Any parents of gifted children here ?

[tamarind]

Sunflower,

Thanks for your very good post
[quote]The role of the “trainer” of a truly gifted child is mainly to guide and facilitate, to cultivate the child’s gift so that the gift can be developed fully. [/quote]I totally agree with you. But it is not easy to know how to cultivate. For example, a child who has the gift of drawing, should we send her to Arts Class ? What if the child already has a distinctive style ? If we send her to learn from arts teachers, will she be made to conform to other people's styles ? Then slowly lose her own originality ?

I guess for academic learning like maths, science, etc, we can probably just have many maths/science reference books at home, or bring the child to the library regularly so that he/she has the chance to learn everything on her own

What if a gifted child who is not able to spend a lot of time in the library ? Or have no internet access at home ? He/she will probably lose out to those children who have been sent to GEP preparatory class by their parents.

[catgoh03]

My girl (11) is also in GEP. Nanyang Primary School. She’s been reading and drawing since 5. However, she only reads English books! Her English level, according to NSW ICAS papers, is at JC level. About her Chinese though…I have nothing more to say…

[Fairy]

catgoh03:

My girl (11) is also in GEP. Nanyang Primary School. She's been reading and drawing since 5. However, she only reads English books! Her English level, according to NSW ICAS papers, is at JC level. About her Chinese though...I have nothing more to say...

May I know what 'JC level' means?

One can get
- credit
- distinction
- high distinction

in the NSW competition. You will also know if you belong to the 'top x %' of your cohort. The top in SIngapore in the respective subjects will be invited to attend the award ceremony. Someone I know was top in Singapore in Maths.

[naggo-nitemare]

I’m grateful for sunflower’s post on the GEP n mainstream programme. It is accurate and objective.


My son is in the GEP at an SAP sch. All I can say is, just like the sports sch is a necessity for children gifted in sports, the GEP is a heaven sent for kids gifted in the academics.

Parents should not view the GEP as a prestigious prog tt they insist on their kids getting into by hook or by crook. The mainstream sch system is not to be belittled. It has done well in educating the majority of our kids.

The GEP is here to help kids like my son who despaired constantly in his lower pri sch years over the slow pace n narrow scope of the math n english sbjts taught. He was an NSW int’l math competition medal winner in P2 n he had consistently been a high distinction winner for science, math and this yr, top2% for eng. And, no, he wasnt sent to any enrichment nor tuition classes. All i did was to help him source for any reading materials tt he needed to pursue whatever passion it was for the period. His focus may be on the periodic table one moment, and on a totally different topic like the pascal’s triangle the next. Or it may be a feverish need to read all the bks by a particular author.

When he joined the GEP at the start of 2008, i was concerned tt he may not adjust to the pace n curriculum and i still constantly ask him if he is happy. So far, he has indicated tt he is happier in this prog i.t.o the like-minded kids in his class, the teachg methods, the worksheets handed out n the projects given to him.

I wish tt parents will one day stop arguing amongst themselves whether the GEP is a waste of taxpayers money or whether it is an elitist prog. Diff kids need to be taught differently, and the gifted need our support to discover their gifts. I wish pple will stop sniggering if the top PSLE kid is not a GEP kid. The aim of GEP is not to be exam smart. Like sunflower said, the PSLE training comes only in the middle of P6 for these kids. I wish parents will stop thinkg tt their kids are’losing’ out on quality education if their kids are not selected for the GEP. After all, after a short 3 yrs, the mainstream kids with gd results and the GEP kids will agn be blended together in the IP at the top sec schs. And the race to the finsh line starts on equal ground agn, where hard slog matters more than brains.

For parents who think the kids fit better in the GEP, my advice is support them, not with more enrichment classes, but with ample resources for the kids to deepen their interest in whatever sbjt it is for tt moment.

[ChiefKiasu]

I don’t question the validity of the goals of GEP. Gifted children should be challenged and taught to both manage and grow the full potential of the God-given talents.


What I am against is the manner by which it is implemented in Singapore, which, in my humble opinion, is the reason why parents see GEP both as a mark of honor and as a means to get into the "better" schools. There is no point urging parents not to treat the GEP as a programme for top students, because, by definition, that is exactly what it is set out to identify - the top 1% of students who excel in English and Math, which are also subjects covered by the Primary school syllabus. In fact, most parents want their children to take the GEP tests just to see how their children stack up against others in their cohorts at the national level!

This starts a vicious cycle in which parents believe children should be "trained from young" to pass GEP without understanding the point that GEP is really meant to support the truly gifted children. I have no doubt that children can be trained to do well for the GEP exams - but so WHAT? Does passing GEP exams imply that the child is really "gifted"?

[sleepy]

Fairy:

There is a difference between hardwork and giftedness. With hardwork, one can still do very well and be successful in life/studies. With giftedness, one need not put much effort to get the same results.

he is the type who played computer games during exam period. I feel that he is gifted leh, hardly see him study & yet still breeze through O & A levels.
somehow he wasn't identify during GEP

and I noticed he has interests in a wide variety of things outside his academic area eg. interest in yo-yo, mountain biking, flute, er-hu, skating...yet these interests were rather short-lived. Once he mastered the techniques, he moved on quickly to new things



One person whom I assoicate with the defintion of 'giftedness' is Da Vinci. He was into physics and arts and many more areas and exceptionally good in everything he pursued. Truely gifted!

[sunflower]

sleepy:

Fairy:

There is a difference between hardwork and giftedness. With hardwork, one can still do very well and be successful in life/studies. With giftedness, one need not put much effort to get the same results.

he is the type who played computer games during exam period. I feel that he is gifted leh, hardly see him study & yet still breeze through O & A levels.
somehow he wasn't identify during GEP

and I noticed he has interests in a wide variety of things outside his academic area eg. interest in yo-yo, mountain biking, flute, er-hu, skating...yet these interests were rather short-lived. Once he mastered the techniques, he moved on quickly to new things

Err...I breezed thru my PSLE/O levels without much studying too. I had a wide variety of interests, be it physics, astronomy, Chinese calligraphy, art, Chinese literature, piano/music, wei qi, tennis etc...Most of my peers did mention I was bright/talented and some were even envious that I could still score with minimal study...but I don't think I'm gifted. There was no GEP during my time and even if there was, I would definitely not be identified. ... On second thoughts, even if I was some how channelled into the gifted stream (if it existed then), I would not be happy, as I didn’t think that I would have the time to pursue my other interests and enjoy my childhood.

However, I think my elder sibling who was able to learn and solve calculus problems in P6/Sec1 many many years ago (actually there weren't many resources then) by merely reading books without getting any help from teachers is gifted.

I think a gifted child is manifested by some of his/her exceptional abilities in certain areas and cannot be purely measured by academic results.

[sunflower]

tamarind:

[quote]The role of the “trainer” of a truly gifted child is mainly to guide and facilitate, to cultivate the child’s gift so that the gift can be developed fully.

I totally agree with you. But it is not easy to know how to cultivate. For example, a child who has the gift of drawing, should we send her to Arts Class ? What if the child already has a distinctive style ? If we send her to learn from arts teachers, will she be made to conform to other people's styles ? Then slowly lose her own originality ?[/quote]Yes, I think we as parents may not be equipped with the know-how of developing our children special gifts. I’ve seen reports of highly gifted children overseas being taught by piano professors. They advanced really quickly in their piano playing and their gifts are developed to the fullest.

With reference to your example of the gift of drawing, my take is to send the child to an arts class. This is to let the child learn the basic techniques/forms and foundations for the child to build her drawings/paintings on.

However, we have to be careful to select those arts classes that are more “creative” in nature where the teachers do not force a certain way/style of drawing onto the child. Instead, the child is exposed to the different styles in art history which the child can in turn draw on to further develop his/her own unique style. However, depending on the level of a child’s giftedness, sometimes having individual attention/training from some “expert” or artist may help develop the child’s potential more.

I heard that NAFA arts is quite good, but I’m not too sure whether it’ll be suitable for your child.
[quote]What if a gifted child who is not able to spend a lot of time in the library ? Or have no internet access at home ? He/she will probably lose out to those children who have been sent to GEP preparatory class by their parents.[/quote]I think by letting the gifted child have ample access to library/internet does help greatly with developing the gifts of a child. These resources serve to enhance the development and cultivation of their gifts. If parents are able to provide these resources, well and good. If not, I think these children would still be able find ways and means to satisfy their own curiosity and thirst for knowledge.

I think ultimately, they may still be picked up by the GEP screening if they’re really gifted. If not, they’ll be in the main stream but would probably do well in their studies. Anyway, prior to having the GEP, many of such children went on to excel in their studies. As mentioned by naggo-nitemare, GEP and top students will eventually merge and set out on an equal footing in top secondary schools.

[mintcc]

hmmm not too sure about the GEP stuff but if the giftedness in question is pertaining to art, then I think encourgaement in topics related to art and frequent trips to the museum, bookstore and librarys and plenty of art materials to experiment with will be equally beneficial if you feel formal art classes may be restrictive in terms of teaching.


Totally agree that ample access to library/internet does help greatly with developing the gifts of a child. It is great that information is so readily available now adays. You can find people demonstrating different drawing styles for different subjects on you tube and find samples of art from many artist in wikipedia.

[sunflower]

Hey, great ideas, mincy! I guess as opposed to sports or playing a musical instrument, having a coach may not be absolutely necessary in order to excel in the giftedness pertaining to art.