How to raise a gifted child

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

What you need to know to help a talented child develop abilities and not deprive him of a happy childhood.

Who is considered a gifted child?

For each parent, his child is special, and each achievement seems to be something significant, but before the age of three it is too early to talk about talents. But by the age of 4-5, you can already notice certain abilities: if your child is ahead of his peers in any area, then you should take a closer look at his success.

A future Olympic champion can be distinguished by excellent coordination, an opera singer - the ability to accurately reproduce music, an engineer or programmer - a penchant for design, or, conversely, a desire to disassemble any thing in order to understand how it works.

Observe the baby on the playground and at home, ask grandmothers and kindergarten teachers. Children intuitively give preference to activities that they do better than others. In psychology, this is called addiction.

At what age and how should you develop your abilities?

Talent can doze for a long time, especially if the child does not have the opportunity to prove himself: a baby who has never held paints in his hands is unlikely to become an artist. Therefore, the main task of the parents of a preschooler is not so much to develop abilities as to create an environment for their natural manifestation.

Give your child the opportunity to try themselves in different areas.

Travel, go to museums, make crafts, visit circles and sections, but do not insist if after a few classes the child loses interest in them. The more he tries, the more likely it is that sooner or later there will be something to do that will awaken the dormant abilities. Are your eyes lit up? So you are on the right track!

However, don't go overboard. The nervous system of children is not adapted to the consumption of large amounts of information and may not cope with excessive stress. In this case, you will get the exact opposite effect - a complete loss of interest in any activity.

What is needed to develop abilities?

So, your child has pronounced abilities: for music, drawing, mathematics, sports or any other activity. They are like a gem that needs to be cut. Here's what will help give natural data a decent shape.

Methodical and regular

They say that success is only a quarter of talent, and the rest is hard work. You can move a little, the main thing is to do it constantly: even small steps can lead to major successes over time.

Good teacher

A competent mentor is very important for any child, and especially for a gifted one. This is not easy to find: for example, talented young athletes in search of a good coach sometimes have to move to another city or even a country. But the penchant for mathematics, computer science or languages will not require such sacrifices: even if there are no worthy teachers near you, you can study remotely, via video communication. This service is offered by both private teachers and educational projects.

Sensitivity and understanding

Remember that talent should serve the child, not the other way around. Therefore, focusing on the development of abilities, you should not sacrifice children's feelings and needs. Listen carefully to your child, arrange activities according to age, take care of rest. Be sure to ask your genius - perhaps he himself will tell you how to make classes more interesting, more effective and more enjoyable.

What you need to know about teaching a gifted child?

The life of a talented child almost never fits into the usual scenarios, which means that parents first of all need to work on accepting the "peculiarities" of their child, because even the most gifted children need care, support and unconditional parental love.

You need to be prepared for problems with school, or, conversely, for the fact that the school curriculum will be too "tight" for a young genius.

In the first case, you should not scold the child for poor grades, it is better to help him understand incomprehensible topics. Show common sense, do not demand a thorough knowledge of all subjects: someone who sits for hours at an easel is not afraid of Cs in mathematics, and a future programmer is quite capable of doing without an A in music.

In the second case, it makes sense to think about individual training. Many schools, proud of their unique students, meet their parents halfway and draw up personalized educational programs, but even if you are refused, it doesn't matter. Homeschooling is not as difficult as it seems at first glance.

An externship is a way out both for athletes who spend a lot of time at training camps and for children who are pursuing a career in film and show business. Remember Harry Potter? Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint had to study right on the set. And an ordinary child may well study as an external student, avoiding all the "side effects" of full-time school education.

What mistakes shouldn't be made?

Talent and love is an important part of the life of gifted children, but it shouldn't be the only one. Even the brightest child is just a child who needs to socialize with friends, walk, relax, have fun and be able to play a little. If you focus too much on the development of abilities and exclude simple childhood joys, then very soon you can get a complete loss of interest and unwillingness to do what you love.

And one more piece of advice to parents of talented children: respect the abilities of your children, but do not distinguish them from their peers, if you do not want to raise an arrogant arrogant. You should not compare children with each other, it is better to pay attention to the child's personal progress.

Good luck in educating geniuses!