Taking care of a gifted child
Just recently, one of my friends found out that her daughter is a gifted child. She discovered that her five-year- old child can already memorize the nations of the world. She is so pleased with her child’s talent but at the same time she does not know how to help her child enhance further this talent and ability and she is worried that her daughter might not be able to enjoy her childhood like normal kids do. To ease her worries, I accompanied her in discovering how to nurture her gifted child’s talent and below are simple steps a parent can do that we found out.
Provide challenging toys and books. Another way to nurture your gifted child’s talent is to supply toys and games that will stimulate his interests and enhance his or her thinking, problem-solving and creative skills. Since gifted children likes to tackle difficult toys and games beyond their age, offer toys that will catch his interest. You should also have books that are interesting and thought-provoking for your kids.
Interact with your child. Talk with your child. Try to ask him questions about what he feels and thinks. Listen to him or her as well especially if he has questions and answer those questions to the best of your knowledge. Likewise, spend time to play with your child for it is during these times of play that you help them use their brains especially when you play mind games.
Send your child to a program geared towards harnessing his or special abilities or talents. Providing challenging toys and books at home may not at all be enough. So sending your child to a special event or activity with children who have the same talent may help improve his or her own abilities. Summer camps or programs for singing, dancing, acting, drawing or painting can be examples.
Allow your child to play and interact with his or her peers. Gifted children should not just focus on enhancing their talents. They should also spend time to play and mingle with their peers and parents need to encourage this. In playing with their peers, gifted children learn social skills and they are able to progress in their emotional development to maintain a balance in their lives.
Expose your child to new ideas, activities and experiences. While it may be good for your gifted child to excel in the area of his interest, it is also best to encourage him to try out new things. Engage your child to music, visual arts, performing arts, communication arts, sports, and many more. In this way, your child gets to show off and enrich his other talents and you might also discover that he or she is good in multiple areas.
Do not expect or demand too much from your child. Once you have seen your child’s capacity to perform at his best, remember not to set too high expectations from him. Having high expectations for your child might have a negative impact. This could happen when he performs lower than what is expected like a low score in an exam or a low grade and he might become frustrated since he was not able to meet your expectations. This could lead to a low self-esteem for the child. So as much as possible, motivate your child to excel but do not put on too much pressure. If he does not seem to excel then just try to understand and give him assurance.
Here are some articles that you may also like:
Easy vs. Challenging: What Will It Be for the Gifted Child?
How to identify a gifted child