<![CDATA[Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not]]>Don't mean to be the devil's advocate :lol: , but I thought this was a great article for sound, good parenting advice. I really love the advice on play.


\"The best gift your child can have is the gift of time with you. Reading, singing, playing, dancing, catching fireflies -- it's all good. The rest is gravy.\"

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/family/08/27/gifted.kids/index.html

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/topic/913/is-your-kid-gifted-probably-notRSS for NodeThu, 07 May 2026 08:12:13 GMTFri, 29 Aug 2008 04:06:45 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:34:31 GMT]]>

ChiefKiasu:
jedamum:

My personal favourite verse...


I tried to teach my child with books.
He gave me only puzzled looks.

I tried to teach my child with words.
They passed him by often unheard.

Despairingly I turned aside.
\"How shall I teach my child?\" I cried.

Into my hand he put the key.
\"Come,\" he said, \"play with me.\"
...

It's so beautiful... 😢

yes make me want to go home immediately to play with my DS as he always said that to me... \"mumm, come play with me\" :oops:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/11653https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/11653Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:34:31 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Thu, 09 Oct 2008 04:02:32 GMT]]>Hi Chamonix,


Sorry to hear that your child got the Kawasaki Disease. To me, every child is very precious to us. As the cost of living is rising rapidly in Singapore, we are more prone to give birth lesser children as a result.

No matter if my baby is gifted or not, so long he is positive, healthy, alert and motivate to find out things around him will suffice for now.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/8639https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/8639Thu, 09 Oct 2008 04:02:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Sun, 31 Aug 2008 14:34:28 GMT]]>Hi Chamonix,


Wow! And on the Kawasaki Disease bit, so sorry to hear, but I'm glad she's fine now. I would have been so scared, as you must have been.

On this topic of helping our kids, this is an old video that is very inspiring to me. My boy isn't very artsy, but what an eye opener! It's quite old, so I hope not too many of you have seen it.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Enjoy!

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6830https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6830Sun, 31 Aug 2008 14:34:28 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Sun, 31 Aug 2008 11:55:14 GMT]]>

Fettuccine:
breguet:

...But then, where's the differentiation out there when everyone is so smart? Maybe therefore, being gifted doesn't quite matter ...


... Whatever method we use as a basis of interaction with our kids, so long as they are happy and well adjusted, they're better able to learn and to find their own passion in life.

I couldn't agree more. One thing for sure, my kids are just average school going kids. As long as they are happy, well brought up and continuously learning positively all the time (we all are), I'm quite content with it.

This can't be more true for us. Indeed, especially after my gal's recent encounter with Kawasaki Disease, I strongly believe that Health comes before anything. As long as they are healthy, happy kids and have a passion for life, there's nothing else more that I would ask for.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6818https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6818Sun, 31 Aug 2008 11:55:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Sun, 31 Aug 2008 10:38:05 GMT]]>Both my kids started reading early as well. Bear with me the bragging.


Shortly after he turned 3, my ds told me if we take \"F\" away from Flunch (a restaurant), we'd have \"lunch\"!

Here's a short clip of my girl reading at 3yr 2mth old. She finished the entire book within a short time. If you are wondering how long she practiced reading this book, sorry, zilch practices. This is not a book that she has been practicing to read. 😉
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmOinU3KomI

We both think our kids are very smart (parents' pride) but not gifted.
*Wait a second, maybe they are? Anybody willing to sponsor them for gifted tests? 😛

* This is only meant to be a jest. Please do not read too much into it. No hidden meaning intended.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6816https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6816Sun, 31 Aug 2008 10:38:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Sun, 31 Aug 2008 02:25:03 GMT]]>

breguet:
He read at 2 plus - like the whole Richard Scarry Best Nursery Rhyme book first, and then it continued. When I taught him phonics, his reading just suddenly gapped up literally from one week to the next. Then it was road signs - he was quite crazy about it wherever we went.

Wow, reading at 2plus is very advance.

When my elder gal learned to read on her own, she would read the labels on packaging & the road sign too. Whenever we were at the super market, she would read all the labels. She even requested to be left alone at a pet shop and stood there to read all the labels on the packaging. She would come back & tell us what ingredient is good for what purpose. :roll:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6809https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6809Sun, 31 Aug 2008 02:25:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:19:44 GMT]]>Hi Fettuccine,

The word "rough" isn’t quite enough to describe the lives of these people when they were growing up. A lot of how they put the unhappiness (even murder!) behind them comes from being resilient. Really, if it doesn’t break you, it makes you. These must be quite exceptional people - I don’t mean their smarts, but how they deal with the cards that life handed out to them.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6784https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6784Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:19:44 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:08:07 GMT]]>a relative of mine was never in any gifted programme

although he is always one of the top students in class & a fast learner

he suprised his peers when he graduated with 1st class honours from NTU
even got a scholarship to study Masters in UK

GEP didn’t pick him up.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6773https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6773Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:08:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Sat, 30 Aug 2008 06:46:51 GMT]]>It will be a surprise to all that gifted kids may not come from a stereotyped middleclass background. Let me site two examples:


Profile 1: an ex-classmate of mine, is gifted, top the school exams every year, her profile?
-Dad was murdered when she was a child
-Stays in a 3 room flat, leaving mum taking care of her and brother.
-She could still watch TV today and tomorrow pass exam with flying colors, as I remembered in our old school days.
-came from neighborhood school
-Superb memory
-She top every tests, and exams. All A1s.
-Brother is not gifted
-As I’ve lost contact with her, the last I heard is she is still single.
-A very happy go lucky friend as I remembered her in school days.

Profile 2: a Gifted old friend
-Gambler dad died of illness young
-Hawker mum brought up both brother and sister
-Sister is not gifted, on the contrary, slightly slow
-came from neighborhood school
- Since young the gifted brother loves to take things apart and then amazingly fix things back. Besides that, he love to do things "differently", eg very naughty, drawing on walls since young…etc…
-He is a President’s Scholar and no one knew until one of my other friend revealed.
-He is happily married and now a professor in NUS
-Both are very humble couple

Sorry if this is off topic…But I thought I should share…

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6767https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6767Sat, 30 Aug 2008 06:46:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Sat, 30 Aug 2008 06:36:59 GMT]]>

breguet:
...But then, where's the differentiation out there when everyone is so smart? Maybe therefore, being gifted doesn't quite matter ...


... Whatever method we use as a basis of interaction with our kids, so long as they are happy and well adjusted, they're better able to learn and to find their own passion in life.
I couldn't agree more. One thing for sure, my kids are just average school going kids. As long as they are happy, well brought up and continuously learning positively all the time (we all are), I'm quite content with it.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6766https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6766Sat, 30 Aug 2008 06:36:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:18:27 GMT]]>

jedamum:
breguet:

He read at 2 plus


I am not surprised that your boy may be quite advanced in the linguistics department cos I 'felt' (from your other postings in some threads) that you are pretty good in the English Department as well. 😎

Whoa Jedamum! Don't get me started on my collar again! 😄

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6765https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6765Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:18:27 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:44:02 GMT]]>

breguet:
He read at 2 plus

I am not surprised that your boy may be quite advanced in the linguistics department cos I 'felt' (from your other postings in some threads) that you are pretty good in the English Department as well. 😎

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6764https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6764Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:44:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Sat, 30 Aug 2008 02:47:21 GMT]]>

ChiefKiasu:
One of the things I feel very honoured about KiasuParents.com is how we have managed to bring together some of the brightest parents in Singapore to discuss parenting issues. If you go through the posts, you will find that the proportion of very insightful postings is uncommonly high compared to what you will find in other forums. Somehow, we have attracted very smart people to our portal.


In any such meetings of great minds, there will always be different points of view which are passionately argued by all sides. The airing of views from different angles allow completeness in the treatment of each subject that we bring up; and it is only by listening to all sides that we can derive deep understanding of the issues involved.

This is not about the freedom of speech - a term which I think is meaningless in today's environment. Even in the US, it is politically incorrect to call a black a \"black\". You must say \"African American\". Those who say \"black\" are frowned upon.

This is about openess, tolerance and purpose. As long as there is no overt malice, we must learn to pay attention to what each other are saying, and agree to disagree if there are misalignments in views. We must not lose sight of our objective, which is the hope that through such interactions, we can become better parents to our young children.
wah....so gifted EQ speech.......I ilke!! 😄

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6752https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6752Sat, 30 Aug 2008 02:47:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:35:39 GMT]]>Hi All,


The article (ok, tongue in cheek title!) set me thinking - I don't know if people are measurably smarter than they were a decade ago. If you check something called the Flynn Effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effectt, IQ scores have been climbing, but certainly not the extent that will cause the number of graduates to explode like it has (this is all anecdotal evidence only) in the last decade. My thinking is that perhaps, it is income levels rising, so we have more to spend on preparing our kids. But then, where's the differentiation out there when everyone is so smart? Maybe therefore, being gifted doesn't quite matter ... [The difficulty is in engaging them so that they even want to go to school, but that's the other thread 🙂 ]

So perhaps we should go back to basics, like the article suggests, and develop a deep bond with our children. I haven't been a proponent of flash cards because of my own experience. But I realize (thanks to this forum!) that other people find it very effective - this in itself justifies the method, because it creates a happy bond between parent and child. Whatever method we use as a basis of interaction with our kids, so long as they are happy and well adjusted, they're better able to learn and to find their own passion in life.

Hope I'm making sense at 1.40 in the morning ... :lol:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6745https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6745Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:35:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:05:05 GMT]]>Hi Jedamum,


I see what you mean. Sorry lah - didn't want to talk too much about my son before, but he does things that are amazing to me. [WARNING, bragging coming up :oops:]. He read at 2 plus - like the whole Richard Scarry Best Nursery Rhyme book first, and then it continued. When I taught him phonics, his reading just suddenly gapped up literally from one week to the next. Then it was road signs - he was quite crazy about it wherever we went. The other day, he told me - \"if I'm an ant on a globe (we have one in his room) the world will seem 2D. But I can see outside that, so things look 3D to me\". And this obsession with number patterns. Frankly, I don't even know how to dream these things up or how to teach it. The thinking is different, definitely. So, yeah, I agree with you - it's untrainable. Sometimes, he's downright intolerable too - so lawa! :lol: But it isn't like life is a bed of roses, he's got a lot of challenges. Mainly, he's too sly for his own good and he overthinks, so things get blown out of proportion.

Aiya, meant to make this into a thread about positive parenting. Didn't mean to stray into topics of giftedness :oops:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6743https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6743Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:05:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:15:44 GMT]]>One of the things I feel very honoured about KiasuParents.com is how we have managed to bring together some of the brightest parents in Singapore to discuss parenting issues. If you go through the posts, you will find that the proportion of very insightful postings is uncommonly high compared to what you will find in other forums. Somehow, we have attracted very smart people to our portal.


In any such meetings of great minds, there will always be different points of view which are passionately argued by all sides. The airing of views from different angles allow completeness in the treatment of each subject that we bring up; and it is only by listening to all sides that we can derive deep understanding of the issues involved.

This is not about the freedom of speech - a term which I think is meaningless in today’s environment. Even in the US, it is politically incorrect to call a black a "black". You must say "African American". Those who say "black" are frowned upon.

This is about openess, tolerance and purpose. As long as there is no overt malice, we must learn to pay attention to what each other are saying, and agree to disagree if there are misalignments in views. We must not lose sight of our objective, which is the hope that through such interactions, we can become better parents to our young children.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6734https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6734Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:15:44 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:44:11 GMT]]>

ChiefKiasu:

Guess your kid really likes to win :lol: .
Sometimes i really wonder if the 'freedom of speech' (not like olden days where kids are supposed to be seen and not heard) allowable at home is really a good idea.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6733https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6733Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:44:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:30:40 GMT]]>

jedamum:
...As much as i would like to play with my ds1, i find his bossy behaviour a bit suffocating at times....it almost felt like he is dictating how i should play instead of playing alongside with me. 😛

That sounds like you have a little future CEO in the making 🙂 The easiest way to win a game is to be in charge of defining its rules. Guess your kid really likes to win :lol: .

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6732https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6732Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:30:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:12:38 GMT]]>

ChiefKiasu:

It's so beautiful... 😢
:lol: So sentimental tonight?
As much as i would like to play with my ds1, i find his bossy behaviour a bit suffocating at times....it almost felt like he is dictating how i should play instead of playing alongside with me. 😛

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6731https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6731Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:12:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:04:52 GMT]]>

jedamum:
My personal favourite verse...


I tried to teach my child with books.
He gave me only puzzled looks.

I tried to teach my child with words.
They passed him by often unheard.

Despairingly I turned aside.
\"How shall I teach my child?\" I cried.

Into my hand he put the key.
\"Come,\" he said, \"play with me.\"
...
It's so beautiful... 😢

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6727https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6727Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:04:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:12:32 GMT]]>

breguet:
A question I'd like to ask is, is preparedness the same thing as gifted?

My answer is No.
I believe that giftness runs in the family...it is somehow genetic (and from tamarind's other post, i believe her husband is gifted 8)). That's why doctors usually have their kids going into medicine and so on. 🙂

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6720https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6720Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:12:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:12:28 GMT]]>

breguet:
Hi Mincy, Thanks for sticking up for me. Dunno why I'm being picked on ...
Hi Mincy,

Thanks too. Didn't know that my post is treading on sensitive ground :oops:

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6719https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6719Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:12:28 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:35:09 GMT]]>Hi Mincy, Thanks for sticking up for me. Dunno why I'm being picked on ...


Hi En, I really meant it tongue in cheek. I caught the expression about the collar from CKS' post and thought he was hilarious. Glad you understand. Your son sounds really smart though - certainly smart enough for you to sit up and wonder what else you can do for him. I know I would 🙂

But yes, freedom of expression is for everyone. We're all sharing opinions and ideas here. The best posts are those that hold different views from mine, so I can try to see what the other person's perspective is - probably because I'm worried about missing out, haha! I guess that's why I'm a kiasu parent . 😄

I hope we don't lose sight of what the discussion is about. What I like about the article is that it asks us to focus on the child and not the label. A question I'd like to ask is, is preparedness the same thing as gifted? In this day and age especially in our society where we place great value on education, are we equating the two? And is it really the same thing?

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6718https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6718Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:35:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is Your Kid Gifted? Probably Not on Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:12:18 GMT]]>Hi EN,


PMed you.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6717https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/6717Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:12:18 GMT