You surely feel as if you have hit a jackpot when you realize that your child is ahead of his peers. It could be anything like understanding toys or games you wouldn’t expect them to reach out to or hitting developmental milestones before time. It is a proud moment for parents and we feel overwhelmed by it. But it’s not that easy, raising a gifted child is an additional responsibility.
Is My Child Gifted?
If you feel that your child is gifted, a good idea would be to get his IQ tested. An IQ of over 130 points means that your child is gifted. If you haven’t had your child assessed, the following characters can give you a good idea of whether your child is gifted:
How to Respond to a Gifted Child
You have to focus on a lot of points to ensure that they reach their full potential. The other challenges you might face are that a gifted child getting bored easily and fast outgrowing the available resources. This post will provide you some tips on how to support your gifted child in a healthy and happy manner so that he stays humble, feels loved and encouraged.
Get help for yourself
As I said earlier it is an additional responsibility, you might feel overwhelmed and may stand clueless in some situations. It is best to discuss your position with parents in a similar situation. Add yourself in a group or if you live in a big city, attend workshops or group meet-ups of parents with a similar situation. This will help you vent out your frustration which builds up when upbringing such kids.
You will also get more ideas on how to cope up with the struggle. Not only will you get ideas but you will also help others in need and this will also help you regain your lost confidence. Because believe me no matter how lucky you feel, there is a lot of struggle and this step will help you in many ways.
Intellectual challenges
A gifted child hands out his work in a much shorter time than his peers which is a challenge for the teacher as well. The child starts thinking of himself as better than his peer which is not such a good trait to be accepted by the child.
You need to support him here by providing him with intellectual challenges so that he understands the importance of working hard at something. It could be anything like learning a new language that is not yet introduced at school or any activity that might be a challenge for him.
I am saying that he should not have the time to play, it is equally important for a gifted child to have playtime outside the home. It is important here to understand that you don’t put loads and loads of work on the child because in the end, a happy child is better than a gifted child.
Avoid Comparisons
There are two types of comparisons and both are equally harming the child and his siblings or peers. You need to be very careful with the words and tone you use in front of your kids because the gifted child is already subtly comparing himself with others in his mind.
He is aware that he is the bright one so it’s important that you avoid saying that aloud in front of everyone. Similarly, it’s equally important that you don’t compare your kids in your head as well because kids are smarter and can easily judge you through your expressions and postures. This act will only create a sense of superiority in the gifted child and a feeling of inferiority among his siblings.
Be honest about their gift
The kid already knows that he is gifted and so you must be honest with him. Sit down individually and discuss his potentials with him, if need be. Combining confidence with humility is a great challenge especially in a gifted child and for that, you need to make him understand that being gifted is a special favor to him but working hard will help him enhance his potentials.
Social Circle
You need to understand that your child may have a totally different set of friends in whose company he relates more easily. They may not be of the same age group as him but their level of intellect and emotional maturity in more in line with his. Try to be open-minded with the choice of his friends because it’s really important for a gifted child to be socially active.
I hope this article will help you with, ‘How to respond to a gifted child’. If you notice your child is gifted and you are unable to cope with it and these strategies aren’t also helping, I would love to help you determine your child’s individual needs. Please reach out to set up a free consultation. We are here to support you as you help your child blossom!
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Positive Parenting: How to be a happy parent.
