The gifted child

MANILA, Philippines - How do you know you have a gifted child? Is your child extremely curious? Does your child like to ask a lot of questions? Does your child tend to be a perfectionist? If you answered yes, there is a strong likelihood that you have a gifted child. As a parent, it is important for you to recognize and act on this. Parents are in the best position to judge their child’s abilities, even long before the school does.

“There are many gifted children who are underachievers in school because their special needs are not met,” Mary Ellen Ryan, a gifted and talented child specialist, remarks. Ryan completed her master’s degree in Gifted and Talented Education at the University of Connecticut and currently works as an enrichment specialist at the Hong Kong International School.

Ryan was the plenary speaker at a convention-workshop organized by the Philippine Association for the Gifted (PAG) during the National Week for the Gifted and Talented, which is celebrated annually on the fourth week of November. The two-day event, which was held at the Mandarin Oriental Suites at Gateway Mall in Cubao, served as venue for parents, teachers, school administrators, guidance counselors, and professors to come together and learn new methods in nurturing children’s talents and potentials.   

“The traditional way is by rote learning,” Ryan observes. This learning technique focuses on memorization, remembering information through sheer repetition, rather than understanding.  “But children need to learn to make connections,” Ryan explains. “Children need to learn to evaluate, analyze, and synthesize information. Children should learn to think on a higher level, to think on their own. Children should be encouraged to ask questions.”

The inquisitive mind is the thinking mind. “Most teachers waste their time by asking questions which are intended to discover what a pupil does not know, whereas the true art of questioning has for its purpose to discover what the pupil knows or is capable of knowing.” This sharp remark is attributed to a famous great mind, Albert Einstein.

“Expose your child. Foster your child’s interests,” enjoins Ryan, “but don’t pressure.” Ryan draws from her own personal experience with her two teenaged sons. “We just need to guide them. We don’t need to give them more work, but better and challenging work.” Ryan admits that children today get too much homework. “It is useless if they do not learn and they do their homework just to pass.” Students should be viewed not merely as “repositories of information” but rather, encourage and develop their “creative productivity,” Focus is on the application, rather than the assimilation of knowledge. “We should build on their strengths,” Ryan notes.

 Ryan, who has 22 years of teaching experience under her belt, also shares the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) designed by Joseph S. Renzulli and Sally M. Reis of the University of Connecticut which shows teachers how to develop students’ talents “by assessing their strengths and providing enrichment through resources and services.”

Gifted children are not necessarily model students. They are often found to be bored with school. They often prefer the company of adults and older kids rather than their own peers. “While they may be above in their intellectual level, they may have difficulty adjusting emotionally or socially. Counseling is also important for gifted children,” says Ryan. “There should be balance.”

 The convention-workshop was sponsored by Promil Pre-School, which has been at the forefront in the annual celebration of the National Week of the Gifted and Talented in support of its pursuit to provide the gifted and talented with opportunities, encouragement, greater attention and assistance to develop their potential to the fullest. Promil Pre-School is a powdered milk drink for children four to seven years old that contains

Nutrissentials, a unique combination of essential nutrients to help optimize a child’s full potential.