Gifted Children

FBaby

ringo_24601 wrote: »

This is the most important thing I've read on the thread so-far

IQ is great, EQ is probably more important to be a functional person

Both is brilliant

carmina_piranha

Person_one wrote: »

Gosh, so many gifted people and parents of gifted children just on this little forum! What are the odds?

I think 5% are called gifted by school?

I'd also say that social skills are important. I've been a teaching assistant in lots of classrooms and sometimes the very brightest children have a terrible time when they encounter something they don't initially excel at. One boy had a meltdown when he struggled with sewing, it was really sad that he couldn't cope with the idea of not being top of the class.

Stretching and challenging pupils is something that OFSTED are keen on. You could read the reports for schools you're looking at. Apparently the school my youngest goes to doesn't stretch and challenge enough. That suits me just fine because my boy is average academically, and because there are only 60 of them when they stream them into 2 classes he is in the top one, and it's really hard work for him. There's a very bright girl in his class though, and she must be bored. Her parents are looking at moving her to a different school this year.

susancs

silly_moo wrote: »

My understanding is that "gifted" refers to a child who has a gift in a particular area, e.g. maths, literacy etc. Talented on the other hand refers to children who are great at music, sports, arts etc.

Where do you think the line between "gifted" and "above average" is? And when can a parent officially say their child is gifted? I'm not planning to subject my son to any intelligence tests, as he's way to young for that but at the same time I think his abilities in certain areas are exceptional, and not merely "above average".

I know in most secondary schools on our area they do cognitive ability tests (CATS) during the first week otr two to access what their future sets and targets will be. They do not accept the SAT tests done in year 6 as they say these can be revised or tutored for. CATs tests are randomly done on a computer and they do not know what will come up.

I would say the difference between an academically "gifted" child and an above average child is that the gifted child, can operate with minimal tutor support, as they just eaisly make links in their learning. An "above average" child will need the support and extra work etc, as they do not have the natural ability to facilitate their own learning. For example one of DDs friends in sixth form discovered after AS levels that he needed further maths for a Uni course and as the school could not timetable this in with his other 4 A levels, he taught himself the subject from the text book and took the AS and A2 exams in June and came out with the top grade. However that is not to say that an above average or average child cannot achieve the same results by working at it.

mumps

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Could have a keyboard around in the house, though. Getting a ukulele and a few percussion instruments (or making them from beans, rice, etc as another fun activity) won't hurt, either.

My daughter started music lessons at 3 and took her first exams at 4. I was terrified as she went in to her first written exam holding the invigilators hand. The practical was even funnier as she complained that the examiner hadn't asked her enough questions and she had practised all her scales and arpeggios and and he hadn't let her play them all. She was most indignant and everyone in the waiting room was struggling not to laugh as she asked her teacher if he knew what he was doing and should the teacher go in and explain what you needed to do for Grade 1.

My advice to anyone thinking of music lessons for a little one is choose an instrument they can carry themselves or you will become their porter.

On a more serious note (no pun intended) I think it was good for her as it was a challenge.

morocha

I would let a 3 year old be a child. My 2.5 years old girl is constantly told how clever she is, she knows letter and numbers, She speaks spanish and english and was learning chinese mandarin in nursery. Children that age have a natural desire to learn. I do not push her or think she is more clever than other children, they all have different talents.
My 8 yo had a diagnosis of ADD at 3(sort of anyway), she lacked concentration and needed stimulation constantly, her teacher in fact thought she was "not that clever". She is 8 now and in the Gifted books at school, she knows a lot about nature,arts, she reads and remembers everything yet she needs a little more time than her peers to process everything.
She recently started talking in Spanish ( she did not want to before). They all develop at different stages. I have never pushed them, if they want more they know I will do my best to help them, all we can do is to let them be children and help them with their social skills.

carmina_piranha

At 3 I agree that social skills and learning about the world is most important, but by the time they go to school I think it could actually be quite damaging to be bored.

Many of us will remember having to read those school books in order, even if your reading was far above the level of the book simply because the rules said you had to plough through them all. Nowadays it's more flexible and pupils can skip to the next level or do extra books at the same level if they're not ready to move up.

Ofsted are keen on stretching and challenging the brighter students too, so fingers crossed it's better for brighter pupils than it used to be.

Former_MSE_Andrea

Hi!

I haven't read the whole thread but a thread search hasn't brought this up.

Do you use Bingo Bugs?

My kids have this at school and love it at home too. It's a bit addictive, if I start playing I can't stop!

It seems to have changed name to Maths Bingo since we first got it but it's this:

http://digizip.co.uk/apps/numeracy/math-bingo-cool-maths-game/

mumps

morocha wrote: »

I would let a 3 year old be a child. My 2.5 years old girl is constantly told how clever she is, she knows letter and numbers, She speaks spanish and english and was learning chinese mandarin in nursery. Children that age have a natural desire to learn. I do not push her or think she is more clever than other children, they all have different talents.
My 8 yo had a diagnosis of ADD at 3(sort of anyway), she lacked concentration and needed stimulation constantly, her teacher in fact thought she was "not that clever". She is 8 now and in the Gifted books at school, she knows a lot about nature,arts, she reads and remembers everything yet she needs a little more time than her peers to process everything.
She recently started talking in Spanish ( she did not want to before). They all develop at different stages. I have never pushed them, if they want more they know I will do my best to help them, all we can do is to let them be children and help them with their social skills.

But being a child is all about learning, otherwise we would all be like helpless newborns. Your daughter obviously has lots of stimulation with 3 languages, all the OP is looking for is something appropriate and equivalent for their child.

silly_moo

MSE_Andrea wrote: »

Do you use Bingo Bugs?

My kids have this at school and love it at home too. It's a bit addictive, if I start playing I can't stop!

It seems to have changed name to Maths Bingo since we first got it but it's this:

http://digizip.co.uk/apps/numeracy/math-bingo-cool-maths-game/

We don't have a tablet any my phone is a WP so not a great choice of apps but he does have a few educational ones. I was thinking about getting him a tablet for Christmas but I'm not sure if they would work offline (according to reviews Kindle for kids needs to be connected to the internet to work properly) and I refuse to have wifi switched on unless absolutely necessary.

ruthcoppard

Some kids are very bright, a very very few are gifted/exceptional. The latter just hoover up learning and can feel very isolated from other kids. If you decide to accelerate the child, one year is all that they'll manage socially. Better for you at this stage to encourage range of new activities - play an instrument, scouts, learn a language, design a small town. Only Maths needs early encouragement [mathematicians often peak in their teens], the rest can just develop interests as they become more mature.