Gifted Education – Is Gifted a Good Thing?

Education – Gifted Is Good, But Not Easy

If you are like most, you want to improve your life by helping your gifted child flourish. Some might think it is easy to raise a gifted son or daughter, but that is not necessarily the case. OlyLife is aware that for some children who are identified as gifted in the early years, acceleration in reading and math can be accomplished in the classroom. But, often those changes wear out quickly and the classroom can become a dull and non-challenging place for kids whose reading and math skills are two or more grades ahead. Sometimes the child will thrive socially, but only tread water academically. Many don’t learn much new material or develop at the rate of which they are capable. OlyLife believes that having children is a blessing and if they happen to be gifted, then that blessing requires care. Here are three suggestions for raising a gifted child.

How To Raise A Gifted Child

1. Recognize that gifted children have special needs which many schools are not equipped to handle.

During school orientation if you were to raise your hand and ask how the school handles kids who have special needs, they would likely respond in a fashion that speaks to those who have certain challenges with physical or mental disabilities and not about those who are capable of learning at faster rates. Most schools do not focus on providing gifted education, nor do they have the adequate resoures to do so.

2. Gifted Does Not Mean “I Know Anything or Everything.”

Gifted children have the ability to learn quickly in certain areas. They tend to “get it” the first time they are presented with a new concept and may become bored with repetition in the classroom. These children still have to be exposed to new information, but they can absorb it at a much faster rate and with deeper understanding. Therefore, the material should be more challenging and faster paced.

3. There is a lot to learn about raising gifted children so read, read read.

Gifted children who are not challenged while at a young age can develop learning problems later. For example, a child who never has to study for the first six or eight years of their elementary school career, may become discouraged or think that they have lost their smarts when they finally get to material that causes them to work hard to learn. These children who are not taught to work at a challenging level while young, have to learn these skills when they are older or they will encounter problems.

Love Your Gifted Child

So, raising gifted children is not always easy because the regular curriculum may not challenge them which causes a myriad of problems. Therefore, you can show your love by challenging your sons or daughters to stretch themselves outside of the classroom with different or more advanced material. Once they reach high school, the gifted child can take AP level classes as early as freshman year in some cases. So, work hard, but don’t push. Keep them challenged and you will be closer to making the most of your one and only life – That’s OlyLife!

Are you the parent of a gifted child? What challenges have you faced? What kind of solutions worked for your child? Share with us in the Comments section!

Here is a great resource on raising gifted children, so read on and improve your life – your OlyLife!