Any parents of gifted children here ?

[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.

[tamarind]

chamonix:

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 are often amazed by them and would 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.

OIC. Yes I agree that comparing with kids in other countries, preschool kids in Singapore are amazing ! Well, we all know that it is mostly due to the numerous enrichment classes which their parents send them to since 18 months old.

Checkout this article :

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-463539/Two-year-old-Matilda-youngest-girl-Mensa.html

Georgia is no doubt a very intelligent girl. But I am surprised that being able to distinguish pink and purple at 2 years old is considered amazing.

[tamarind]

chamonix:

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.

Thanks. But believe me, my boy's learning abilities are only average, he could not even focus his attention for more than a few minutes. But I guess I found the right methods to teach him and the consistent repetitions pay off

[ChiefKiasu]

chamonix:

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

Check out http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=109.