How to tell if a child is gifted?
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venuschan:
The boy is in Junior College now. Sitting for A level next year. She told me his age, but can't certainly say if he is 16/17/18.
So far, most GEP kids are ok, like most regular kids, but a handful of GEP children I met seem to have a bit of problem, drop out of (very good) university, abandon parent, gone to poly, become reclusive and lock himself in, one refuse to go to school and employ tutors instead. Very sad to see. Somehow, I think the smarter the child, the more endangered he is, and as parents, we have to spend with himm to make sure he is secured emotionally. When they are at 21 or 22, it is impossible to turn them around.
So, it is perfectly fine to be average.
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2ppaamm:
I lOve what u said. It's perfectly fine to be average.venuschan:
The boy is in Junior College now. Sitting for A level next year. She told me his age, but can't certainly say if he is 16/17/18.
So far, most GEP kids are ok, like most regular kids, but a handful of GEP children I met seem to have a bit of problem, drop out of (very good) university, abandon parent, gone to poly, become reclusive and lock himself in, one refuse to go to school and employ tutors instead. Very sad to see. Somehow, I think the smarter the child, the more endangered he is, and as parents, we have to spend with himm to make sure he is secured emotionally. When they are at 21 or 22, it is impossible to turn them around.
So, it is perfectly fine to be average. -
2ppaamm:
It is always important to remember that 'gifted' young children are in an asynchronous development state, some part of them are advanced and 'matured', but mentality and wisdom is still very much a child.venuschan:
The boy is in Junior College now. Sitting for A level next year. She told me his age, but can't certainly say if he is 16/17/18.
So far, most GEP kids are ok, like most regular kids, but a handful of GEP children I met seem to have a bit of problem, drop out of (very good) university, abandon parent, gone to poly, become reclusive and lock himself in, one refuse to go to school and employ tutors instead. Very sad to see. Somehow, I think the smarter the child, the more endangered he is, and as parents, we have to spend with himm to make sure he is secured emotionally. When they are at 21 or 22, it is impossible to turn them around.
So, it is perfectly fine to be average.
As much as we should help them be interested in developing their skills which they are gifted in, we must never forget that they are still a child, and are subject to the same feelings and thinking of children who cannot fully comprehend a world they have only just coming to experience.
And with a mind that can perhaps understand complex concepts and academic subjects, they may struggle even more to come to terms that they may not be able to easily comprehend certain things in life, and thus they are sometimes in a way, more vulnerable than 'average' kids.
As I mentioned in another post, for the lack of a better phrase, 'Gifted' children are children with special needs. The term 'gifted' and GEP have many times led to a wrong idea of what these children really need, really are.
Cheers. -
All Parents,
Sharing here an interesting BUT important article on what is gifted/precocious child and its correlation in life.
Cheers.
http://www.alternet.org/culture/can-genius-really-be-detected-infancy?page=0%2C0&akid=9378.1085969.JwpXas&rd=1&src=newsletter708628&t=18 -
All Parents,
Sharing here an interesting BUT important article on what is gifted/precococious child and its correlation in life.
Cheers.
http://www.alternet.org/culture/can-genius-really-be-detected-infancy?page=0%2C0&akid=9378.1085969.JwpXas&rd=1&src=newsletter708628&t=18 -
Thanks for the reminder, and it is so important to remember that children do have asynchronous development. I have come to point to believe that it is unimportant if my children are gifted or not, what's most important is to find out how to help them reach their potential. If they are good in certain areas, I no longer bother to find out what is 'age appropriate' and teach them accordingly, or try and put them ahead. If they are weak in certain areas, I also no longer have expectations so that I won't get disappointed. What I do now is to help them along, wherever they are.
I remember I was a bit worried when the teacher tells me that the whole class could read and DS3 couldn't read much when he was in K2. I just came home and dealt with it. I used to try all means to help my child with poor EQ, spending so much time and effort trying to get him in line, so that he can survive the expectations of school, only to end up bringing him to psychologists after psychologist and getting him misdiagnosed. These days, I just teach him the social rules, and if I have to repeat 10 times, then so be it. Afterall, some kids need you to repeat a math formula 10 times, so he is weak in something, just different things. With such an attitude, I think things become more settled and happier for everyone.
I agree kids with more understanding are more vulnerable and more anxious. So, as parents, we have to be more relaxed versus being even more kiasu. It has worked for us.
Once we keep our minds off trying to make the kids more gifted or top any class, then we free them to learn effectively. When that happens, the child is able to achieve so much more and is so much happier. That's what I discovered, and hope others do not have to go through what I did to get where I am.
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venuschan:
Very interesting article, and I like the writer's tone and the way things are put. How true, even with IQ this level, it does not mean anything at all. There are so many more things in life to worry about and to take care of. Sometimes, I do think it is a bigger blessing to have an IQ slightly lower, about 130 (or top 1%) and have a bigger EQ. EQ of 159. Also, the kind of expectation can be hard to live up to. People expect you to know everything, and behave 10 years older. They forget that the child is only high IQ. To get into uni, an average 18 year just need to be better than their peers, but a younger child needs to score full marks.All Parents,
Sharing here an interesting BUT important article on what is gifted/precococious child and its correlation in life.
Cheers.
http://www.alternet.org/culture/can-genius-really-be-detected-infancy?page=0%2C0&akid=9378.1085969.JwpXas&rd=1&src=newsletter708628&t=18
Having a high IQ is not necessarily a big blessing, there are other things in life so much more important - zeal, enthusiasm, passion, life skills. All these make people successful. IQ is just one small, small component people focus too much on. PLUS, heh heh... IQ tests are so biased, and doesn't say much about us as people. So even at this kind of IQ level, it means nothing.
Said many times and will say again. It is about doing extraordinary things. A genius is one who does things others don't even dream about. Not one who is born with more and does little with whatever given him. -
2ppaamm:
If I so may use a clip from a movie, The park bench scene from the movie \"Good Will Hunting\", I think it epitomises the difference between wisdom and intelligence, experience and knowledge. IQ scores and intellectual achievements are good to have, but never forget other things in life, and how one should learn to appreciate it, live it, experience it.
Very interesting article, and I like the writer's tone and the way things are put. How true, even with IQ this level, it does not mean anything at all. There are so many more things in life to worry about and to take care of. Sometimes, I do think it is a bigger blessing to have an IQ slightly lower, about 130 (or top 1%) and have a bigger EQ. EQ of 159. Also, the kind of expectation can be hard to live up to. People expect you to know everything, and behave 10 years older. They forget that the child is only high IQ. To get into uni, an average 18 year just need to be better than their peers, but a younger child needs to score full marks.venuschan:
All Parents,
Sharing here an interesting BUT important article on what is gifted/precococious child and its correlation in life.
Cheers.
http://www.alternet.org/culture/can-genius-really-be-detected-infancy?page=0%2C0&akid=9378.1085969.JwpXas&rd=1&src=newsletter708628&t=18
Having a high IQ is not necessarily a big blessing, there are other things in life so much more important - zeal, enthusiasm, passion, life skills. All these make people successful. IQ is just one small, small component people focus too much on. PLUS, heh heh... IQ tests are so biased, and doesn't say much about us as people. So even at this kind of IQ level, it means nothing.
Said many times and will say again. It is about doing extraordinary things. A genius is one who does things others don't even dream about. Not one who is born with more and does little with whatever given him.
Such is the possibility that a child who is caught up academically may lose sight of other important things, and possibly even more so for one so gifted that they cannot fathom taking the trouble to find out about the other, because what he/she is gifted in is so easy to achieve.
As parents, it is important not to lose sight of things once we become too focus on certain objectives.
Cheers. -
simple2005:
If I so may use a clip from a movie, The park bench scene from the movie \"Good Will Hunting\", I think it epitomises the difference between wisdom and intelligence, experience and knowledge. IQ scores and intellectual achievements are good to have, but never forget other things in life, and how one should learn to appreciate it, live it, experience it.
Very interesting article, and I like the writer's tone and the way things are put. How true, even with IQ this level, it does not mean anything at all. There are so many more things in life to worry about and to take care of. Sometimes, I do think it is a bigger blessing to have an IQ slightly lower, about 130 (or top 1%) and have a bigger EQ. EQ of 159. Also, the kind of expectation can be hard to live up to. People expect you to know everything, and behave 10 years older. They forget that the child is only high IQ. To get into uni, an average 18 year just need to be better than their peers, but a younger child needs to score full marks.2ppaamm:
[quote=\"venuschan\"]All Parents,
Sharing here an interesting BUT important article on what is gifted/precococious child and its correlation in life.
Cheers.
http://www.alternet.org/culture/can-genius-really-be-detected-infancy?page=0%2C0&akid=9378.1085969.JwpXas&rd=1&src=newsletter708628&t=18
Having a high IQ is not necessarily a big blessing, there are other things in life so much more important - zeal, enthusiasm, passion, life skills. All these make people successful. IQ is just one small, small component people focus too much on. PLUS, heh heh... IQ tests are so biased, and doesn't say much about us as people. So even at this kind of IQ level, it means nothing.
Said many times and will say again. It is about doing extraordinary things. A genius is one who does things others don't even dream about. Not one who is born with more and does little with whatever given him.
Such is the possibility that a child who is caught up academically may lose sight of other important things, and possibly even more so for one so gifted that they cannot fathom taking the trouble to find out about the other, because what he/she is gifted in is so easy to achieve.
As parents, it is important not to lose sight of things once we become too focus on certain objectives.
Cheers.[/quote]This one?
\"I don't see an intelligent, confident man. I see a cocky, scared shitless kid.\"
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBjWHfBHKos][/youtube]
I actually like this scene at the Harvard bar a lot, and I can relate to it... it tells of how the education system just have us thinking we know everything by teaching us how to regurgitate and not teach us how to think.... even in Harvard. (But no... I have a very good opinion of Harvard.) Be careful what our children are taught...
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnZ0Y4rvz6E][/youtube] -
You're right about the video I mentioned. I don't think much about the Harvard scene though, it's an age-old problem where a 'bright' student is able to regurgitate and get him/herself in a good school. And in a way, both of them were pretty much 'regurgitating', just that someone had the ability to absorb more from reading outside of the syllabus
I have no particular opinions about Harvard or any of those ivy league universities, never had a chance to know them to have any opinion
I'm not sure if there's a good way to teach the masses the way you think we should all be taught, the keyword here being 'masses'. So yes, I can agree you can teach a good number of them, but to reach out to have a good level of education for a good portion of the population, certain choices have to be made.
I'm not so worried about what they are being taught, more concerned about how they are being taught. And whether a child with potential is spotted and nurtured, or is he/she being stifled and pressed back to conformance.
I'm definitely not as knowledgeable/experienced as you about teaching and nurturing talents and on academic topics, so what I express here are just my personal views and based on what I have experienced and observed.
Cheers.
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