Q:
I
was wondering if you have any information on gifted children.
Even if you know of any seminars? My five-year-old is gifted
and my daughter, who is three, may be gifted as well. Can you
help? W.W.
A:
Dear W.W.,
In order to address your child's needs most effectively, take a good
look at "the whole child'', paying particular attention to her
academic, social and emotional development as well as her own perception
of herself. There is no right or wrong as to the many options available
to help your daughter develop as stress-free as possible to her fullest
potential. The key is to sort out the information as to what route
seems to be the best fit for your child and your family in general.
This is not an easy task; professional guidance is sometimes helpful.
There are even some psychologists who hold workshops to facilitate
short-term or long-term discussions for parents, where they can share
experiences, ask questions and consider programs available to their
children.
There are some outstanding programs for gifted children across our
country. Many are focused on providing accelerated academic or fine
arts classes that are offered during or after school that move at
a faster pace with less repetition as well as with a deeper content
level. Some programs are just for the summer, while others involve
the option of enrolling your child in a private school that has created
a unique curriculum and environment specifically to serve the needs
of the gifted and talented as they define those terms.
I also want to bring to your attention that your daughter may get
an equally positive experience that nurtures her strengths from such
activities that are open to everyone, like scouting, belonging to
a church youth group, participating in a sport, or even from some
totally unstructured quiet time in the park, when it doesn't take
long for boredom to tickle her imagination.
This
web site has many useful links for parents of gifted children:
http://childparenting.about.com/parenting/childparenting/cs/giftedchildren/index.htm
The
following information is from a parent brochure provided by ERIC Clearinghouse
on Disabilities and Gifted Education:
How Can I Support My Gifted Child?
Raising and nurturing a gifted child can be an exciting yet daunting
challenge. This brochure defines giftedness and offers some insight
into what parents can do to act as their child's best advocate throughout
the school years.
Perceptions of giftedness vary even among gifted-education specialists.
Today, giftedness generally includes a wide range of attributes, from
traditional intellectual measures to interpersonal abilities. Giftedness
can be found in children from all cultural, linguistic, and economic
groups.
The U.S. Department of Education (1995) defines giftedness as "children
or youth who give evidence of high performance capability in areas
such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity,
or in specific academic fields, and who require services or activities
not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop such
capabilities." Many states and localities use this definition
or a variation. School districts use a wide variety of methods or
tests to decide which children qualify for gifted programs or services.
Some school districts use a definition from a specific model, such
as Renzulli's Schoolwide Enrichment Model or Gardner's Theory of Multiple
Intelligences.
How Can I Tell If My Child Might Be Gifted?
Some early signs of giftedness include:
Abstract reasoning and problem-solving skills
Advanced progression through developmental milestones
Curiosity
Early and extensive language development
Early recognition of caretakers (for example, smiling)
Enjoyment and speed of learning
Excellent sense of humor
Extraordinary memory
High activity level
Intense reactions to noise, pain, or frustration
Less need for sleep in infancy
Long attention span
Sensitivity and compassion
Unusual alertness in infancy
Vivid imagination (for example, imaginary companions)
If a child exhibits several of these characteristics, parents may
wish to have the child assessed by a child development professional
with experience in evaluating young gifted children. Firstborn children
tend to be recognized more often than their siblings; however, when
one child in the family is gifted, there is an increased possibility
that others may also be. Early identification of gifted children (ages
3 years through 8 years) permits early intervention, which is as important
for gifted children as for any other children with special needs.
Gifted children develop cognitively at a much faster rate than that
which is considered normal for their age. They require modifications
in parenting, teaching, and counseling to develop optimally. At the
same time, their physical and emotional development may occur at an
average rate, posing some interesting problems. For example, ideas
forged by 8-year-old minds may be difficult to produce with 5-year-old
hands. Gifted children typically tend to experience all aspects of
life with greater intensity, making them emotionally complex. The
brighter the child is, the greater is his or her emotional complexity
and potential vulnerability. Parents should prepare themselves to
act as their child's advocates.
How Can I Encourage My Gifted Child?
Children learn first from their parents and families. Parents who
spend time with their gifted child are more able to tune into their
child's interests and can respond by offering appropriate enrichment
opportunities. If you are the parent of a gifted child, you should:
Read aloud to your child. It is important that parents read to their
gifted child often, even if the child is already capable of reading.
Help your child discover personal interests. Stimulation and support
of interests are vital to the development of talents. Parents should
expose their child to their own interests and encourage the child
to learn about a wide variety of subjects, such as art, nature, music,
and sports, in addition to traditional academic subjects such as math,
reading, and science.
Encourage the support of extended family and friends. As an infant,
a gifted child can exhaust new parents because he or she often sleeps
less than other babies and requires extra stimulation when awake.
It can be helpful to have extended family in the home, grandparents
who live nearby, or close friends in the neighborhood who can spend
some time with the child so the primary caretakers can get some rest
and to give the infant added -- or different -- stimulation.
Speak and listen to your child with consideration and respect. From
the time he or she can talk, a gifted child is constantly asking questions
and will often challenge authority. "Do it because I said so"
doesn't work. Generally, a gifted child will cooperate more with parents
who take the time to explain requests than with more authoritarian
parents.
What About School Placement?
Gifted children generally benefit by spending at least some time in
a classroom with children of similar abilities. Their educational
program should be designed to foster progress at their own rate of
development. Parents who become involved with the school can help
administrators and teachers be responsive to the needs of these children.
Open environments provide students with choices and encourage independence
and creativity. "Advice to Parents in Search of the Perfect Program"
(Silverman and Leviton, 1991) includes a checklist of specific qualities
for parents to look for in a school.
Early entrance or other types of acceleration may be considered when
a school offers insufficient challenges or when gifted children are
not grouped with peers their age who are intellectually advanced.
Early entrance is the easiest form of acceleration. In "Early
Admission and Grade Advancement for Young Gifted Learners" (1992),
J. F. Feldhusen provides excellent guidelines for acceleration. When
a child expresses a willingness to be accelerated, chances are good
that he or she will make an appropriate social adjustment.
During the preschool and primary school years, mixed-aged groupings
are beneficial as long as the gifted child is not the oldest in the
group. Gifted, creative boys are often held back in the primary years
because of so-called immaturity.
When a 5-year-old boy with an 8-year-old mind cannot relate to other
5-year-olds, nothing is gained by having him repeat a grade. The best
solution is to find him compatible peers -- boys his own age who are
intellectually advanced. Distance learning, which uses radio, television,
and computer technologies instead of face-to-face contact between
the students and the teacher, is another option. For example, Stanford
University's Educational Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY) offers a
K-12 self-paced mathematics curriculum.
Conclusion
Parents of gifted children need opportunities to share parenting experiences
with one another. It takes the persistence of large groups of parents
to ensure that provisions for gifted children are kept firmly in place.
It is important for parents of children with any special needs to
meet with teachers early in the school year, work regularly with teachers,
and stay both involved in their child's education and informed about
gifted education in general.
The key to raising gifted children is to respect their uniqueness,
their opinions and ideas, and their dreams. It can be painful for
parents when their children feel out of sync with others, but it is
unwise to put too much emphasis on the importance of fitting in; children
get enough of that message in the outside world. At home, children
need to know that they are appreciated for being themselves.
Where Can I Get More Information?
The following organizations offer information on the topic of gifted
education:
The American Association for Gifted Children
1121 West Main Street, Suite 100
Durham, NC 27701
Phone: 919-683-1400
E-mail: megayle@aol.com
Web: http://www.jayi.com/aagc
ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education
The Council for Exceptional Children
1920 Association Drive
Reston, VA 20191-1589
Toll free: 800-328-0272
Phone: 703-264-9474
TTY: 703-264-9449
E-mail: ericec@cec.sped.org
Web: http://ericec.org
--Gail Reichlin
