GIFTED AND TALENTED CHILDREN?
There are possibly over 300,000 gifted children in Australia. Most are unidentified and under challenged.
The confirmation that you have a gifted child can be a mixed blessing. Initial thoughts may be of the ease with which they will complete their education and the potential they have to achieve great things for mankind. Sometimes the biggest blessing is the confirmation that you were right in your suspicions that your child was somehow 'different' from other children.
However, on further investigation you may become aware of the difficult aspects of parenting a gifted child. Finding a school that understands their unique needs, managing the complexities of their sensitivities, supporting them in establishing friendship groups and trying keep at bay the potential to become disengaged or frustrated can leave you feeling somewhat helpless.
The good news is there are a number of quality organisations and support groups that can be invaluable in helping you negotiate this minefield. With good advice and further understanding of your child’s unique abilities, you will most probably become the main instrument in guiding and educating your gifted child. Time spent at home engaged in either learning activities or experiences will help these children make sense of the world and develop their abilities in their own way, at their own pace.
Kids have different intelligences all that are worth developing. Whilst they need access to traditional educational toys such as books and science experiments, they also need the opportunity to encourage hand-eye coordination, higher order thinking skills, spatial awareness and reasoning, artistic construction and design, and general imaginative play. With gifted children you need to be particularly aware of toys that are essentially mindless but give kids the 'impression' that they're doing or learning something. Look out for games that have various levels of expertise so that they can keep up with their rapid learning, or those where progression is based on strategy rather than chance. Look for toys that can be adapted and used in a multitude of ways and look out for products that educate, entertain and teach them to occupy themselves. You will know when you are on to something of substance because you won’t be able to drag them away from it! |
