How Do I Know if My Child Is Gifted?
HOW TO IDENTIFY GIFTED CHILDREN?
Education of the gifted child requires a different approach both during pre-school and the school period. Therefore, parents should identify whether their children are gifted as they are the first educators of their children.
There are various types of specialized schools or facilities for gifted children all around the world. Parents who are seeking answers to the question. "Is my child among gifted people?" can receive expert support from various schools for gifted children or different associations. Let's describe some characteristics of gifted children and adults.
We listed SCHOOLS FOR GIFTED CHILDREN below.
WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF SUPERIOR INTELLIGENCE?
Children generally manifest some indicating behaviour that points out superior intelligence, brilliant intelligence, or normal intelligence. So, what are the certain behaviours and abilities that are linked to superior intelligence? Let's list the signs starting from infancy to the ages of 5-6.
1
Some behaviour can be observed during infancy like, frequent hand-arm- leg movements. In other words, gifted children can also be overactive in the period of infancy.
2
Recognizing the family members in their early years and expressing some facial expressions like smiling when they see them.
3
They are more sensitive to familiar voices than their peers.
4
They may overreact to pain.
5
They usually have a strong focusing ability as early as at the age of 2, and also they can stay for longer than their peers.
6
They usually have a strong memory. They don’t forget what they see, observe, hear, and experience.
7
They manifest extreme curiosity and constantly questioning. Every child asks questions, but gifted children ask questions insistently.
8
They learn by asking or experiencing and also they enjoy learning.
9
At a very early age, they develop vocabulary, have the ability to form long sentences, and manifest an improvement in grammar and language use.
10
They are usually able to describe events or objects they imagine, presenting a three-dimensional imagination ability.
11
They are usually energetic, cheerful, and overactive.
12
They’re able to overcome difficulties, and to be successful at in problem-solving. They are usually good at comprehending intangible notions or phenomena. (Example: exhibiting greater performance than their peers in the category of MentalUP Brain Training Games)
13
They may influence their friends and exhibit leadership skills.
SAMPLE INTELLIGENCE GAMES: MENTALUP
Remember Well
Development of Short-Term Memory, Visual Attention
Have I Seen It or Not?
Development of Visual Memory, Sustained Attention, and Visual Recognition Skills.
Moving Balls
Development of Reasoning, Planning, Visualization Skills.
Let’s Draw!
Development of Visualization, Visual Attention, Reasoning
If your children have that kind of behaviours, this can be a sign of being gifted. However, you should remember that these behaviours we have mentioned above also the behaviours of children with regular intellectual levels. Each child may manifest these abilities to an extent. In other words, it would be a better approach to consider that your child is more likely to have these behaviours and abilities compared to their peers. If you observe strong indications of being gifted, you can find out whether is my child gifted or not with certain tests. Also, there are private schools for gifted children that you can get help. (We have shared a list of schools for gifted children in the article)
IS MY CHILD GIFTED, WHERE AND HOW TO TEST?
These tests, specifically developed for children are to determine intelligence potential and abilities of a child. As we have already mentioned above, the education of gifted children should be different from the education of other children. Otherwise, they may devolve back to regular intelligence levels.
THE MOST POPULAR TESTS FOR GIFTED PEOPLE
- WISC-R intelligence test (Suitable for the ages of 6-16)
- Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test (Suitable for the ages of 2 and older)
- EPoC test (Suitable for the ages of 6-16)
SOME OF THE PRIVATE SCHOOLS FOR GIFTED CHILDREN
- The Bavarian Centre for Gifted and Talented Children (Germany)
- Mark College – Priory Education Services (United Kingdom)
- Choice School for the Gifted (Canada)
- Hollingworth Preschool Center for Study and Education of the Gifted (New York)
- Kindercampus School for Gifted Young Children (Singapore)
HOW TO PERFORM GIFTED AND TALENTED TEST AND ITS EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM?
A variety of screening tests are conducted in schools to ensure that gifted children are being identified and their potential is discovered for the benefit of humankind. The gifted and talented test can be applied by the educational institutions or at the request of parents themselves. Children who are identified as gifted people should be supported by special education materials. For example:
MentalUP Brain Training Games are being used by several schools.
MentalUP is an application that offers brain training games in order to discover and develop the intellectual potential of children. You can also benefit from its online gifted child test easily. Keep in mind that MentalUP is recommended by child development specialists.
MentalUP includes intellectual games not only for gifted children, but also for children of all intellectual levels. In order to contribute to your child's cognitive development sign up MentalUP to make it fun for your child.
GIFTED PEOPLE IN THE WORLD
According to the statistics of the National Association for Gifted Children, there are about three to five million gifted children in the USA. However, most gifted students all over the world have not been identified. Therefore, most gifted students receive regular education in regular classrooms.
Experts think that people who have superior intelligence in the world make up approximately two to three per cent of the total population.
THE PROBLEMS GIFTED CHILDREN FACE
Most of the talented children are often accused of being naughty, careless and unconcerned. However, misidentifying gifted children as naughty is an indication of incapability of those who educate them.
The correct approach to this kind of children should be understanding the fact that they learn faster than their peers, comprehend the facts more quickly and then they get bored with the subject.
Lack of attention is one of the problems nowadays, which also cause learning problems too. It is frequently seen in children with superior intelligence. Of course, this does not show that this kind of children is careless.
Children who are ahead of their ages in terms of intelligence and skill can find the activities which are appropriate for their peers, quite boring. As you can guess, this may cause them to feel uncomfortable with the environment they are in and may want to move away, which is often confused with being introvert. However, their situation is completely different. They may feel lonely. This loneliness can turn into a brain drain in the long term. Individuals may sometimes prefer to migrate to other countries where they can express themselves better.
Special education centres and special applications started to have been developed for gifted people all over the world. We had already shared some above. Of course, this is not enough. Practice for gifted people should continue to be carried out in order to discover them and asses their potential.
Special talented children always have difficulties expressing themselves when they cannot receive appropriate training with a special education curriculum and appropriate trainers.
However, the discovery of children with superior intelligence should not be regarded as an individual advantage. To summarize this concept with a phrase:
“The worth of the state, in the long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it.”
-J.S. Mili-
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