Any parents of gifted children here ?

[gifted]

At the moment, I guess she is doing well cos’ no complaint from the school yet.


She was enrolled in the child-care when she was only 18 month old. Every year the parents and teachers meeting, they would alway said she is very bright, learn thing very fast, not afraid to be different, good memory but very emotional. But I never take it to heart since she was so young.

When she was 3, her teacher told me to help enhanced her memory power and that was her first enrichment class started - music. Then she asked for Art class when she was 4 and was already a good reader by then. Actually, she could memorise most of the books that I had read to her when she was 3. She took just 5 minutes to memorise a piece of Tang Shi. 5 year old for math and swimming.

My nightmare started when she in P1. Her form teacher called me almost everyday. Just to find out what enrichment class she had attended and told me that she was well ahead of the rest of the class and she could even do P2 worksheet for maths. But she never top the class. Her P3 form teaher called me and asked me whether she read a lot and told me about the GEP screening due in last August. She told me my girl might be able to make it through. She told me that my girl could do 2 things at a time, she could be reading a book while her teacher was teaching and when she asked my girl a certain question, my girl was abled to answer her correctly.

Actually, I think I’m quite blessed cos’ I never had to worried about her school works as she is still able to cope. The taxing part for me is that how to make teach her to manage her time.

[wwcookie]

gifted:

The kids that are in the GEP not alway must be the top student of the class or top of the school when they are in the mainstream. Not my girl??


Some of the kids that I know of that was currently in the GEP dun score BAND 1 in any of their subjects when they were in the mainstream. Even their parents also wonder how their kid was being selected. :?

If you read the gifted literature, it is true that a lot of these kids don't really do well in the mainstream classroom because of lack of motivation/interest. However when placed in a program that caters to their learning styles, they can fly..

[ZacK]

Ling:

Hi,

This has been interesting reading for me. I used to teach in the Gifted programme so I have a couple of comments on what I have read thus far:

1) Nature of gifts vary: We do come across a pupil who is gifted in all respects i.e. in math, science, english, second/third language, music, art, drama, sports. Often, the pupils I am in contact with would excel greatly in two/three subjects (disciplines) and fair just above average on the rest. Some have no aptitude in a particular subject so they do not do as well during exams but when pitted against the mainstream pupils during common exams, they would still score or average well. Some develop their interests in these areas at some tipping point later on. The key thing is, they develop at their own pace and pursue their interests according to their needs. We should never stifle their quest for knowledge, skills or answers.

2) 10-year-old first : While they may be gifted, all the pupils undergo the angst of being 10 -year-olds first, regardless of their gift. They face the growing up anxieties of being a child of that age even if they are gifted. We must not lose sight of that. Just because at times they think like adults or respond like one, we forget that they are still children. It is important that as parents we do not neglect 'coping strategies' i.e. teaching a gifted child how to cope with his gift, the peer pressure from other gifted kids, as well as those from mainstream pupils. See Little Man Tate where Jodie Foster put up a stellar performance in that movie.

3) Value system : Without the proper parental guidance and value system, our kids can become gifted criminals too.

I was told by a parent that her gifted son had enrolled into a prestigious university overseas and had hacked into the department's computer system, changed the passwords and some assessment scores, 'for fun'. Fortunately, the Head was an understanding person and channelled her son's ability to more productive use by getting him to re-write a security programme.

The gifted programme in schools is an alternative to nurture high ability, gifted children to achieve their gifted potential. The curriculum is based largely on enrichment, expanding the mind and stretching the individual.
I used to tailor my lessons to the learning abilities of my pupils (some are more audio-visual, some more experiential) while balancing the requirements of MOE from the school (X assignments per term etc). Each class of pupil is different so there is a lot more preparation involved to pitch the learning at the right level. Too high and you lose those who are not interested in that subject matter, too low and you lose their interest.

Today, I hold fond memories of having touched their lives, many of whom are friends who hold successful jobs in both the civil service and in the private sector.

Thanks for sharing your experience and the insight on the GEP

[vicky]

gifted:

...Her P3 form teaher called me and asked me whether she read a lot and told me about the GEP screening due in last August...

hi gifted,

Thanks for sharing your experience.

May i know what kind of books does your daughter read (i.e. fiction or non-fiction)?

Agree that gifted cannot be judged by academic result. I know a boy from a popular school who top the level but didn't get selected for the GEP programme. The school had more than 10 pupils being selected to the programme.

[chuanchuan]

Hi EN,

May I know what gifted website were you refering to. Thanks

[gifted]

Hi Vicky,


I'm not too sure what she read. She is a very independent reader and she read very widely, especially science. As long there are books around, no matter friction or non friction, she will pick up and read. She had good memorise and can remember the facts after reading it. Frankly speaking, I can't even understand sometime. I left her in the library when I go shopping and she would sit there and read till I picked her up. Cos' she hate shopping.

[ChiefKiasu]

vicky:

...Agree that gifted cannot be judged by academic result. I know a boy from a popular school who top the level but didn't get selected for the GEP programme. The school had more than 10 pupils being selected to the programme.

Now, that makes you wonder how that boy who topped the level feels about it, doesn't it? Assuming that the boy did sit for the GEP testing and got rejected, is the system telling him \"hey, no matter how hard you work, you will never be GIFTED in my book\"?

I think I would be really sore and demoralized.

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

Hi chuanchuan


Here is the link : http://giftedkids.about.com/ & http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/.

[lizawa]

[quote]Now, that makes you wonder how that boy who topped the level feels about it, doesn't it?[/quote]
there are many reasons why some top students never make it to GEP. One of which could be plain carelessness. One highly intelligent boy in my son's class made this remark, \"I am glad now for a mistake I made in the GEP screening\". He missed one question in the paper but didn't know until the end, so all his answers in the OAS (optical answer sheet) did not match the question number.

The top student in our school did not even make it through the first round of screening. But continue to top the cohort for the rest of the years.

Whether our kids make it to GEP or not, I think in the eyes of us parents, they are always \"gifted\" in some way

[vicky]

ChiefKiasu:

Now, that makes you wonder how that boy who topped the level feels about it, doesn't it? Assuming that the boy did sit for the GEP testing and got rejected, is the system telling him \"hey, no matter how hard you work, you will never be GIFTED in my book\"?

I think I would be really sore and demoralized.

hi ChiefKiasu,

The boy did sit for both the screening and selection test. His mother told me that he felt very demoralised.

I feel sad under this kind of system. On one hand, it is a very good programme that cater to the needs of the gifted children. On the other hand, it would make some other students feel demoralised.

In many countries, 'gifted' is defined as 2-3 percent. It is unique that only top 1 percent being selected under S'pore system. Perhaps, it would be better to open other classes for those being selected in the screening test.