Any parents of gifted children here ?

[tamarind]

EN:

Hi Tamarind

Not sure if it is a good idea to open a new tthread on \"To meet the need of bright child\". I'm sure there are a lot of parents who have kids that are not selected for GEP or kids like ours who is able to do things beyond their age but not tested for giftedness. I'm sure parents like us, faces difficulty or at lost as to how we can assist to help them.

For GEP parents, a topic like how to help our children in preparing PSLE will be a good start.

EN,
I noticed that many parents who posted in this thread have kids in GEP, that means their kids are \"certified gifted\". Other parents who have bright kids who are still very young, probably don't want to say anything, because they are not sure whether their kids are gifted or not. Most parents will say that their child is gifted only when he/she successfully gets into the GEP !

I think it is alright for this thread to be a place whether all types of parents can come in for discussion

I started this thread because I have come across quite a number of very young children in Singapore, who has amazing ability to learn at a very young age. These children need not be drilled, since they can learn things after being taught only once. The problem is that there are no preschools which can cater to needs of these children. A 5 year old child may already be reading like an adult, but we cannot find any K1 class in Singapore that truly suits his/her abilities. So it will be interesting to know how other parents cater to the needs of their gifted children.

sunflower:

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.

The problem is that it is very difficult to find such teachers in Singapore

ChiefKiasu:

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\"?

The current GEP selection process results in GEP being an elitist programme. GEP tests the students on what they already know. So parents who are high income earners, can afford to send their kids to the most expensive GEP preparatory schools so that they can acquire knowledge far beyong their level. These children, whether gifted or not, will certainly have a better chance of passing the GEP tests.

A gifted child does not mean that he knows things without having been taught. He might have read widely and learn on his own. But in the first place, someone must teach him to read very well at a young age. What if the parents of the gifted child are unable to teach him, and cannot afford to send him to enrichment classes ? He may not stay within walking distance to a library. I don't think any parents will allow their 5 year old child to take a bus to the library. These gifted children from low income families will definitely lose out to those from higher income families.

I wrote in this thread, a few pages back, that the selection process should not test the child on what he/she already knows. The process should test the child on how fast, and how deep, he can learn new knowledge on his own.

[Windflower]

tamarind:

EN, I noticed that many parents who posted in this thread have kids in GEP, that means their kids are \"certified gifted\". Other parents who have bright kids who are still very young, probably don't want to say anything, because they are not sure whether their kids are gifted or not. Most parents will say that their child is gifted only when he/she successfully gets into the GEP!

Hi, tamarind and other kiasu parents. In fact I have been following this thread for quite sometime and have learnt a lot from some parents here (especially yourself). I have also realised that I see some of the characteristics of giftedness (mentioned by parents with gifted children) in my boy throughout his growth. However, I am still quite uncertain and also too shy to discuss about him over here. Just few days ago, we were told that he got into GEP.

I believe from my postings here, you would have noticed that I am just an 'O' level graduate, including my husband. Our family of four are surviving on a single income, we have to save and skimp on ourselves to meet our ends every month. Of course, we also send our children to enrichments (Learning Point and Tien Hsia for my boy) just like what other parents in Singapore are doing but definitely not those GEP preparation courses. We understand that if a child is gifted, he is gifted even no training is given.

The reason why I post my comments here today is not because I want to boast about my boy getting into GEP. I am just eager to know other GEP parents in order to learn from them, to find out how they have helped their children cope with GEP.

[tamarind]

Windflower,

Congratulations to you and your boy for getting into GEP

I definitely don't mean that you, or anyone else is boasting. In fact, I guess many other parents think that I am boasting about the abilities of my girl :lol:

I do not speak to any of my real life friends (not those who I chat with in the forums) about the abilities of my girl, because I don't want them to think that I am boasting. But in the internet, since nobody knows us in person, I think we should be free to speak :lol:

Just to clarify, I actually wish that more parents who think that their child is gifted, regardless of whether he/she is in the GEP, can join this thread for discussion

All other parents who have any opinions about how gifted children should be raised, are also very welcome

[mummyloves]

EN:

naggo nitemare wrote
[quote]All i did was to help him source for any reading materials tt he needed to pursue whatever passion it was for the period.

Would you be able to share your experience in finding reading materials for your son when he was young, prior primary school? Do you face the problem to source the right material suitable for your son interest, his ability to read & his ability to comprehend? I have this problem as I don't find my son development to be asynchronous.

Less problem now because he is currently in P1. More confident in reading available reading materials.

My son's interest in science & his fascination in memorizing facts does not end there. He wants to share his knowledge to friends & teachers. So when requested to write about favourite animals, he shares his facts in writing. Content unlike a P1, grammar & spelling totally a P1 student eg amphibian becomes amfibian.

The school requires to write 5 lines for English paper. The teacher is looking out for grammar & spelling. I have a hard time telling my son, to write simple story & cut his story to 5 sentences only & only write those words that he knows how to spell.

I don't want to break his spirit but I don't want his enthusiasm in learning and sharing is dampen by his inability to write his thoughts.[/quote]Really interesting sharing... my 5 yo loves to read too, and he really reads whatever that he can pick up... He is reading encyclopedias and storybooks meant for older children, and is picking up some undesirable vocabs, such as : you are such a nuisance (to his brother) or you are crazy! (which is quite rude...) sigh... not sure how to teach him to be careful in using his words as he is merely using what he has read in the books...

and yes, tho he speaks well and reads widely, he still doesn't know the spelling of many words, so I foresee the same prob in his P1 that you ahve outlined here.

A side question, for those kids who started reading early, are they wearing glasses already? My boy started reading words at 2, and reading independently at 3+, and have been reading voraciously since then.. and yes, he had to wear glasses at the beginning of this year

the rest have tips to protect their eyesight??

[Windflower]

tamarind:

Windflower,

Congratulations to you and your boy for getting into GEP

I definitely don't mean that you, or anyone else is boasting. In fact, I guess many other parents think that I am boasting about the abilities of my girl :lol:

I do not speak to any of my real life friends (not those who I chat with in the forums) about the abilities of my girl, because I don't want them to think that I am boasting. But in the internet, since nobody knows us in person, I think we should be free to speak :lol:

Just to clarify, I actually wish that more parents who think that their child is gifted, regardless of whether he/she is in the GEP, can join this thread for discussion

All other parents who have any opinions about how gifted children should be raised, are also very welcome

Thanks, tamarind. If you have read some of the postings on GEP, you would know what I mean and how I feel. I definitely know that you are not a person who likes to boast about your girl's qualities or say someone else is boasting. I think you are just sharing your experiences and opinions with other parents. (I have seeked your advices before on teaching my girl phonics. ) I agree with you that we, as parents, are just proud of our children's abilities and since there's a topic discussing about gifted children over here, we should feel free to share and contribute whatever we know about giftedness.

From my observation, I can conclude that there are actually some GEP parents out there reading this thread but do not wish to identify themselves, in case, being misunderstood as boastful parents or parents who send their children for expensive GEP preparation course. I know that there are such parents around but definitely not all can afford to do so.

[metz]

mummyloves:

A side question, for those kids who started reading early, are they wearing glasses already? My boy started reading words at 2, and reading independently at 3+, and have been reading voraciously since then.. and yes, he had to wear glasses at the beginning of this year

the rest have tips to protect their eyesight??

Mine read very early too and his eyesight is something I am constantly worrying. Although the last checkup at the pd shows he has perfect eyesight still, that doesn't allay my fears as he reads at a voracious rate. If he likes the book, he can finish a thick book (few hundred pages) within hours. Doesn't help when the words are tiny as well. And he's been complaining about headaches.

I'm thinking of getting a good reading lamp/light. Does anybody have a good recommendation?

Yup, my ds too uses words beyond his age. Fortunately, he restricts the usage of undesirable ones on his younger sister only.

Guess I'm quite lucky cos he is able to spell words rather effortlessly. And I attribute this to his reading and also phonics. Though I don't quite understand why while he can spell words such as \"supporting\", \"competition\" offhand, he dislikes the idea of writing his stories (that he spun) down.

[metz]

Perhaps the more important question is the definition of \"Giftedness\" on young children. If we go by the definition available readily on the internet, I think almost every singaporean child can be qualified as gifted. After all, by P1, most kids are able to read both English and Chinese, do simple maths and general science knowledge (at varying degrees).


Also ultimately, is GEP really effective in sieving out the gifted kids? From what I gathered on the forum, it seems the GEP kids share a common point - they read widely since very young. And I would pressume the parents are rather hands-on too as in providing good reads, explaining to them etc. So, can we really equate GEP to being gifted naturally or just being nurtured since young? (Ok, I'm prepard for some stones. :p)

[tamarind]

chamonix:

Perhaps the more important question is the definition of \"Giftedness\" on young children. If we go by the definition available readily on the internet, I think almost every singaporean child can be qualified as gifted. After all, by P1, most kids are able to read both English and Chinese, do simple maths and general science knowledge (at varying degrees).

Care to share where you find your definition ?

Here's the definition of a gifted child I posted when I started this thread.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gifted
Generally, gifted individuals learn more quickly, deeply, and broadly than their peers. Gifted children may learn to read early and operate at the same level as normal children who are significantly older. The gifted tend to demonstrate high reasoning ability, creativity, curiosity, a large vocabulary, and an excellent memory. They often can master concepts with few repetitions. They may also be physically and emotionally sensitive, perfectionistic, and may frequently question authority. Some have trouble relating to or communicating with their peers because of disparities in vocabulary size (especially in the early years), personality, interests and motivation. As children, they may prefer the company of older children or adults.


I do not think that there are many Singaporean children who has these characteristics.

My 4 year old boy has almost completed the Ladybird keyword series book 6b, which I think is about P3 standard. But he does not have the characteristics of a gifted child. He can read simply because I taught him consistently, using effective methods, and through many many repetitions. In other words, it is through hard work. For my 5 year old girl, everything seems to be effortless. So there is a big difference.

Windflower:

I think you are just sharing your experiences and opinions with other parents. (I have seeked your advices before on teaching my girl phonics. ) I agree with you that we, as parents, are just proud of our children's abilities and since there's a topic discussing about gifted children over here, we should feel free to share and contribute whatever we know about giftedness.

Glad to know we are on the same wavelength. Thanks for sharing your experiences. I think you have every reason to be proud of your son and I think you must have done something very right, by providing the right environment to nurture your gifted son

[metz]

Hi,


I am actually comparing the Singaporean kids vs American (western) kids. In fact, in countries like France and Canada, if the preschoolers could perform at the Sg kindy level, the teachers would be amazed by them and consider them high ability learners. I have a first hand experience in this. My son's previous french school's principal couldn't help being amazed by his reading ability. Describing her as \"amazed\" is an understatement. To me, I think she has overreacted.

As for good vocab, I think environment plays an important part too. My gal was using words like \"incredible\", \"ignore\" at 2.5 years old. She picked them up from her brother. So, I kind of conclude that if a family uses difficult words such as \"dehydrate\" to a toddler, he/she will tend to have a wider vocab too.

[metz]

tamarind:

My 4 year old boy has almost completed the Ladybird keyword series book 6b, which I think is about P3 standard. But he does not have the characteristics of a gifted child. He can read simply because I taught him consistently, using effective methods, and through many many repetitions. In other words, it is through hard work. For my 5 year old girl, everything seems to be effortless. So there is a big difference.

I think you have done a great job in nurturing your 2 kids. In the Western context, your boy would have been considered Gifted. I'm not sure if this is true - girls tend to pick up things faster than boys at young age. So, it may not be wise to compare the learning rates at young age.