The Underestimated gifted Child!
April 14th /99
Written by, Child psychologist Jennifer Wise.
Adults are frequently misled by a child’s specific advanced abilities, most expect equal advancement in all areas on all occasions. One child was noted for saying, "Parents, teachers and friends expect us to do our best and be Perfect all the time." Adults need to remember that, in spite of multiple talents, children must make selective decisions about where to invest their time and energy. NO one can be the best at everything, even if the talent exists; there simply isn’t enough time. Uneven development in talent area’s is bound to occur, as much because of differential motivation and opportunity as because of differential talents.
Adults are also misled by a child's Uneven development into forming expectations for performance that are too low. For example because a child’s hand writing is sloppy, and his/her work isn’t turned in neatly, ( I myself was a student and am still as an Adult one who falls into the sloppy writer category) a teacher assumes (usually) that the child's thinking ability is average or below. The Underestimation of ability by teachers can and does have a damaging effect on bright children. For example many gifted children brought to a clinic for mal-adjustment problems have teachers who under estimated their students ability and did not encourage them.
In a study of first and 2nd graders done by Sutherland and Goldschmidt resulted in The unfortunate findings that Negative teacher expectations can and do have a detrimental effect on the intellectual development of bright children. On top of this most young gifted children, are also vulnerable because of their tendency to hold expectations for their own performance that are just as Unrealistic as some Adult expectations; they to tend to fail to accept the Unevenness of their development. Most become extremely frustrated (at one time or another) when their limited fine motor skills, for example, prevent the completion of the marvelous project conceptualized by their advanced intellect.
Many parents are so overwhelmed by the concept of giftedness, that they put unceasing pressure on themselves and their child/children not to waste a precious moment that might be devoted to talent development. Parents need to remember One very important rule, and that is, there child/children may have intellectual abilities more similar to the thinking age of children 2-3 yrs older, but still retain there younger child like need to learn through active exploration and manipulation of concrete materials. So as a Parent or teacher to translate advanced concepts into appropriate frame work of early childhood educational experiences so that the gifted young child/student can satisfy their intellectual curiosity without being stifled by rigid teaching methods.
Parents do have an important role to play in arranging stimulating experiences that encourage talent development, there is a fine line however, between responding appropriately to a child’s interest and pushing a learning experience that and Adult has determined is important.
Fostering positive Social and Emotional growth
April 14th /99
Written by, Child psychologist Jennifer Wise.
Intellectually gifted young children are particularly vulnerable to feelings of social/isolation or discomfort and conflict. A highly gifted child particularly is apt to have a limited selection of children from which to develop friendships. For the most part, highly gifted children tend to have older fewer friends, and often form friendships with others of similar mental age. Fostering positive social and emotional growth are very important.
Some educators actually believe that there is no need to provide programs for young gifted children because the goal of early childhood education is socialization. However if the teacher does not validate a gifted child’s abilities and intellectual interests by including them in the ongoing curriculum, the child begins to wonder about acceptance from there teachers. The first step in effective Parenting of gifted children is the recognition of their special abilities. Contrary to some contemporary beliefs, giftedness manifests itself quit early in life.
Below is a list of traits for parents to help identify whether they feel their child/children may in fact be gifted. If your result is higher than 10 please do not just assume that’s all the information you need, the high results of this only mean they should be assessed further! Early identification will help facilitate appropriate educational placement and programming for the full development of the child’s abilities. In addition the parents receive validation (often needed) of their observations that professional assessment often provides.
The Signs Reported Most Frequently are as Follows:
Well that’s all she wrote for this round, keep checking back to my site for further information regarding this issue, strategies to go about how to deal with it, is what I will be posting next. This information is just a sample of what is available for you to gain, if you wish to have a more detailed package, and somewhat more personalized to your child, there are 3 different package sizes available to order. Please e-mail me with the specifics if you have anything to request more information about. The Pricing page will be available by Friday the 16th at the latest. Thank you for your patience on this matter.
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