Giftedness or a highly developed talent can distinguish one child from many others. The gifted learner typically has a level of knowledge, sophistication, or skill that is considered to be within the top 1–2 percent of the population of individuals of one’s own chronological age or peer group.
Another way to define this is to say that they fall at the far, upper end of the bell-shaped curve. It is important to note that learners’ interests may or may not overlap with their areas of talent. For instance, thirteenyear-old Peter loves basketball and plays on a team in a civic league. He watches college and professional basketball on television and loves going to games. Despite this significant sports interest, Peter’s actual skills are considered to be only average or slightly above average in running the court and shooting the ball. Therefore, Peter has a specific interest in sports but not an unusual gift in this area. Perhaps one can argue that his persistence in studying the game is a talent. This is something that will be explored shortly.
Earlier, a few definitions were offered for general giftedness. However, one can create an extensive list of possible areas of specific talent. You may already know that your child has an unusual skill. There are numerous areas that can be considered talents or areas of giftedness, such as advanced abilities in expressive language, receptive language, visual-perceptual skills, visual-motor skills, athletic skills, processing speed, convergent and divergent thinking skills, creativity, memory skills, executive functions, self-motivation, emotional maturity and social skills, smell and/or taste discrimination, written language, reading comprehension skills, and mathematics skills. These areas will be explored in the next section, with the goal of helping you create academic lessons that may be tailored to fit your learner’s talents, resulting in a more meaningful education.
In the traditional classroom setting, there are typically a few students who are described as “always needing to talk.” These learners sometimes raise their hand throughout a lesson to add additional information or to personalize the material to their own experiences. A child who is highly verbal may have a talent in the area of expressive language. These learners are not just verbal, but skilled communicators. At times, they actually clarify their own understanding of a lesson by talking about it. For instance, some children with this area of talent may benefit from taking time to retell the message of a story or poem. By using their own words, the lesson’s meaning is reinforced. A person talented in expressive language skills may gain a more thorough understanding of the lesson by reteaching the lesson to another or by engaging in a debate with another about the topic. For example, Clara read an article about the quality of her neighborhood’s water system. Clara initially concluded that the water system should remain pure, without any added chemicals. When she and her older brother debated the issue, Clara’s parents asked her to take the opposing view. Clara reread the article, gathered more information from the Internet, then passionately used her verbal skills to create a powerful argument. Through the debating situation, Clara was able to think about both sides of an issue that was creating tension in her community. Without the added benefit of debating the issue, Clara was initially certain that her one-sided view was the only one with merit.
As a parent/educator you may want to utilize debating as a way to help your child utilize expressive language skills to more fully understand concepts. However, it is important that the debate remains in the realm of the topic of study and that respect for the other’s opinion is maintained—in other words, that the debate doesn’t become one of parent vs. adolescent. Both of you will probably have enough personal debates over the years without debating in the home-classroom setting.
Source : Lee Wherry Brainerd. Homeschooling Your Gifted Children. 2002
Another way to define this is to say that they fall at the far, upper end of the bell-shaped curve. It is important to note that learners’ interests may or may not overlap with their areas of talent. For instance, thirteenyear-old Peter loves basketball and plays on a team in a civic league. He watches college and professional basketball on television and loves going to games. Despite this significant sports interest, Peter’s actual skills are considered to be only average or slightly above average in running the court and shooting the ball. Therefore, Peter has a specific interest in sports but not an unusual gift in this area. Perhaps one can argue that his persistence in studying the game is a talent. This is something that will be explored shortly.
Earlier, a few definitions were offered for general giftedness. However, one can create an extensive list of possible areas of specific talent. You may already know that your child has an unusual skill. There are numerous areas that can be considered talents or areas of giftedness, such as advanced abilities in expressive language, receptive language, visual-perceptual skills, visual-motor skills, athletic skills, processing speed, convergent and divergent thinking skills, creativity, memory skills, executive functions, self-motivation, emotional maturity and social skills, smell and/or taste discrimination, written language, reading comprehension skills, and mathematics skills. These areas will be explored in the next section, with the goal of helping you create academic lessons that may be tailored to fit your learner’s talents, resulting in a more meaningful education.
In the traditional classroom setting, there are typically a few students who are described as “always needing to talk.” These learners sometimes raise their hand throughout a lesson to add additional information or to personalize the material to their own experiences. A child who is highly verbal may have a talent in the area of expressive language. These learners are not just verbal, but skilled communicators. At times, they actually clarify their own understanding of a lesson by talking about it. For instance, some children with this area of talent may benefit from taking time to retell the message of a story or poem. By using their own words, the lesson’s meaning is reinforced. A person talented in expressive language skills may gain a more thorough understanding of the lesson by reteaching the lesson to another or by engaging in a debate with another about the topic. For example, Clara read an article about the quality of her neighborhood’s water system. Clara initially concluded that the water system should remain pure, without any added chemicals. When she and her older brother debated the issue, Clara’s parents asked her to take the opposing view. Clara reread the article, gathered more information from the Internet, then passionately used her verbal skills to create a powerful argument. Through the debating situation, Clara was able to think about both sides of an issue that was creating tension in her community. Without the added benefit of debating the issue, Clara was initially certain that her one-sided view was the only one with merit.
As a parent/educator you may want to utilize debating as a way to help your child utilize expressive language skills to more fully understand concepts. However, it is important that the debate remains in the realm of the topic of study and that respect for the other’s opinion is maintained—in other words, that the debate doesn’t become one of parent vs. adolescent. Both of you will probably have enough personal debates over the years without debating in the home-classroom setting.
Source : Lee Wherry Brainerd. Homeschooling Your Gifted Children. 2002
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