I have a 7 year old son who is ‘gifted’. He learns very quickly and has excellent memory. I had him assessed a year ago as I wanted to use his results to get into the primary school of my choice :oops: But that’s another story altogether.
The thing that concerns me most is the emotional issues these children face. My son, like your son, applepie, is very sensitive emotionally and gets very affected by his friends’ comments. Although we have never told him about his ‘gift’, he seems to understand that he is different from his peers. He often commented sadly that ‘his friends don’t understand’ this or that. He prefers to talk to older kids as he feels he can ‘click’ better with them. I think the important thing for these kids is to let them have the opportunity to mix with other kids who are similar to them so that they will not feel so ‘isolated’ and ‘different’. Like it or not, our kids feel ‘different’ from their peers and this can really hurt their self-esteem
Re. the GEP program – let me share this. My son is very bored and de-motivated in school cos to him, the subjects are too easy. Recently, I hired a tutor to occupy his hours after school (Im working fulltime). The tutor feedbacked that he gets very distracted and moody when she gave him P1 assessments to do (btw, she’s supposed to play the many interesting ‘thinking’ games that I have bought for him during the session but I guess she’s just trained to do assessments after assessments with her ‘tutees’ :roll: ) but perks up and became very interested when she let him try the P3 enrichment worksheets that she got from her other stint at an enrichment centre. So you can imagine how bored he is in class and how good it will do him to be put in some accelerated program. Besides, I believe there are more such kids in the GEP so I think they’ll be happier there, don’t you think, to find other kids like them and who understand them?
These children are considered ‘special needs’ too and needed differentiated learning just like the autistic or dyslexic children. I have read that if these kids are not suitably challenged and their needs for learning not met, they can ‘switch off’ mentally and their potential will never be realized. So to me, my son will have to ‘endure’ for three long years before his needs are met and assuming he gets into the GEP, which may not necessarily be so given that so many parents are ‘hothousing’ their kids to get in.
My son has just attended the Logicmills free games day two weeks ago and he thoroughly enjoyed it cos they play the kind of games that he loves. Im also thinking of enrolling him in the program but really can’t find the time on Saturdays.
Perhaps we can meet up one of these days to let the kids get to know each other?
Posts made by wwcookie
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RE: Any parents of gifted children here ?
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RE: Any recommendation for good board games?
Gamewright games http://www.gamewright.com
my fav - rat-a-tat-cat -
RE: Enrichment or draconian?
lizawa:
[quote]Heehee.. you are right, jedamum, im looking for a nanny not a tutor but in singapore there's no such thing as a nanny so gotta make do with a tutor instead
So, do you think a \"nanny-care\" will be a good business opportunity ? I tend to agree that the kids attending school care should be in an environment more like a home, rather than a tuition center. So long as they finish their school homework, they should be given time to play, read books or even surf the internet for older children. With proper supervision, it will definitely be better than leaving them alone at home.[/quote]Yup yup its definitely a good business opportunity. But for my case, my mom is at home with him so I just want the \"nanny\" to just pop in for 1 to 2 hours daily to supervise his homework and do 'creative' stuff with him, things that my mom can't do with him, you know what i mean? Otherwise, he'll be like watching tv the whole day :roll: -
RE: 2008 Term 2 School Holiday Ideas
ChiefKiasu:
He's 7.. and im always on the lookout for fun progs to fill up his hols :lol:
That sounds pretty wholesome and fun! How old is your kid again?wwcookie:
My boy has done/is doing the following this hols:
1. Church camp (games, art and craft and story telling)
2. Science Buddies (do experiments)
3. Bit by Bit (game design)
4. Logicmills (play strategic card/board games) -
RE: Enrichment or draconian?
jedamum:
Heehee.. you are right, jedamum, im looking for a nanny not a tutor but in singapore there's no such thing as a nanny so gotta make do with a tutor instead :oops:wwcookie:
I told the tutor to concentrate on getting his school homework done and then do painting or play the many creative / educational games that I have bought for him.
:shock: nowadays, do tutors have to take on the role of a nanny? i thought tutors are supposed to teach subjects? -
RE: Shichida or Glenn Doman or both?
I have all 3 sets of the shichida dot cards and 3 sets of the shichida flash cards. You are right, mincy, I should post this in the Trading section. Thanks
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RE: Enrichment or draconian?
Recently I engaged a tutor for my son to help him finish his homework and spend his time more productively instead of watching TV from the time he gets home at 2pm till evening when I reached home. I told the tutor to concentrate on getting his school homework done and then do painting or play the many creative / educational games that I have bought for him. Guess what? The tutor just makes him do assessments upon assessments! :shock: I guess tutors nowadays are so used to giving kids assessments that they don't understand that that's not what I wanted!! :roll: So how?? Any creative, fun-loving tutor to recommend?
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RE: wwcookie: Hello! (And about Logicmills)
They basically espouse 'thinking out of the box' using games. They have free trial lessons and holiday programs though so can go for these to get a feel of what they actually do. Mostly importantly, my boy thoroughly enjoyed their session and wanted to go there again :lol:
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RE: 2008 Term 2 School Holiday Ideas
My boy has done/is doing the following this hols:
1. Church camp (games, art and craft and story telling)
2. Science Buddies (do experiments)
3. Bit by Bit (game design)
4. Logicmills (play strategic card/board games) -
RE: wwcookie: Hello! (And about Logicmills)
Really? How long has he been on the course? How old is he? Actually, my friend asked me to compare Mindchamps with Logicmills. We just sent our kids to their (Logicmills) free games day last week and were very impressed with them. Our kids had a really enjoyable time there