Is My Child Gifted
Are you asking yourself, "Is My Child Gifted?". This isn't uncommon, when parents start identifying the special skills of their child early on. Giftedness is often hard to detect because in some children it is very obvious, in others it develops over years. There are a variety of gifted traits that you should look for. There are different kinds of gifs in children, from intellectual to artistic. The process is not always fast or straightforward when it comes to identifying a child for gifted tendencies.
However, both an IQ test and watching for any natural talents your child may have can help parents and teachers alike recognize a gifted child. When it comes to IQ, a childhood score of 100 is average and can be considered normal according to the standard bell curve. 115 to 129 may signal a child that is mildly gifted. A child that is highly intellectually gifted would score between 145 to 159, with profound giftedness at a score of 180 or above, which is substantially higher than the average adult score. Intellectually gifted children may be far ahead of their classmates in learning the curriculum and need more challenging studies to keep them attentive.
Not all gifted and talented children are intellectually gifted. You may have a child who is average or even below average in classroom grades. However this same child may have exceptional ability when it comes to music, art, writing or even sports. This is evident when examining high profile cases like Mozart or Tiger Woods, both child prodigies in their respective areas of music and golf. Determining a gifted child using artistic ability is more difficult than determining an intellectually gifted child because there are no numbers or scores to go by. However by working with your child's music teacher, art teacher or sporting coach you can get a better idea as to your child's level of giftedness in a particular area.
When asking the question is my child gifted, you should think about your motivations for discovering the answer. The best reason to identify gifted children is to support and encourage them in the area in which they excel. With the right guidance a child with a particular intellectual, artistic or athletic talent can build and hone their strengths as they grow. If you have questions about gifted and talented children, speak with your child's teacher, guidance counselor or principal. They can tell you more about the school programs for gifted and talented children as well as how these characteristics are formally identified.
