How to tell if a child is gifted?

[sleepy]

side track a little...


If parents really need to drill something, I think we should drill filial piety whenever opportunities arise. Took me at least a year to see some positive results

This is a long project, have to keep reinforcing


Raising a child with high self-esteem, imparting the right moral values such as honesty, filial, kind heartedness, etc. These are parents' responsiblities regardless of the child's academic performance

My two cents

[smurf]

ChiefKiasu:

smurf:

really ar?I scared by then, too late to learn leh...while he learns timetable, other children may be learning other more advanced things ..my 4.5 yr old boy cannot even recite Tang Shi, and doesn't speak mandarin.

smurf, you kid is perfectly fine, just like the majority of kids of his age that could not even recognise the alphabets. Remember that kindies start teaching reading and writing when the child is 5 years old. There is no need to panic at this point. You can always start him on some of the beginning English/Chinese enrichment courses now, and they should be able to help.

Remember that people peak at different ages. A child that peak too early could be in danger of early burn-out. Do you want your child to be the top PSLE scholar in the country, or do you want him to thrive in the society of the future? While academic excellence opens doors, in the end, it is character, charisma and conviction that carry the person through. Let your child peak at his own time. Support him with the foundation of confidence by being there for him when he needs you.

well said! but hor, hard to follow...cos we are kiasu parents! haha.

[jedamum]

smurf:

wow,,,how come so many kids are so bright now? my 15 mth boy cannot even talk now! much less recite Tang shi or timetable.should I be worry?? :shock:

smurf,
i think it is more appropriate for you to continue the discussion about your kids http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1672&start=0.
being bright and being gifted are different. I believe this thread is for parents with gifted kids to share on how to harness on this gift (or the 'difficulties' faced in raising such inquisitive kids) rather than to debate on whether their giftedness is drilled or inborn.

[smurf]

jedamum,


in no way was I trying to debate anything. I was just wondering why there are so many bright or gifted kids around nowadays compared to the olden days. I wasn’t suggesting anything nor did I try to ‘stir’ any kind of argument/debating here between bright and gifted. Maybe I shouldn’t even join in the discussion since I believe I dun have gifted child.

I believe you were referring to this thread:

Difficulties of having a intellectually gifted child (sorry, dunno how to link the thread) when you mentioned "or the ‘difficulties’ faced in raising such inquisitive kids".

[jedamum]

smurf:

jedamum,


in no way was I trying to debate anything. I was just wondering why there are so many bright or gifted kids around nowadays compared to the olden days. I wasn't suggesting anything nor did I try to 'stir' any kind of argument/debating here between bright and gifted. Maybe I shouldn't even join in the discussion since I believe I dun have gifted child.

I believe you were referring to this thread:

Difficulties of having a intellectually gifted child (sorry, dunno how to link the thread) when you mentioned \"or the 'difficulties' faced in raising such inquisitive kids\".

smurf,
no la. i wasn't referring to you debating anything. i was just thinking that maybe if we discuss our average kids at the average thread, we'll get more people to join in our discussion.
no offence meant, but i hope this thread on teaching gifted kids will remain for parents of gifted kids to share their worries/challenges instead of letting it spiral into some debate (like the other thread) and ended up get http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=340&start=0, causing this group of parents the impression that KSP is not all-inclusive: gifted or not

i think you are referring tohttp://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1931&start=0 thread - maybe CKS can merge this topic in there.

[IJJ]

I need some advises. My child is bored. I think really bored in her N1 class. Being born in the beginning of the year (2006) and her abilities to absorb at least 80% of what teachers had taught caused her to be bored, I suppose.


These few weeks, whenever I asked her about what she did in school, I always get replies such as "Its the same thing again! And you are asking me the same questions everyday!" Her daddy used to test her on the phonic sound of any letter, she would gladly sing out the song of that particular letter. Nowadays, when he asks her, she would usually say,"Why do you keep asking me? I taught you before."

I talked to her teacher today, she told me she had mastered almost everything. Even new stuffs like tracing letters or colouring pictures, she is all into independent work now. Teachers used to engage her to help in story telling (same stories told before) to the class, but now she is also not into it and has been rejecting teachers’ requests. The teacher mentioned that at N1 level, they have to do alot of songs and teachings repeatedly. Most of the kids are liking these ‘familiar’ things.

School is suggesting moving her ahead to N2. I am not so into it. Somehow somewhere down the road, she will have to fall back to her age group, so??

[ChiefKiasu]

IJJ:

... School is suggesting moving her ahead to N2. I am not so into it. Somehow somewhere down the road, she will have to fall back to her age group, so??

IJJ, if we stick to the principle of letting our children grow at their own pace, then you need to let go and not hold your girl back. While we do not advocate hot-housing our children, we also want parents to be cognizant of their children's capabilities so that they can help their children go beyond their comfort zone a little at a time.

Let your child move on to N2 and monitor the situation carefully.

[tamarind]

IJJ:

I need some advises. My child is bored. I think really bored in her N1 class. Being born in the beginning of the year (2006) and her abilities to absorb at least 80% of what teachers had taught caused her to be bored, I suppose.


These few weeks, whenever I asked her about what she did in school, I always get replies such as \"Its the same thing again! And you are asking me the same questions everyday!\" Her daddy used to test her on the phonic sound of any letter, she would gladly sing out the song of that particular letter. Nowadays, when he asks her, she would usually say,\"Why do you keep asking me? I taught you before.\"

I talked to her teacher today, she told me she had mastered almost everything. Even new stuffs like tracing letters or colouring pictures, she is all into independent work now. Teachers used to engage her to help in story telling (same stories told before) to the class, but now she is also not into it and has been rejecting teachers' requests. The teacher mentioned that at N1 level, they have to do alot of songs and teachings repeatedly. Most of the kids are liking these 'familiar' things.

School is suggesting moving her ahead to N2. I am not so into it. Somehow somewhere down the road, she will have to fall back to her age group, so??

There is no need to depend on the school to teach your girl.

There are so many things that you can teach her at home. She can be reading chapter books before the age of 5. Check out my blog :

http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2009/05/make-learning-phonics-and-reading.html

http://tamarindphonics.blogspot.com/2008/12/key-words-with-ladybird.html

My older girl finished reading Charlotte's Web(about 150 words a page) at 5 years old. In her K1 class, she was still reading books which have one sentence a page. But she enjoys the company of other children in her class and she doesn't mind going to school.

It is important that a child knows how to socialize with other kids her age. Being very advanced does not mean that she cannot play with other kids who are normal. Being \"bored\" is not an excuse.

Going to school is not only about learning to read and write. I send my kids to school purely for the purpose of learning socialization skills. Having very good interpersonal skills is the key to future success. This is something that most parents neglect.

I have heard of other parents of gifted kids saying that their kids feel bored in school. If the parents feel sorry for the child, they inadvertently make the child very arrogant. The child thinks that he is high above other kids, and that it is very sad to have to \"lower\" himself to play with other kids. I think it is wrong to make the child think this way.

The fact is that when such a gifted child grows up into adults and come out to work in the society, for example, if he becomes a doctor, he will have to deal with people of all education levels. The most successful doctors I know all have very good interpersonal skills and are compassionate to people of all backgrounds.

The child must learn how to interact with kids of different abilities.

Since nursery, my girl has been appointed as \"little teacher\" to help teach other kids. She learns to help other children.

Her friends give her little gifts like stickers, etc, and she makes little cards and draw pretty pictures to give to her friends. Her friends taught her how to maintain good relationships.

No matter how gifted a child is, there is always something that he/she can learn from other kids.

[IJJ]

tamarind:

It is important that a child knows how to socialize with other kids her age. Being very advanced does not mean that she cannot play with other kids who are normal. Being \"bored\" is not an excuse.


Going to school is not only about learning to read and write. I send my kids to school purely for the purpose of learning socialization skills. Having very good interpersonal skills is the key to future success. This is something that most parents neglect.

I have heard of other parents of gifted kids saying that their kids feel bored in school. If the parents feel sorry for the child, they inadvertently make the child very arrogant. The child thinks that he is high above other kids, and that it is very sad to have to \"lower\" himself to play with other kids. I think it is wrong to make the child think this way.

The fact is that when such a gifted child grows up into adults and come out to work in the society, for example, if he becomes a doctor, he will have to deal with people of all education levels. The most successful doctors I know all have very good interpersonal skills and are compassionate to people of all backgrounds.

The child must learn how to interact with kids of different abilities.

No matter how gifted a child is, there is always something that he/she can learn from other kids.

At this point of time, I would prefer not to label her as gifted, but bright. I fully agree about your point of socialisation is an important part that she has to learn. She gets along well with her classmates, but more 'manupulative' and more 'leading'. I will have to work with teachers on facilitating her 'get-along' with peers. Excessive praisings will indeed hold her head up high, 'arrogance' is not something I like her to grow up with. Moving her an level up above her same-age peers, IMO, is not helping the situation in the long term.

Thanks for your insight! Food for my thot/consideration.

[cnimed]

I think there are no hard and fast rules. The child’s temperament, teacher’s handling, classroom situation etc all makes a difference. Sometimes a child finds a good friend in the class and she is thus happy to put up with other things. If the child doesn’t find someone she can talk to, she may feel very differently. Generally I will give a decent length of time for trial, (e.g. a few months to a year), if the fit between the classroom and the child still doesn’t seem right, I will change.


during the trial I will check on other things, how the child is getting along with other children, if there are frequent fights, if she has problem sharing, taking turns etc. Sometimes the child is ahead in social rule development, and unless the classroom order is well maintained, such a child just gets pushed and pulled about at N1 or N2 level. So keep an open mind.

If she’s bored, look out for signs of her losing interest in learning and in school. If it happens, you may want to consider if a positive learning attitude is one of the things you want her to have, and how you can remedied it. Doing extra things at home with her as Tamarind pointed out, may be just what she needs.

You would have to consider how much you want to accomodate the child, and if not accomodating the child affects her significantly. I think for children as for adults, it all depends on what the alternative is.