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definition
Gifted children are considered special needs children. That means that they have special educational needs based on their intellectual as well as social and emotional traits. Like all special needs children, gifted children may not reach their potential if they are not provided with an appropriate educational environment.
Giftedness is often defined as being advanced well above average intelligence. Intelligence can be measured through standardized tests once your child is old enough to read and write. But there are recognizable characteristics of gifted behavior that parents can observe at an earlier age.
Highly gifted toddlers may also show an intense interest in numbers or letters. These are often the children who start doing simple math or teach themselves to read by the time they are three. However, a child who does not read or do math early may still be gifted. Children who read or do math early are almost certainly gifted, but not all gifted children do those things early.
Studies of gifted infants (those who score high on IQ tests as grade school children) show that they have a low tolerance for the familiar and a preference for novelty. Basically, infants were shown different objects for a certain amount of time. Those infants who later were shown to be gifted children looked away from objects more quickly than other infants. When shown a familiar object and a new one, the gifted infants preferred to look at the new one.
Cognitive Traits
Very Observant Extremely Curious Intense interests Excellent memory Long attention span Excellent reasoning skills Well-developed powers of abstraction, conceptualization, and synthesis Quickly and easily sees relationships in ideas, objects, or facts Fluent and flexible thinking Elaborate and original thinking Excellent problem solving skills Learns quickly and with less practice and repetition Unusual and/or vivid imagination
Language Traits
Extensive Vocabulary May Read Early Reads Rapidly and Widely Asks "what if" questions
Additional Traits
Enjoys learning new things Enjoys intellectual activity Displays intellectual playfulness Prefers books and magazines meant for older children Skeptical, critical, and evaluative Asynchronous development
Teachers role
Needs to be creatively manoeuvred because these pupils required more challenging learning experiences. Sometimes the teacher needs to learn from certain gifted pupils, because these pupils may have already learnt some science concepts through the television, reading material, multimedia software or the internet. Teacher always needs to encourage and motivate these pupils.