How to tell if a child is gifted?
-
mummyloves:
I feel that the road is still so long... even those who could read, recite poems etc when 1 yr old, you can't guarantee how they will turn out later in life. Burn out? Snobbish elite?? but of course could also turn out to be n exceptional genius who is well adjusted in life..
Yes Yes Yes.... I'm a firm believer of 小时了了 大未必佳.
Of course this doesn't mean that we do not teach or guide the children at all. Rather, we should just pace them acording to their learning speed and encourage them even if their achievement is small.
I believe character development is more impt as values and beliefs are the things that a child will carry through his/her life and with the correct values and beliefs imparted, it would help them more in their future.
A good example is the hare and the turtle. Being fast at the upstart is not going to help if you do not persevere and follow through.
If your kid is able to pick up more than their peers, do go ahead and develop them. Conversely, if they are slower on the uptake, do not fret too as each child is unique in their learning abilities.
In this modern competitive world, it is easy to get caught up in all the peer comparisons. However, at the end of the day, whether they succeed later in life basically boils down to their core values and not really what they learn in school.
Lastly, lots of LOVE and PATIENCE will guide us through the growing up years of our children's life. Cheers! -
Actually, home is always the best. It's also FREE.
But how many working parents have the luxury of TIME to spend teaching their children? How many parents have the 'skills' & the resources to teach the child? How many parents have the time to read up on parenting/pedagogy methods while dealing with their hectic work & family life schedules?
If I left it to my hb, my son would still be 'goo-ing & gah-ing' right now. He's clueless about developing the child academically although he's very strict on character development.
Parents who do not have the time or know how to do it will resort to enrichment classes.
Honestly, I find some enrichment classes over-priced while some are really value for money. For example, those flashcard programs. It's alot of parental practise at home which I personally find does not justify the price of the lessons ($200 or more per month for once a week lessons). I can DIY flashcards at home & practise with my son anytime. If there's no time to DIY flashcards, you can easily purchase them anywhere!
Value for money classes will be chinese enrichment classes which I personally find it hard to teach as my chinese standard isn't fantastic & daddy's chinese standard is only spoken, no written.
But I always tell my friends and my tutee's parents: OPPORTUNISTIC LEARNING IS ALWAYS THE BEST.
Simple things like trips to the supermarket can be a whole new world of learning. For young children, start off with colour, shapes, identifying objects. For older children, start on spelling (play a spelling game with them based on items you see) , simple science (why are frozen food hard?), maths (addition of money or multiplication of items that comes in packs), etc.
Even the route home from school/grandparent's place/enrichment classes can be a learning opportunity. Read road signs, identify objects along the way, colours of cars, count how many traffic lights or trees you passed by, etc.
Even at the clinic my son will start reading signs/posters in the clinic. He's only 2.5yo now, so he can only read out individual letters & simple sight words (on, off, it). But it's still an opportunity for us to reinforce his learning even while waiting to see the doctor!
All these opportunistic learning are FREE & can be done at your convenience & it does not take special effort to bring them out! Even if your child is an infant and can't talk, just point and tell! You'll be amazed because once they start to verbalise, all those 'vocab' you taught them during their infant months will suddenly come out from their mouths!
Is it nature or nurture?
You decide
-
[quote]Posted: 24 Jul 2009 00:16 Post subject: Kaypoh People
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EN wrote:
You mean the kepo citizen? I taught my kids to also say \"okay\" when anybody ask about their results. By now, the relatives/friends and family know our standard answer will be \"okay\". As a mum, I must look out for my daughter's heart too.
Hey, SAME!
Me too!
I have trained them to say ok as well.
But once DD1 kena corner by so many
aunties/uncles and grandparents from
left right centre asking her to detail her
school work, what exam questions came
out, what band she got..... a few blatant
souls asked exactly how many marks is
that Band 1 for? The extent some
people go to, huh... Ya lah, reali kaypoh.
Buuuuttt, if you do the same for their kids,
they'll come and butt in to answer for them.
Lame. [/quote]keke. I can imagine the scenario. I have actually seen that. None dare to do it to my kids. Relatives and friends know us too well. Me and DH can turn really nasty if people around us dont know the appropriate way to behave. :lol: -
mrswongtuition, I believe in nature and nurture.
I have two different kids like night and day, so does my parents and my grandparents. Seems to run in the family.
Since one is bestowed with so much nature, I spend more time nurturing the other one. Must create a balance family mah. -
EN:
I personally believe in nurture. If the kid is naturally talents/gifted, then we should nurture him/her to achieve more.mrswongtuition, I believe in nature and nurture.
I have two different kids like night and day, so does my parents and my grandparents. Seems to run in the family.
Since one is bestowed with so much nature, I spend more time nurturing the other one. Must create a balance family mah.
No kids are born 'stupid' or 'dumb', it's how they are taught/nurtured that matters. -
Hi Wesim
There is no concrete evidence that teaching a child to read at 18 months will help him be more advanced. There are lot of people making money out of manipulating parents to think that if they don’t do loads of additional study they will turn out academically challenged! Believe me, I was a single mother raising 2 sons on a small income - one of my sons turned out to be a genius and gifted and I certainly did not know until first year in university when we sat for a 2 hour exam and finished it in 30 minutes. He did not attend a single additional after school class nor did he have a tutor. I did provide lots of books, lots of love and I never punished, just listened and understood their needs. Today he is doing his Masters and only last week he emailed me his results of two high distinctions, so it must be in his DNA. LOL If he did not go to university because he may not have been smart enough, that too would have been okay with me so long as he got a good trade that would allow him to support him through life. To me there is nothing wrong with being a plumber or an electrician if this is what he/she would enjoy. Besides Richard Branson did not have a degree, nor did Lady Diana, nor did Paul Keating (one of Australia’s great Prime Ministers, Oprah, just to name a few). All successful people !
Also we cannot hurry nature - if we removed the baby during pregnancy the baby would die, instead we have to wait for the whole 9 months until the baby is fully developed Like so when our kids are born, they need to go through being babies, playing, exploring and not being forced to learn maths and english - it is unnatural. If they wish to learn, they will do so without parents forcing them.
So chin up kiddo !! Give your child lots of love and lots of books and listen to what he or she is good at i.e. if your child is good at sports, encourage him and join him up in good sporting teams, child is good at music, encourage and support that - When your child does get to school he will learn what he/she needs to learn and you can keep a close watch on him and help him through. Socialise him and teach him manners and good values and the rest will follow. -
:goodpost: Skippy!
-
[Moderator's note: Topics merged.]
How can u tell an ordinary baby from a gifted one?
Here are some clues..
Uniformly Advanced Development
A child who does everything early: Smiles, walks, talks, pick up objects is probably going to continue to develope at an advanced clip, and may turn out to be exceptionally gifted.
Good memory and power of observation
Gifted children often amaze their parents with the things they remember, and when things differ from what they recollect (e.g Mummy's got new hair cut, Daddy got a new coat) they will notice it immediately
Creativity and originality
A gifted child can also surprise parents by being able to figure out a way to get to a toy that is stuck behind a child, reach a high shelf in the bookcase (pile up books from lower shelves to climb on), or even use sign language for a word that is beyond their linguistic abilities (such as pointing to her own nose to indicate that the animal in the book is an elephant, or to her ears if its a rabbit)
Curiosity and concentration
While all babies are intensly curious, the very gifted are not only curious but have the persistence and concentration to explore what it is they are curious about.
Ability to make connection
They are also able to see relationships between things and will be able to apply old knowledge to new situations. E.g Accustomed to pushing the button for the lift in her house and sees a lift in a store and start to look for the button.
Rich Imagination
Before a year, the gifted child may be able to pretend to drink a cup of coffee and soon become heavily involved in making stories, games and pretend friends.
Lastly, bear in mind that every child is gifted in some way. Whatever talents emerge in your child, they will develope fully if you nuture and encourages them from early.
Appreciating your child instead of trying to mould her into the person you would like her to be is the very best way to help her use the gifts that she has been blessed with. -
EN:
keke. I can imagine the scenario. I have actually seen that. None dare to do it to my kids. Relatives and friends know us too well. Me and DH can turn really nasty if people around us dont know the appropriate way to behave. :lol:
Me and sashimi are also like you and your DH. My tongue is sharp, regardless of offender's gender, social standing and age. sashimi's words are worse. Best is sashimi's \"black face\"; can scare away \"potential\" kaypohs. :lol: -
hi,
thanks for sharing.
mods, can consider merging with http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2353&start=0.
TQ.
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login