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Challenges surrounding the gifted child

Parenting is full of challenges. With all children, including gifted children, parents face a multitude of obstacles when it comes to the different personalities and parenting. Each child develops at a different rate emotionally, physically, and intellectually, which leads to figuring out what is the best way for each individual.
Many times with a gifted child, the adults expect them to be, well adults mentally. That is a definite misconception, which can lead to frustration for the parent as well as the child. It is shown that the gifted child will go through the stages of morality development at a faster pace than their peers, but they still are not mentally able to process as an adult mind would.
Teachers and parents need to keep themselves informed in regards to, not only the academic needs, but also the social and emotional needs of the gifted child. It becomes a coordinated effort by the family, school and supplemental programs to support and encourage the child. It is helpful to try to create a peer group for the gifted child made up of children with common interests and abilities. This will help with keeping the gifted child from going into isolation.
Another challenge that is generally faced with having a gifted child is perfectionism. Any child, gifted or not, can battle with this, but it seems to be more prevalent in gifted children. Many times they feel the pressure of the expectation for them to excel because they’re labeled a gifted child. There is healthy perfectionism, but it can turn unhealthy rather quickly if triggered continuously by family, friends, school and so on. The child may begin to self-sabotage to get the desired failure results. The pressure that they put on themselves will only continue to grow, and become an obsession if not caught early on.
It is crucial to be aware of any and all changes in your child, gifted or not. Try to stay consistent with no special treatment for the gifted child or those around them.

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Encouragement & ideas for gifted children

There are numerous ways to encourage your child mentally and socially. It is important to stimulate your child whether they are gifted or not. This will also give the parents an opportunity to access the growth and level of advancement that their child is at.
Here are a few helpful ideas of activities you can participate with your child.
o Reading. Sitting with your child and reading books out loud, even if they can read, is a great way to encourage them of the love of reading. This is also an opportunity to spend quality time with your child. It also is good for them to hear the different inflections of your voice while reading.
o Discover. Learn what stimulates your child’s interests and imagination. Spend time exposing them to a variety of diverse interests. Go for a walk and discover the veins in leaves, how many legs do ants have, and so forth. Cultivate their curiosity. Include extending family in the discovery process. Grandparents, aunts and uncles offer a different perspective on life, things, and wisdom they have to impart is good for the child.
o Responsibility. It is valuable to your child to learn responsibility as soon as they are able to understand it. Help them develop a good work ethic and healthy work habits. Your gifted child should be expected to complete any tasks that are asked of any other children. Do not give preferential treatment, because it will lead to animosity between children.
o Diversity. In the world in which we live, your child will encounter many different cultures. It is imperative that they be kind, considerate, and learn to embrace each other’s differences. Children model their parents. They are always watching, and how you respond to people of various backgrounds is very likely how they will respond. Set a good example.
o Appropriate. Always encourage tasks that are age appropriate. You have a gifted child, but they are still a child and need to be treated as such.

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Living life as a gifted child

Academy for Gifted Children
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The life of a gifted child revolves around so many different things. They will ask lots of questions, they have an excellent memory, and retain quite a bit of information. The downside to that is they can become easily bored and indifferent.
Encourage multiple interests because most gifted children will stick to what they know. The tendency is to keep to their specific interests, but they will experience no growth living life this way. They generally love to try new things and take on exciting challenges, but much of the time there are projects left incomplete, or too much is taken on and they become overwhelmed.
Gifted children tend to very independent, and that is a good thing, but they also tend to challenge authority. They pride themselves on being self-motivated, and opinionated on many topics. On the other hand, they don’t function well in-group settings, and struggle with criticism. They use advanced thinking skills such as: analysis, synthesis, and evaluation to solve problems.
They are also known for their strong sense of justice. The issue is finding a good balance so as not to be heavily critical of themselves or peers. Another problem is occasionally their perfectionism expectations get projected on others, and can cause problems for classmates or those around them in general.
Gifted children also seem to have extremely strong expressive skills in drama/art/language/music. There are times when those around them don’t understand them, but through these skills they have the ability to express themselves.
Be a knowledgeable advocate for your child. Support them in using many different sources to solve their problems. Humans are creatures of habit, and change is difficult to some. Help them to understand that various experiences are good to help them to grow into a well-rounded person. They are looking to your for advice and guidance, be prepared to help them through it.

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Raising a gifted child and its challenges

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The responsibility of the parents of gifted children is to appreciate them as a normal child. In other words have reasonable expectations and standards of behavior for all children in the household. Teaching each child time management skills, helping them develop their independence, and social skills are aspects that need to be taught from home and from school.
As a parent and an educator, it is vital to focus and encourage the child for who they are now, not way they may become in the future. Each child learns at a different level, and different pace. Gifted children need peers around them that will challenge them mentally, and who understand things that are more abstract. They also need to have instructional needs that match where they are in their accelerated learning.
There are multiple names that are given to gifted children. Three of them are: high achievers, gifted learners, and critical thinkers. With a high achiever it basically is performing at an above standard level. Gifted learner usually is looked at as intellectually higher than an average person. Critical thinking is a mode of thinking in which the individual determines all things that are observed, expressed, and evaluated.
Many gifted children will avoid, at all costs, taking any sort of risk due to the fear of failure or over thinking all that could go wrong with whatever the risk may be. This avoidance will lead to underachieving due to fear, and their growth is stunted. We are not talking monumental risks, but to try something new is a risk to some as well.
A helpful tip of advice for parents is to make sure that you include all of the significant people involved in your child’s life. That would include any health care professionals, teachers, counselors and so on. Make sure they understand the depth and degree of learning that your child is at. The way they handle certain tasks may need to be altered due to this fact.

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Practicality and the gifted child

Teaching a gifted student can have its obstacles, but the key is to be properly educated on how to accommodate and alter curriculum’s to meet their accelerated needs. Be cautious of pushing your expectations and perceptions of how they should be doing, or where they are at academically.
It is a good idea to be flexible and understanding, and that there is a learning curve for both teacher and student. Encourage them to spend time self-exploring to see where they feel the most comfortable. Teaching them practical skills is optimal because it will hopefully minimize the amount of negative experiences they will encounter.
Promote non-academic activities. They need to know that they can participate in other areas besides scholastically. This also gives them a break, and allows them to decompress and have a moment of stress relief. The gifted child will see that they can grow in many areas, not just in academics.
Another key area to teach the child is how to handle the stress that comes with their title of gifted child. It is common for these children to self impose stress into their lives because of such things as: taking on too much or theirs or others expectations are unattainable. They need to have effective coping strategies to combat the overwhelming need to do it all.
Make sure that you do your due diligence when it comes to finding the school that fits your individual child’s needs. What special programs do they offer? What accelerated coursework do they offer? Some children learn more effectively if they are able to have a hands-on experience. Doe the school offer any such curriculum that encourages that?
Overall, it is a good idea to develop a plan with the child’s input. Collaborate together on what their short-term goals are, what their long-term goals are and so on. The best advice is to be persistent, organized and focused on the goals ahead.

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