Gifted Education

Definition "Gifted and talented children are those identified by professionally qualified persons who by virtue of outstanding abilities are capable of high performance."These are children who require differentiated educational programs and/or services beyond those normally provided by the regular school program in order to realize their contribution to self and society"

These children very often do not develop evenly. In fact, young gifted children frequently show peaks of extraordinary performance rather than equally high skill levels in all cognitive areas. The child who learns to read at age 3 or who shows unusually advanced spatial reasoning ability, for example, may not be the child with the highest IQ or the earliest language development. Unique patterns of development can be observed within a group of gifted children, and uneven development is frequently evident in the pattern of a single child. In some cases, it seems as though children's abilities develop in spurts, guided by changes in interest and opportunity. Reading ability, for example, might develop almost overnight. Children who know all their letters and letter sounds by age 2 1/2 may remain at that level for some time, perhaps until age 4 or 5, and then in a matter of months develop fluent reading skills at the third or fourth grade level.
Another area of unevenness in the development of gifted young children is found in the relationship between advanced intellectual development and development of physical and social skills. Evidence seems to indicate that intellectually gifted children's performance in the physical domain may only be advanced to the extent that the physical tasks involve cognitive organization. And, although intellectually advanced children tend to possess some advanced social-cognitive skills, they do not necessarily demonstrate those skills in their social behavior. In other words, they may understand how to solve social conflicts and interact cooperatively, but not know how to translate their understanding into concrete behavior.

It is not uncommon to find gifted young children experiencing a vast gap between their advanced intellectual skills and their less advanced physical and emotional competencies. For example, 4- and 5-year old children may converse intelligently about abstract concepts such as time and death and read fluently at the fourth-grade level, yet find it difficult to hold a pencil or to share their toys with others.

Often these uneven developmental levels can lead to extreme frustration, as children find that their limited physical skills are not sufficiently developed to carry out the complex projects they imagined. These children may throw tantrums or even give up on projects without trying. Adult guidance in developing coping strategies can help such children set more realistic goals for themselves.

Characteristics
1. Reasons well (good thinker)
2. Learns rapidly
3. Has extensive vocabulary
4. Has an excellent memory
5. Has a long attention span
6. Sensitive (feelings hurt easily)
7. Shows compassion
8. Perfectionistic
9. Intense
10. Morally sensitive
11. Has strong curiosity
12. Perseverant when interested
13. Has high degree of energy
14. Prefers older companions
15. Has a wide range of interests
16. Has a great sense of humor
17. Early or avid reader
18. Concerned with justice, fairness
19. Judgment mature for age at
20. Is a keen observer
21. Has a vivid imagination
22. Is highly creative
23. Tends to question authority
24. Shows ability with numbers
25. Good at jigsaw puzzles

Ways of Feeling
Idealism: May have a strong sense of right and wrong and be disturbed if they believe something is wrong

Sensitivity: Can be sensitive to the emotions of others; easily upset, can find the evening news distressing

Intensity: Can have intensely happy, sad, or fearful reactions

Seeking for Peers: May prefer to play with older children in a search for intellectual peers

Frustrated by Development: May be frustrated when their physical development does not keep pace with their intellect; for example, when they can think of an elaborate picture but do not have enough control of the pencil to draw it.

Teaching gifted children
Keeping in mind that in my preschool classroom I teach 3 - 5 year olds, I already have a variety of activities with skill levels that are in accordance with all age groups. The children may choose whichever toys they like during free play time. This gives the children an opportunity to challenge themselves if they want to, or to retreat back to a familiar or favorite activity. There is really quite a bit of free choice in my room which is good for encouraging decision making as well as social skill development. When planning activities I tier lessons so they may become more advanced as needed for students ready for more challenge.

As always, parental input is vital to understand the child's development level and personality traits. Parents can let me know thier child's learning style and the areas they are gifted in.

Sometimes gifted students are not as socially adept as their peers and need to be "shown" how to interact in a positive manner. A gifted toddler or preschooler will often enjoy the thrill of competitive gaming years before her same age peers. BINGO and Art Lotto are basically matching games that require the players to identify and mark their cards appropriately. Even some one year olds can play, once they have the dexterity to manipulate the pieces. Connect Four is a three dimensional variation on tic tac toe. Two opponents try to put four of their checkers in a row, while preventing their adversary from doing the same. This game is very tactile and wonderful for kids who like to explore with their hands.

Games such as Duck, Duck, Goose and Doggy, Doggy Where’s My Bone are great for physical and social development. They encourage verbalization and are just plain fun!

Word Matching -This is a very simple game, but emergent readers tend to love it, especially if they are not yet writing letters. You write a word in the middle of a page, and surround it by other words, some of which match the center word. For instance, the word APPLE is surrounded by the words, ORANGE, BANANA, FRUIT, and PLUM, in addition to APPLE written three times in various places. Ask the child to circle all the apples. It's a great way to reinforce sight words and also introduce the idea of sorting and classifying.

Book Making-Kids love to read books that they made themselves. You can either staple or punch holes in regular paper and use yarn to tie the sheets together. Children can illustrate their own books. You can also paste photos or magazine clippings into the book. It's very empowering for a young child to be able to read a book full of her own words.

Technology
Use of computers, leap frog games, tape recorders, cameras for documenting projects.

Modifications
Advanced table toys, board games, books, computer programs are offered for the gifted child. It is important to ward off boredom and stimulate cognitive skills, but presented in a way to not make the child feel isolated.

Annotations
http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/nuturing_giftedness.html This offers good insight about the development of gifted young children

http://coe.unt.edu/gifted/parents/identify.htm good characteristics list

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art25155.asp great activities

http://school.familyeducation.com/child-psychology/gifted-education/38808.html I like the ways of feeling list this website offered as well as general information about gifted kids.

Hunt, N., & Marshall, K. (1999).Exceptional Children and Youth.Houghton Mifflin Company. This book had a section on creative and higher-level thinking that was useful.