How to tell if a child is gifted?

[Chenonceau]

sean wife:

Are most gifted kids naturally motivated?

No.

Gifted kids dun like to learn boring things or in a boring way. If you bore them they won't engage and then they will get very poor grades.

[linden2000]

Chenonceau:

sean wife:

Are most gifted kids naturally motivated?

No.

Gifted kids dun like to learn boring things or in a boring way. If you bore them they won't engage and then they will get very poor grades.

Agree. They do not like drilling and can get very poor grades.

Especially in lower primary, when a lot of the focus is on handwriting and punctuation, they can get frustrated when many marks are deducted for punctuation mistakes or bad handwriting.

For Maths, they may be able to figure out the answers in their head but do not write down the workings or jump steps and hence, lose many marks though they get the final answers right. Similarly for Science, they may have the vast knowledge in their heads but when answering the questions do not write down the key words which the markers look out for and so still do not get the marks.

And for some gifted children, because they are so used to acquiring knowledge fast when they are younger, may give up more easily when stumped by difficult material when they are older. Some gifted children are underachievers.

[2ppaamm]

sean wife:

Are most gifted kids naturally motivated?

Hm... I actually think they are, especially in areas they are most interested in. Their attention span is long and they are very intense. But er... I also believe all kids are motivated, until that motivation is removed from them by adults.

[metz]

mashy:

That is such an interesting book on maths! Thanks for recommending that! Hehe, my boy sleeps at 10pm and wakes at 9.30am if there's no activity in the morning.

You are welcome. There are many good and fun math books around. Try checking the library out. My daughter actually picked up multiplication from books.

Your boy is lucky! Both mine will be in the morning session when we return to Sg. Must enjoy themselves now.

[metz]

deminc:

chamonix:

By nature, i'm not a very sociable creature. Making effort to create interaction opportunity for my kids tires me out easily. So, I would prefer to put my children back to schools though my daughter feels otherwise.

oh man, I feel the same way. Fortunately our neighbourhood have many boys and my kids are outdoorsy boys. If I should pull ds1 out of school again, I will just send him down to the playground instead of chasing the many socials.

:hi5:

[metz]

2ppaamm:

chamonix:

How not to when she goes to bed at 10pm and wakes up after 9.30am everyday? :snooze:

What fantastic lifestyle! My kids also sleep very late and they prefer homeschooling any time. There's a lot of freedom and chance to do things they cannot if they went to school, like visiting the zoo during off-peak hours, go to a movie, go sew something, create websites, scrapbooking, cook their own lunch, bake a cake, go for a party (but nobody to party with in Singapore), go for a swim, the girls go shopping during sale with nobody to squeeze with. And all because they want to do it. I just watch or get pulled along.

Oh yes, we enjoy the freedom very much, especially when going on holidays. Get to avoid all the peak seasons and crowds. Currently, we are enjoying a one-week ski holiday. (Peak season starts in one week 's time).

[mashy]

2ppaamm:

sean wife:

Are most gifted kids naturally motivated?

Hm... I actually think they are, especially in areas they are most interested in. Their attention span is long and they are very intense. But er... I also believe all kids are motivated, until that motivation is removed from them by adults.

Agree! My son's attn span on his favourite topics is intense. He doesn't even need to eat or drink when he is at it. So much so it becomes obsessive. When his key interest was on the digestive system, he drew it all the time. When teacher told them to draw about the story that she just told, he drew intestines. He said its because the king's digestive system wasn't well, that's why he had skin prob. When he was obsessed with the solar system, it was also planets, meteorites, dwarf planets and the moons.

Yet, when I ask him to write for his sch work, he couldn't even hold his attn for 10 mins. :frustrated:

[2ppaamm]

mashy:

2ppaamm:

[quote=\"sean wife\"]Are most gifted kids naturally motivated?

Hm... I actually think they are, especially in areas they are most interested in. Their attention span is long and they are very intense. But er... I also believe all kids are motivated, until that motivation is removed from them by adults.

Agree! My son's attn span on his favourite topics is intense. He doesn't even need to eat or drink when he is at it. So much so it becomes obsessive. When his key interest was on the digestive system, he drew it all the time. When teacher told them to draw about the story that she just told, he drew intestines. He said its because the king's digestive system wasn't well, that's why he had skin prob. When he was obsessed with the solar system, it was also planets, meteorites, dwarf planets and the moons.

Yet, when I ask him to write for his sch work, he couldn't even hold his attn for 10 mins. :frustrated:[/quote]This is really so funny!

[Funz]

2ppaamm:

But er... I also believe all kids are motivated, until that motivation is removed from them by adults.

I use to believe that too until I encountered this kid. He came our centre at 2+yrs old. Not talking much but parents say he loves numbers. Initially we thought he could be like some of the kids we have handled, unable to converse yet at that age but able to do puzzles, count, recognize numbers and letters and even add and subtract. Highly intelligent but delayed speech development. But this kid confounded us. We have never seen a kid so uninterested in anything, be it work, play, food, music, anything. The parents comes in and puts him in a chair for breakfast. You will find him still in that chair even after assembly still holding that same piece of bread or cracker and staring into space. He is not even motivated to get out of the chair to greet his parents when they come can pick him up. Nothing the teachers do could rouse his interest in anything. We have suggested that the parents send him for some assessment to see how to 'unlock' his 'zest' but parents insisted that he is like that cos he is still young and he responds well at home. Nothing about his behaviour aside from this lack of interest in everything suggests autism or any of the more known development issues.

I cannot fathom how a kid this age can be so disinterested and unmotivated.

[Funz]

linden2000:

Chenonceau:

[quote=\"sean wife\"]Are most gifted kids naturally motivated?

No.

Gifted kids dun like to learn boring things or in a boring way. If you bore them they won't engage and then they will get very poor grades.

Agree. They do not like drilling and can get very poor grades.

Especially in lower primary, when a lot of the focus is on handwriting and punctuation, they can get frustrated when many marks are deducted for punctuation mistakes or bad handwriting.

For Maths, they may be able to figure out the answers in their head but do not write down the workings or jump steps and hence, lose many marks though they get the final answers right. Similarly for Science, they may have the vast knowledge in their heads but when answering the questions do not write down the key words which the markers look out for and so still do not get the marks.

And for some gifted children, because they are so used to acquiring knowledge fast when they are younger, may give up more easily when stumped by difficult material when they are older. Some gifted children are underachievers.[/quote]Dun need gifted kids to dislike drilling. DS is far from gifted and he is resisting school because of all these drilling type of lessons and homework. Tedious, that is how he describes school. He finds school boring and from an easy boy whom I do not have to tell twice to get his work done, I am now faced with one who keeps procrastinating. And this attitude is spilling over to other areas, not just with school work.