How to Make Your
Child intellectually ‘Gifted’? (Is it even possible??) an oxymoron
BUT we can ask -
Are Gifted-like Traits teachable and can they be formed?
Here are some commonly known
traits of gifted children – highly curious, independent learners, possess a
large vocabulary, reaching milestones early, able to grasp abstract concepts
easily, be immersed in favourite topics, etc.
My two kids are all of that when
they were six or seven years old, but does that mean they were gifted or does
that mean we did our jobs as parents? At the age of six or seven, how can one
really tell if they were gifted or not? I don’t think I’ve seen a five, six or
seven year old child that wasn’t curious, that I couldn’t teach to read a few
more words or add numbers, play a new game or grasp an abstract concept through
proper use of manipulatives. Even if my kids weren’t that way before, most
children that I’ve seen have the capacity to do those things.
Hence, is ‘giftedness’
trainable?
By primary 1, both my kids
were among the top of the class, finishing their daily work within minutes
because they already knew it. They had all the extra time to do their stuff –
playing with blocks, reading their favourite books, crafting artworks,
generating original thoughts through the use of various types of construction
resources such as Lego, Klikko, Omnifix cubes, doing puzzle solving etc. All
this while they were improving on their logical reasoning, spatial, and visual
senses. I realized later on that all these playing helped them tremendously in
their Mathematics, Science and language. It seems then to become a cycle – work
seemed less tedious, and in turn, they could enjoy playing during free time.
And both of them got into the Gifted Education Programme...no prep, no stress!
Our Analytical Critical Thinking programme lies in the above premise - serious fun!
Also, catch us at http://www.thegiftedparents.com/.
