Contrary to popular
belief, rearing gifted children is not easy at
all. In fact, it can be more difficult on the
part of the parents than the child because gifted
children do not really develop at the predictable
rate that other children do. Moreover, there is
no written handbook that parents of gifted children
can turn to. Yes, there are materials that offer
suggestions and recommendations as to how to facilitate
the development of your gifted
child. However, there is no be-all, end-all
material that can be used by all parents as a
sole guide to facilitating development. The bottom
line here is that the developmental flow of gifted
children is relative to the child itself and can
be downright unpredictable and difficult - both
for parents and the child.
When
a gifted child enters school for the first time,
you need to remember that the child has already
acquired certain academic skills that her peers
are yet to acquire. He might have mastered skills
of kindergarten level at the early age of 3 years
old. This is indeed good at the academic level.
However, as a parent, you need to remember that
he would still have the physical, emotional, and
social development of kids his age. He might still
have difficulty tying his shoelaces or he might
still be prone to having temper
tantrums. Keeping these considerations in
mind, it is not really appropriate to enroll him
into a higher grade, just because his mental development
is significantly higher than that of his peers.
But
then again, if you enroll him in the grade that
is suited to his age, he might experience a level
of frustration as well. This is because he already
knows things that his peers are yet to know. Now,
this is a good thing when you are already older,
like in middle school or in high school where
this would be a feat of achievement of some sort.
But in kindergarten, this can be embarrassing
for your child - and a frustration to some teachers
as well. So, really, what should be done?
Let
us look into the concept of socialization here.
During the first few years of schooling, socialization
is a large aspect to consider - socialization
in the form of acceptance by both teachers and
fellow students. If the teacher sees that your
gifted child has mastered certain skills or material
that the other students have yet to master, then
she might neglect to include him in the daily
activities. This might not be done in purpose
because the teacher just might be thinking about
the welfare of the other kids, that other children
might need more attention. But from the perspective
of your gifted child, this would be the opposite
of acceptance already.
Moreover,
when your gifted child discovers that he is a
bit different from his classmates, mainly because
he has mastered material in advance, he would
not take this as an achievement right then and
there. Rather, he would find it hard to grasp
the concept of being an advanced learner and will
then find it harder to communicate with his peers,
resulting in the lack of peer acceptance.
Varying
Development Rates in Gifted Children
It
is important to note that gifted children have
varying rates of development. For instance, a
gifted child might know how to read already by
the age of 3. However, this does not mean that
the child has the highest IQ already. You have
to take into account that a gifted child's development
would occur in spurts, and this would be dependent
on his interests as well as the learning opportunities
that are given to him. An early reader, for example,
may have stayed at the same reading level up until
he reached age 5, where he suddenly developed
reading skills that are of 4th grade level overnight.
Thus,
it is very common to find gifted children experiencing
gaps between their skills and their emotional
and physical competencies. A gifted child may
be able to speak coherently and read very fluently
but is still unable to play simple parlor games
or even hide and seek as well as kids his age
could. Adult guidance is then very much needed
during this period, as the child could feel so
frustrated, to the point that he could start throwing
tantrums, or could decide to give up on school
projects even without starting them.
The
Importance of Being Realistic
Being
realistic is key here. As a parent of a gifted
child, it may be easy for you to be misled by
your child's advanced skills and abilities. You
just might have higher expectations in other areas
of development as well. Do not feel too bad about
yourself if you are guilty of this because a lot
of parents are guilty of the same thing as well.
As
such, you need to hold realistic expectations
of your child and you should remember that there
is no general interpretation that you can make
of your child's behavior. What may appear as lazy
behavior just might not be lazy at all. Rather,
this may just be misinterpretation on your part.
The only generalization that you can make is that
gifted children will demonstrate their skills
and abilities in various ways. If need by, seek
the assistance of a professional child psychologist
so that you can be sure to find the right track
and stay on it throughout the unpredictable developmental
flow of your gifted child.
More
related articles....
-
Homeschooling
Gifted Children
-
8 Mulitiple
Intelligences in children
- What
is multiple intelligence theory? What is the M.I.
theory?
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