How can Barents tell if their child is gifted?
Barents often consider their children to be intelligent. They compare their children with other children and talk about how modern children are very smart, intelligent, or gifted. However, the proportion of gifted children in the population is around 2 per cent. So, if we take 100 children at random, we can identify the top 2 children as gifted. Those at the genius level are 1 in 1000. Identifying gifted or genius children can be done through family interviews, discussions with their teachers, observing the child, and ultimately through intelligence tests. Intelligence tests can start from the age of 2, but they are mainly conducted around the ages of 4-5 to make such a diagnosis. Symptoms start to appear from infancy, but the diagnosis can be made according to the criteria we just mentioned.
Gifted children are usually sensitive individuals. They have an emotional nature, meaning their blankets should not be disturbing, and their diapers should be changed immediately when they need it. This is because their nerve endings are much more developed. Due to their highly developed neurons and synaptic connections, they affect other neural connections in their bodies. They have a sensitive nature. Therefore, you need to create an ideal environment for them. It is even mentioned that they may be bothered by the tags on their clothes or collar tags. However, we would like to remind you again that these are symptoms, and not every child who exhibits these symptoms is gifted, nor does every gifted child definitely exhibit these symptoms.
Gifted children start speaking and walking early and tend to be more advanced than their peers. They often display a more mature appearance, like little adults. Their vocabulary may be much more advanced than their peers. So, a child who you think shouldn’t know about certain concepts at their age might already be discussing those concepts. They are sensitive to social events. They may be interested in events like landslides, floods, or earthquakes and discuss what they can do about them in the home environment. They are like lawyers and can remind you of something you didn’t want to remember blatantly.
These are some of the symptoms. We even have children who start speaking when they are 6-8 months old. Some children start reading at 1.5-2 years old. If there are such serious findings, we recommend getting an intelligence test done at an early age, but other than such situations, it is more appropriate to have such a test done at the age of 3.5-4.
What should you do if your child is gifted?
Especially in the education of gifted children, differentiated and enriched education programs yield effective results. However, these are also the efforts that educational institutions should make. If the child’s superior qualities are known, a common understanding can be achieved by discussing this with the school’s administrators, guidance counsellors, and experts. Besides institutional education, what needs to be done in the home environment is also very important. Some of the things that families with gifted children need to do are:
- Speak with a healthy, strong, and rich communication language.
- Provide opportunities for peer enrichment, meaning allow them to be in educational and social environments with other peers who have different developmental characteristics like themselves.
- Identify the child’s special interests in areas such as painting, music, and sports, and provide them with various experiences.
- Engage in joint brainstorming and research on various topics of interest to the child. Provide opportunities for them to work on projects they develop in their minds.
- Engage in interesting mental activities such as logic puzzles, strategy, and mind games.
- Share daily events.
- Play games like attention games, memory games, and matching games.
What should be paid attention to in a gifted child?
In society, gifted children can sometimes be perceived as problematic. In much of the literature, defining intelligence as the ability to adapt to the environment or solve problems and thinking that these children are incompatible and problematic seems to be quite contradictory in itself. Of course, gifted children can also have behavioural problems. However, this does not mean that they are generally problematic. The biggest risk in children with superior qualities is when they learn about their superiority, their self-perception may be negatively affected. When the perception of ‘I am superior’ is established, it is not correct to give messages of dislike or belittlement directly or indirectly to other children. If the child is not aware of this special situation, it is best not to bring it up, and if they are aware, positive statements that accept the child’s ability but do not differentiate them from other people should be given.
How should you treat gifted children?
Gifted children need love, trust, and understanding from others, recognition of their abilities and superior intelligence, a group of friends with whom they can meet their social needs, academic environments where their potential will be revealed and they can demonstrate themselves, knowing that they are also children just like their peers, teachers and Barents who understand and support them the best, opportunities to make their own decisions, enriched environments suitable for their hobbies and versatile interests, and encouragement and appreciation. If the family is consciously involved in revealing the child’s current capacity and developing their talents, it will not only result in significant individual gains but also societal gains.
How is the future of gifted children planned?
The differentiated education to be provided to gifted children aims to maximize their development and individual success. Gifted individuals should receive education tailored to their capacities. Otherwise, it can lead to both the atrophy of their talents and psychological distress. Many gifted children can easily understand the subjects taught in a regular classroom without studying. Therefore, they may not develop the habit of studying. This can negatively affect their academic success in the future. When these children are not noticed or supported enough, they may try to draw attention with their negative behaviours. If a gifted child is identified, the teacher should provide a richer teaching opportunity.
What are the duties of Barents?
Dreaming is very important for these children. Sometimes, Barents want their children to be rational and realistic. First of all, it is necessary to get rid of these patterns.
Instead of providing ready answers to children’s questions, it is better to encourage them to find the answers themselves as much as possible. For example, if a child asks a question, by directing them with phrases like “What would you do if you were in that situation? Think about it. Maybe you can find it out.” We can encourage them to answer the question themselves, which would give their brain some exercise. Children who are presented with everything they want will have limited material and intellectual development.
