How to tell if a child is gifted?
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Hehe, I think gifted kids are actually problematic ones coz they won't accept your answers readily and give teachers a headache by doing things their way. They take things apart and question authority. It's a huge responsibility of the parents to give them the right nurturing.
If kids are obedient and smart, they are probably just bright not gifted.
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laughingcat:
:goodpost: i agree with your opinion.DS1 is K2 next year.
Why i am saying that it is unnecessary to label your child is because of my past. My father used to tell his relatives and my mum how intelligent and gifted I am among my sibilings. Each time after the release of the exam result, he will surely repeat those remarks. However these remarks really made me very uncomfortable because i can sense the negative vibes from my elder sibilings and worse from my mum because she can't accept the fact that her only DS is not. It came to a point that it just sour the relationship and abusive action follows on. Many a times, i just felt so left out just because i am \"smartest\" ones. It just hurt.
Labelling a child like that may not necessarily be good. Parents will be parents. Sometime actions maybe for the goodness but subconciously it can turn out to be negative to others. Acceptance is another.
You do not necessarily need to know the child's ability to create the best environment. As a parents, you just create the best environment in your capacity to improve ypur child weaknesses. That is my humble opinion yeah based on my bad past. Pls don't slam me if my remarks is offensive as i didn't mean it that way. -
Over the last few weeks, I was packing my shelves and house. I chanced upon a lot of stuff that I have forgotten: Glenn Doman books, IQ books etc. It reminds me of how anxious I was when DS1 was a little boy and I had only 1 child. I too was anxious to know if the little one was gifted. In fact, I had thought of setting up an association for gifted children. I changed my mind when a more experienced parent told me that was being elitist.
Now that DS1 is approaching 18 and graduating from his first degree, and now that 4 of my children have completed childhood, I realized how too anxious I really was. And, much as I was anxious to find out if junior was gifted, to find ways and means to ‘nurture’ his giftedness or the lack of it, it turns out that the less anxious I was, the better the outcome.
Most of my kids strive to please me in what they do when they were little. So, when I sent them for classes to help them realize their potential, the kid place immense pressure on himself to do well. For DS1, it was the piano and Maths. As a consequence, he became really afraid of his first music teacher (to this day), and he’ll tell everyone he sux at maths even though he topped his P6 school cohort with a close perfect score (99.5%) at prelims. He chose, instead, to pursue things we did not focus on. He chose to major in art, philosophy, and the guitar. Seeing his interests in any of these, I would suggest he find a good teacher, his answer is always no, it would kill his interests. That said, he is matured and driven enough to understand the importance of formal qualifications, and is willing to get those papers as and when required.
Fortunately for this boy, I was clueless about giftedness and there was no kiasuparent website to help. Back in those days, information was not as readily available as today. I just did whatever came along, and researched to find things that suited us. If I had known that he is omni-gifted (according to some EPs), then I think I would have become over enthusiastic and probably spent too much effort trying to help him realize his gifts. It is great that I had no time before he turned two, I had too many children, and I didn’t know whether he was gifted or not. Because of all these, he got to pursue things we never thought he would, we tried and ventured out beyond boundaries, we ignored saintly advice to send him for this class, that class, this enrichment, that olympiad, this writing competition, that sporting event, train x times a week, that particular drawing class, this fantastic composer teacher… etc etc. We just did things that we felt was fun and wanted to try, and made silly mistakes. As a result, DS1 grew up very normal, fun loving and has a very good EQ along with nice achievements in sports, academics, music and art.
Hence, as a mother, I would not bother to find out if the kid is gifted or not, because it makes no difference in how I would raise my child. If I feel he has mastered his materials well, I will advance him, regardless of what the school/the world thinks. If he needs more time than the slowest child in class to complete a piece of work, then so be it. There is no pressure. I am my son’s parent, I decide what pace he moves together with him. Not the school, not the education system, not the teacher, not his age, certainly not some stranger who claims to be an experienced gifted teacher but has no love for my kid. And certainly, not how gifted he is, but what he wants to do, how ready he is and how I can/cannot support him.
I have used this same method for all the other 4 kids, and 3 more made it university that way. I will repeat the same with my number 5 who is 8, and yes, I don’t know if he is gifted or not, but I know he is learning what I feel will get him somewhere, and hopefully he too will make it to the university in another 5-6 years, but if he takes another 10, that’ll be fine as well. -
2ppaamm:
Fortunately for this boy, I was clueless about giftedness and there was no kiasuparent website to help.
fortunately for you...if you have been any more kiasu...you would have been too caught up in focusing on your firstborn and would not have time to go on and have another 4 great kids.
once again...:udawoman:
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Thank you for sharing all your experience. It was very helpful.
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jedamum:
As it is, I feel that I have spent too much time on the older ones and perhaps neglected the younger ones. When you have multiple children, it is easy to be enthusiastic with the things the first kid do because they are always 'fresh', while the younger kids do 'repeat' things.2ppaamm:
Fortunately for this boy, I was clueless about giftedness and there was no kiasuparent website to help.
fortunately for you...if you have been any more kiasu...you would have been too caught up in focusing on your firstborn and would not have time to go on and have another 4 great kids. once again...:udawoman:
Tried to get rid of some of those 'repeat' work these days. My daughters have taken over the nurturing of younger siblings for pocket :moneyflies: . Releases me to do some great new things, like housework...
Errr..... :laugh: being kiasu and having more children should have positive correlation mah... :laugh: The more kiasu, the more children, not the other way around.... You should have 2 more!
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Hi 2ppaamm, it really nice to read your sharings!
Do agree with u that too much expectations fr a child is v bad… However appropriate encouragement for child to try out new experiences might be a good thing if child is ready to try out Willingly!
I have a boy who is gg to P4 next yr… 2 mths ago, he was just another regular lazy bum who loves his computer games to the max till we got the letter that he was accepted into the GEP. I always encourage him to join competitions like math Olympiad for fun since he is pretty strong in math… And so he joined GEP screening with some encouragement to gain new experience n hoping to get thru round 1 so that he can join some enrichment program for math in sch… When he got thru round 1, I was just passing it off as lucky since many from his sch passed round 1… So being label as gifted now is a great surprise to us…
Before he turns 2, I know nothing abt nurturing him except reading to him once a while. He is one of those kids who dun play with toys even till today… He is hopeless in Lego or latest toy figurines… We started to attend Shichida when he was 2 out of curiosity and I was still lost abt wat to teach at home till after a term when I realized that my boy has pretty long attention span which he always sits thru 1 hr in class n listening and following and completing all tasks instructed by the teacher perfectly without much help needed. He loves his teacher alot and v happy to do whatever she ask him to! Then I started finding out more n spend 1 hr each day to practice n play puzzles with him at home… We never looked at toys when shopping but only games n puzzle which he loves… He enjoys challenges always n had developed good memory power fr those practices . We had done Glenn Doman math which is wonderful n enjoyable! He had built a strong foundation in math since n he loves his dots cards… All these brain trainings do have their benefits but however many parents I know did not teach with understanding the real reason to teach in the first place… To teach out of love for your child n not trying to create a genius. I dun believe much in genius but believe u can achieving great heights if u work hard. I made used of those teaching method to bond with my boy which he enjoyed it v much since we had lots of fun together… I never expect him to give me a correct answer or solution each time… If he dun get it… We just moved on n play something new… It however made him wan to try it again n again which we have to know where to stop before the interest in learning is killed. …
Gifted or not is not the most impt part of your child’s learning journey but the process of gaining knowledge n wisdom. Even if he got into GEP, that does not means he will always be on the top always… In fact I m more worried abt his emotional needs n his overall well being given the demands fr the program. I m having a second child soon n hopefully can spend our bonding time together like I did with my first child. Again n intact all the more I have to remind myself constantly… Teach with love n no expectations! There is no 1 single formula to success …just have to explore n have fun with your child! -
solochn:
Hi solochn, there is no doubt you have a child with very advanced development there. The question is not whether he is gifted - the answer is obvious (and you do not need school class or labelling to convince yourself). But you need to be aware that he is different and will be different from many of his peers for the rest of his life. Along with the more positive traits and qualities, you may spot some personality flaws and weaknesses that you will have to deal with. Many highly intelligent people grow up misunderstood and feel lonely when when they grow older, as they may perceive the world around them differently as the remaining 98 or 99% of society. Do research more and be there to help your child adapt and live well. The journey has just begun.Hi,
He seems to gifted of sort. I am not too sure really.
My Child is almost 5 now and when he was 3 he can do a 200 piece puzzle by himself. He enjoys it very much and can do and dismantle and redo the same puzzle countless time. We never thought much of it. Just kept buying him puzzles.
Until now... He is almost 5 and is able to complete a 1000 piece puzzle mostly by himself. We have done about 3 sets of 1000 already and is not able to buy a bigger one for him because he cannot handle the size. He however prefer someone to do it together with him. And as before he likes to complete and dismantle and redo the same puzzle over and over again.
Now here is the interesting part... After completing a 1000 piece puzzle the first time ,with some help from us. On the second attempt onwards, I can give him any piece of puzzle and he knows exactly where it goes most of the time. After a few more attempt on the same puzzle he can do it with uncanny accuracy. He can place a piece in the middle and tell you it belongs there.
We are now doing a 1000 puzzle of 'The last Judgement' by Michelangelo, it is not an easy one to complete even for an adult, its the most difficult one we have done so far. We are on our second attempt and he is displaying the same ability once again.
Much as I want to shower him with puzzles, which he really love. I just need to know if he is gifted or just has a very good memory, or if there are any other kids like him.
Does anyone has a similar experience? Please share.
Thank you.
SC
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Early Reading can be a sign of giftedness…Reading is an essential skill for someone to master to be successful in school and in life.
IQ tests can also help determine if your kids are gifted. -
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