This is a story about two dear children that attended an elementary school: one, with average intelligence, and the other, gifted. One was a perfect student, got good grades, paid attention in class, did not misbehave and the other — was gifted. Surprised? Well, if you are raising a gifted child this is a story far too familiar.
Giftedness is a person with an ability, which can express itself specifically or generally, that is significantly above the norm for the person’s age. This is the academic description. However, this definition may not be helpful for parents of gifted children.
People assume that gifted children are well behaved, eager overachievers, and mature not only intellectually but also emotionally (see above story). The assumption could not be further from the truth. Why? Because gifted children are not just extremely brilliant — they are also extremely emotionally reactive. Temper tantrums, fights in school, and depression are all common traits of gifted children.
Gifted children can be perfectionists. Perfectionism is a quirk that everyone tells their potential employer they have during interviews. In reality, perfectionism creates unrelenting and impossible standards that, if not met, mean devastation to the perfectionist. The gifted and perfectionist child becomes hypercritical of themselves. Over time, the gifted student becomes depressed, gives up in school, gets poor grades, gets in trouble, and does not pay attention during story time.
If you are a parent of a gifted child, this is nothing new. What you may not know is how to help your child. Your gifted child can solve Rubik cubes and put solid white jigsaw puzzles together in record time, but they cannot solve the problem of themselves and their role in society. This is where you come in.
The main way to help gifted children is to imbue their life with meaning, help them create an identity, and provide the means and opportunities to explore them.
Create an environment that promotes self-expression. Give the child multiple avenues for your child to explore — their identity may take a lot of false starts and different forms but the process is crucial. Provide them opportunities to explore their interests. Promote your child’s natural inclination to want to know why and how. Be a positive source of opportunity rather than a rigid cookie mold.
Enroll your child in a school that nurtures and motivates gifted children. Self Development Academy is an advanced, local K-8 charter school ranked among the nation’s top schools and they have gifted education built right into their instructional method. This means that teachers are constantly providing enrichment and acceleration for gifted students.
Beyond the enrichment in class, Self Development Academy also has a separate gifted curriculum, cured to respond to the infinitely complex needs of their gifted students. Perhaps because they, themselves, received gifted education, the senior administrative staff are exceptionally attentive to the needs of gifted curriculum, knowing first hand, what works and what does not.
Help your child develop long-term community building projects. Gifted children have a well-honed sense of justice. Leverage this tendency by introducing your child to your community’s needs.
Raising a gifted child can certainly be exhausting. But, done right, it can be exhilarating too.
Find out about Self Development Academy’s Gifted Program by calling (480) 641-2640.