Parenting

The Young Gifted

By: Mandy Fox
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Characteristics of the Young Gifted

The young gifted are not as easily identiable as older gifted children since the standard tests are often beyond their abilities. Therefore, the best way to identify these children is to have a complete picture through observations in different settings, products from the childs work, and anecdotal information from the childs parents. Through those observations and products, you might discover the following: expresses curiosity continually asks questions solves problems in new and unusual ways communicates with an extensive vocabulary posses wonderful memories have original imaginations able to learn really quickly take initiative and can work independently prefer to play with older children Parents of gifted children with encounter some joys and challenges on a daily basis and will many times wish they had a normal child. Between the friends or family who berate you for pushing your child, and the constant worries of whether you are doing enough, being the parent of a young gifted child is challenging. However, you have been given a gift, it is up to you to open its potential.

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Identifying the Young Gifted

Most parents see their child as special and marvel at the amazing things they can do when they begin to learn and exhibit new talents. As parents, we would like to believe that all children are gifted. However, in order to identify the child correctly, we must use a common denition of what a young gifted child means. Most researchers agree that giftedness in a young child relates to their rapid rate of development in certain areas as well as their precociousness. As a general rule, parents can identify any child who is onequarter to one-half of their age ahead of their peers as gifted (ex. a four year old who is one or two years ahead of his peers).

ONLINE Resources
Hoagies Gifted- Young Gifted Childrenhttp://www.hoagiesgifted.org/ young_children.htm Where Does Your Child Fall? A Scale of Typical Behaviors and Benchmarks http://www.austega.com/gifted/ preschoolers.htm NAGCs Information Page on the Young Gifted Childhttp://www.nagc.org/index.aspx? id=1467 University of Connecticuts Parents of Gifted Children Resource Pagehttp://www.gifted.uconn.edu/ parents/parentrp.html Council for Exceptional Children- TAG http://www.cectag.org/ NAGCs Practical Tools for Parentshttp://www.nagc.org/index.aspx? id=1261

Providing for their Affective Needs

A gifted child has particular affective needs that other children may never experience. Depending on their area of giftedness, they may experience worry, over excitability, under achievement, perfectionism, and a heightened sensitivity to the problems around them. Some of the things that you can do to help these children cope are: Help them enjoy the topics they may show initial strength in rather than pushing them and turning it into a drudgery. Often times, parents will see a strength and want to develop it further immediately. For example, a child can add numbers, now he needs to know how to subtract. Be patient with your child, as most people who have done anything with their talent were committed to developing it for a lifetime. Develop the authoritative mode of parenting rather than the debating mode. Many parents are drawn in by the gifted childs ability to debate. Remember that you are the adult and you have the right to set the boundaries. Address the perfectionistic tendencies that might develop early on by being a model for your child. Celebrate your successes and learn from your failures publicly with your child. Never be afraid to show your child you are not perfect either.

Helping Them Academically

Academics is the area where most parents are concerned with their childs development. Parents need to nd and maintain a balance of giving their child opportunities to learn without over-scheduling them. Here are some helpful hints to ensure your child is getting the most out of their school experience. Provide you child with opportunities to explore their interests. This does not mean sign them up for every lesson under the sun, but take them places and expose them to new ideas in order to help them nd their area of interest.

Mandy Fox currently teaches enrichment classes for 3rd-5th graders in Hoover, Alabama. She has an EdS. in Technology Leadership in Education and is pursuing her second Masters in Gifted Education from Samford University. She is also a National Board Certied Teacher.

 Be a role model for your child and show them the excitement of learning new things. Just because you may have nished school does not mean you are done learning. Read a new book, go to a new museum and have discussions about what you each learned that you never knew before. Try to nd assistance from other individuals who can help answer your childs myriad of questions. Your child may be the type of child who asks a million questions a day. Find experts in the elds that can answer those questions. Make sure you emphasize when you dont know, but you know how to nd out. Teach them the use it or lose it principal of learning, rather than the principle of the harder you work, the smarter you become as that will set your child up for failure later on in life. Many times gifted children will hit a wall later on and think that if they worked a little harder, they would be able to gure it out. Reality says that sometimes you need a different approach or explanation, rather than harder work. Set up opportunities for your child to engage in creative play.This will give them the ability to develop that budding imagination. Give your child chances to take risks and learn from those situations. Any gifted child needs to be able to take a risk so that they will realize that failure is eminent. It is what you learn from your mistakes that make you the better person. Encourage teachers to screen your child early if you are relatively sure of giftedness, as regression to be like their peers can be a real problem once the child enters school. When possible, use technology as a teaching tool to allow children to move at their own pace. Ensure that the child is gifted in all academic areas before considering acceleration to a higher grade or early entry into school.

Resources
Castellano, J.A. (2002). Special populations of gifted children. Allyn & Bacon. Delcourt, M.A. Office of Educational Research and Improvement, National Research Center on the G i f t e d a n d Ta l e n t e d . ( 1 9 9 8 ) . W h a t p a r e n t s n e e d t o k n o w a b o u t . . r e c o g n i z i n g a n d e n c o u r a g i n g i n t e r e s t s , s t r e n g t h s , a n d t a l e n t s o f y o u n g g i f t e d c h i l d r e n . Wa s h i n g t o n , D C . Robinson, N.M. Office of Educational Research and Improvement, National Research Center on the G i f t e d a n d Ta l e n t e d . ( 1 9 9 3 ) . P a r e n t i n g t h e v e r y y o u n g g i f t e d . S t o r r s , C T. S m u t n y , J . F. ( 2 0 0 0 ) . Te a c h i n g y o u n g g i f t e d c h i l d r e n i n t h e r e g u l a r c l a s s r o o m . E R I C d i g e s t s . We i n h o u s e , D . ( 1 9 9 8 ) . E n c o u r a g i n g p o t e n t i a l i n y o u n g c h i l d r e n . H a u p p a u g e , N Y: B a r r o n ' s E d u c a t i o n a l Series.