How to tell if a child is gifted?
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[quote]Principal on vacation. Anyway, we are not allowed to cane minors, especially those who look like 16 when they are already mothers of kids [/quote]
Which school is that? It's not school holiday yet. Suka suka go on vacation. Chey!
Pssstt..heard from grapevine, the woman who mistaken the mother to be a minor is highly myopic. The old lady too vain to put on her thick spec.
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Chief has the topic for this thread changed. Came across this website which I found interesting.
It's the differentiation between a gifted child and a hot house child.
http://giftedkids.about.com/od/glossary/g/hothouse.htm
With regards to parents will know best if their child is gifted, jmho, giftedness comes from the parents. If a child learns very fast or do extra ordinary things, the parents will think their child is normal. Why? This is because when the parents were at the same age of the child, they have the same capabilities too. There might be other scenario or exception as God does work in mysterious ways. -
http://giftedkids.about.com/b/2006/04/28/gifted-or-just-bright.htm
Gifted or Just Bright?
Friday April 28, 2006
Parents of gifted children usually can't help but notice their children's exceptional abilities. They wonder, though, if these exceptional abilities mean that their child is gifted. Sure, the child is smart, really smart, but is that gifted...or just bright? This is the number one question parents ask, and it can be hard to feel comfortable with an answer. It takes a bit of reading to reach a point of comfort, but a good way to start understanding the difference between bright and gifted is to take a look at a comparison of bright vs. gifted children.
Bright Learners
Knows the answers
Is interested
Is attentive
Has good ideas
Works hard
Answers the questions
Top group
Listens with interest
Learns with ease
6-8 repetitions
Understands ideas
Enjoys peers
Grasps the meaning
Completes assignments
Is receptive
Copies accurately
Enjoys school
Absorbs information
Technician
Good memorizer
Enjoys straightforward, sequential presentation
Is alert
Is pleased with own learning
Gifted Learners
Asks the questions
Is highly curious
Is mentally and physically involved
Has wild, silly ideas
Plays around, yet tests well
Discusses in detail, elaborates
Beyond the group
Shows strong feelings and opinions
Already knows
1-2 repetitions for mastery
Constructs abstractions
Prefers adults
Draws inferences
Initiates projects
Is intense
Creates a new design
Enjoys learning
Manipulates information
Inventor
Good guesser
Thrives on complexity
Is keenly observant
Is highly self-critical
by Janice Szabos[/u] -
EN:
You are right. Those parents who are very smart, or who have 2 or 3 kids of the same capabilities, will think that it is normal to have a child that can learn things effortlessly. They will then think that such kids of high learning abilities are very common.
With regards to parents will know best if their child is gifted, jmho, giftedness comes from the parents. If a child learns very fast or do extra ordinary things, the parents will think their child is normal. Why? This is because when the parents were at the same age of the child, they have the same capabilities too. There might be other scenario or exception as God does work in mysterious ways.
But if a parent has one child who needs 20 repetitions to learn something new, and another child who needs to be taught only once, then we will see the difference.
I actually feel sad when people tell me that there are many exceptionally bright or gifted kids around. Does that mean that my younger boy is among the minority who is not so bright ? I feel better when I tell myself that to be average is normal.
That is why we need forums like this, so that parents can find out what is normal and what is not normal.
I also believe that it is possible for not so smart parents with low education levels to give birth to exceptionally bright kids. -
tamarind:
I couldn't agree more with you.
There is no need to depend on the school to teach your girl.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 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.
Every kid is special and gifted in their own ways.
My boy is a fast learner and in order to make him learn at his own pace, I enrolled him for Kumon as he likes Mathematics a lot.
He is very IT savvy and he is nominated by his teacher to be the leader for all their Powerpoint presentations.
He still likes going to school to interact and play with his classmates.
In society, we meet all kinds of people and the reason why kids are going to school is not purely learning, it is also about caring and sharing and working with others.
If you think your kid is faster than his peers, you can always fill in some activities for him when he is home or during the weekends.
Let your kid grow happily
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[quote]Let your kid grow happily [/quote]
Hopefully more parents will think the same as you
Happiness means different things to different kids.
For example, I feel happy solving maths problems, especially Calculus when I was in secondary school, though I am not gifted. I still like do maths now.
Some parents may think that a child who is reading books of 200 words a page at 5 years old, is under too much stress and is not enjoying her childhood. But the fact is that young kids who can read very well, are very happy reading all the wonderful children's classics. They are transported to a whole new world of fun. Some kids like to sit for a few hours at a time drawing and writing stories on their own initiatives. It is not true that a happy childhood only means watching TV and playing electronic games.
It is important that as parents, we allow the kids to have the freedom to do what they love to do. Not what we think they should do. -
tamarind:
[quote]Let your kid grow happily
Hopefully more parents will think the same as you
Happiness means different things to different kids.
For example, I feel happy solving maths problems, especially Calculus when I was in secondary school, though I am not gifted. I still like do maths now.
Some parents may think that a child who is reading books of 200 words a page at 5 years old, is under too much stress and is not enjoying her childhood. But the fact is that young kids who can read very well, are very happy reading all the wonderful children's classics. They are transported to a whole new world of fun. Some kids like to sit for a few hours at a time drawing and writing stories on their own initiatives. It is not true that a happy childhood only means watching TV and playing electronic games.
It is important that as parents, we allow the kids to have the freedom to do what they love to do. Not we think they should do.[/quote]I fully agree.
There is only a faint line between gifted and bright.
I am not sure if my kid is gifted but I will say he is bright.
It is not uncommon to find kids being able to read at a young age when they have better educated parents, exposed to educational programmes etc...
So parents should let things take a its natural course instead od pondering whether their kids are gifted.
If they are, they will be discovered eventually.
For 20 months or 4 years, I will rather let them grow on their own pace. -
I think parents should just believe in their own instincts, and not worry about any IQ tests etc to determine whether their kids are gifted.
It is important for parents to know the ability of a their kids before the age of 5. For example, a child who can learn things after being taught only once, should not be made to do as many worksheets as possible to drill him/her on the same thing which may make him/her hate learning. Instead, he/she should be exposed to a wide variety of knowledge and concepts, and be given access to any books or resources, since gifted kids are capable of learning independently. -
Every child is gifted to their parents.
So let’s not pound on whether our child is gifted.
Be grateful that we are blessed with kids. -
kiasimom:
Every child is gifted to their parents.
I don't think that is true, especially after reading so many complains in this forum about kids who are lazy, cannot pay attention, etc...
My boy is not gifted, but I love him very very much.
IMHO it is perfectly fine for a parent to wonder whether her child is gifted. This is what this thread is all about. Whether you like it or not, kids are born with a wide range of abilities. It is not right to teach all kids, especially very young kids, using the same methods.
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