How to tell if a child is gifted?
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IJJ:
My dd started montessori childcare when she was 2yo. After 3 months in playgroup, she was promoted to N1. When she was 3 yo, she did N2. I don't mind the advanced teaching since she can absorb. Didn't stay for K1 because I don't need childcare facility anymore.
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??
By the time she was in K2, she was doing fraction, the equivalent of P3/P4 level for Maths in her enrichment center. I've stopped her Maths enrichment by end of K2 to teach her personally. She's comfortably in P1 this year
I believe if the child can absorb & ask for more, just follow her pace. -
Original Title: Kids are gifted nowadays.....
Hi to all
I have joined quite a few forums and read numerous posts about parents proclaiming their kids as young as 18mths can speak in sentences, recite tang shi, know their alphapet etc.
Whenever i read the posts, my heart will skip a beat and think: Oh dear! My girl is not up to that standard yet.......how? Will she lose out?
I am just wondering could it be those 'brain' education - Shichida, LNT etc - that are really making the kids smarter? I do understand that parents nowadays are more educated and they are willing to send their kids to lots of enrichment classes. What about those who cannot afford it? Will their kids lose out? Will MOE raise the standard of marking e.g. instead of 50marks as a passing grade, you now need to score 60marks (something like that). -
Hi Wesim, yes it is tough now days isn’t it…everyone seems to be so advance for their age.
How old is you girl? Personally I won’t worry if they could not speak in sentences, recite tang shi, know their alphapet etc. by 18 months but it seems that kids are expected to be able to read by the time they go to school according to the veterans parents who have been there.
I think rather than enrichment class, the key is to have parents that are motivated to help the kids learn and enjoy learning. Enrichment classes does help but it is not essential especially if the parents and caregiver make a little effort. That said, learning academic stuff is not as important as learning EQ and social skills for preschool children. Some of the experts in the area claim that kids generally catch in terms of academics eventually. -
[Editor's note: Topic selected for http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/dont-be-pressured-push-your-child.]
No offense or judgment meant on anybody, but it is useful to see things in perspective:
(Sorry ah, here goes another slice of \"different perspective\", sashimi style).
People who have good things to say about themselves will always be louder than those who do not. (AGain, no offense intended; nothing morally apprehensible about this).
Likewise, the news media likes to report on individual \"successful entrepreneurs\", smiling faces and all; but for every one reported, there are 30, 50, maybe 100 failures out there whom you will never hear of. Even funnier is how some of these successful entrepreneurs go down the drain after a couple of years (cf. dot.com crash).
The reverse is also true - bad news makes great news, to the press.
Anyway, my point is - don't put this kind of pressure on yourself and put even less on your children. Be the best you can be, for your children, for yourself - don't bother comparing or judging your kids based on others. There will always be \"better\" ones (and even more worse ones, perhaps?). Even better, learn from them and apply what is beneficial to your own family.
Personally, I never believe and have no interest in child prodigies. To me, what's important is what you ultimately achieve in life and for society, regardless of age.
Last but not least, children mature at different speeds. A 2-yr-old child may seem very smart compared to her peers, but when she reaches 8, all the other 8-yr-olds have caught up, and they are all roughly the same. Why just look at the way they all speak broken SEnglish. And I recall people saying how impressive my daughter's standard of English was just a handful of years ago.
As I said before, that's why, what's important is ultimately what you achieve in life, and not how clever or precocious you are at age X. A 2-yr-old who can recite latin achieves no more than an 18 or 80-yr-old who contributes nothing to life and society.
I shall stop here and not go into the subject of how so many adults devolve into immature dummies with no common sense when they grow up.
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Heyya Wesim,
Don’t worry unduly or scare yourself silly.
Just do what you can, within your own means.
Good enough if you can be there for your child
through his/her phases in life, and allow him/her
to grow up with a happy childhood in your care and
your continued guidance. As parents, we all want
what is good for our children but we do not have
to go to extremes to ensure our children are tops
in everything they do. If they can manage to do well
enough and keep up with school life as it is, it’s still
fine.
It is hard not to compare, but the more you do…
The more it is unhealthy for you and your thoughts
and also how you relate to your child. This will in turn
create unnecessary stress for both you and your child.
It’s fine if you are keen to find out and keep yourself
updated with the latest in our early education industry,
to ensure that you are in the know… but hopefully not
to the extent of overdoing what you and your child CAN
do.
Look at life in a positive perspective. For now try to focus
on what you and your child CAN do, not dwell deeply on
those you CAN’T. Live life happy ok, dear…
If you have any doubts on what to teach your child, the
school that your child attends is good enough to show the
standard for each age group and also coming in to KSP to
voice out your thoughts or check out the thread in relevance
to your concerns.
Take care, ok.
Best Regards. -
Hi Wesim,
personally I don’t believe in those brain training programmes. My children have never attended any enrichment programmes of academic nature.
Home environment is still the most important. If you take the time to show your children interesting things, and to explain things to them clearly, in my books that’s good enough for the early years. There’s no need to recite things (unless the child enjoys it), because ultimately the understanding is not there. Parrots can do it too, right?
Having said that, I’m a SAHM and my two kids tag along everywhere I go. A working mum will naturally place more emphasis on the choice of childcare/schools and activities that they can do within limited time frame. -
Very well said, Buds. :goodpost:
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Wesim:
What about those who cannot afford it? Will their kids lose out?
A truly gifted child only need to spend very little time learning, he/she does not need any enrichment class, and still be much more advanced that other kids. I have even heard of kids who can teach themselves to read, and teach themselves to pass O-level chemistry
I believe that it is possible that a 6 year old child reaches the intellectual level of a 16 year old. However, such a child must be born with very high learning ability.
Those who become more advanced only after attending many enrichment classes, are trained to be more advanced by repeated drilling. They may not necessarily be gifted with high learning ability.
My girl told me that her K2 classmate said that one day while her mother was teaching her to do academic work, her mother was so angry with her, she hit the girl so hard that she fell off the chair. That poor girl is actually above average in class. I feel very sad for her.
It is really the parents' expectation that is putting stress on kids.
My boy, who is in K1 this year, only started to learn addition a few months ago. He still does not know subtraction yet. But I am very happy with him, because my expectation of him is very low. When he can do +1 and +2 of any number between 0 and 100, I am already so happy.
So long as we make sure that the child is putting in effort to study consistently everyday, and that he improves over time, then he is trying his best. I agree with buds. There is no end to comparison. Even though you trained your child to memorize all the multiplication tables at 4 years old, you will be shock to find out that some children can do it at 3 years old.
We should compare a child only with herself and no one else. For example, if one year ago, she still cannot read a single word, but this year she can read books with a few sentences, then we should be very happy for her.
Also take note that a gifted child may be deficient in other important areas. For example, she may be seriously lacking good interpersonal skills. I would think that a child who is born to have very good interpersonal skills is also highly gifted, and this gift is more likely to guarantee future success. So please do look beyond academic excellence. -
The general academic standard is indeed higher today than it was when we were schooling. There is so much more access to information and I believe the method of instruction has also improved over time. Having said that, I have to say I am also a non-believer of the more esoteric coaching methods. My personal view is that they give a temporary blip, but unless the child is innately gifted, others will soon catch up. The stories of exceptional cases will always be there, but they are by definition, exceptional.
As adults and having some life experience, as well as having interacted with friends/co-workers, I’m sure we all can vouch that academic results can take you so far, but success in life is defined in many ways and there are so many different skills/characteristics that play into it. Academics is but 1. -
Hi mincy
My girl is 26mths old. Her sentences consist 2 to 3 words and knows her alphapet well (cap and lower case) and a few Chinese characters. It is definately tougher now as everyone is so advanced.
Hi sashimi
I do try not to put pressue on my princess. I know the feeling because my relatives used to compare and judge me with other kids. I don't expect my girl to become a child prodigy. I truly want her to grow up happily, responsibly, with common sense and also, not a dummy.
Hi buds and tamarind
I enjoy reading your posts and i do learn a lot from you guys. Thank you so much.
I do try my very best to teach and guide my girl and also to ensure she has a happy childhood.
To the rest of the mummies
Thank you for your input.
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