joke between the 2 of us... He says he'll buy me a Maserati to race along side his Porsche when he grows up :lol: ... So I'm keeping my fingers crossed to see if I get my keys to my Maserati before I'm 6 foot underground :roll:
To some extent enrichment classes do help... But more importantly... For a child to be able to grow up to harness their fullest potential... My personal take is the following is of equal or more importance:
- Always encourage and support their inquisitive minds. Kids are curious by nature... They start to lose this attribute when they keep asking the adults around them but gets put down instead. I make a point to search for answers that I may not know and make it a group activity that we do together.
- Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence. With these two attributes, the kids will then have the courage to go explore this world on their own. Parents can only be with their kids up to a certain point in time. So I find that it is important to equip them with the right skills/values for them to go \"fish\" on their own. One thing I forbid in our household is the use of derogatory remarks... Especially like using the word stupid on another person. We use other words like someone is being silly or if I have made a mistake... I'd be saying like ... Oops silly me etc. I tried not using words with negative connotations like NO or WRONG etc... Not easy most of the time... I guess we are all doing our best at being the \"ideal\" parent :oops:
Oops... Of cos my son also has music lessons provided by mummy dearest at home
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