Each person in some ways can be considered talented. And whether he will succeed or not, largely depends on whether his talent will be manifested and noticed in childhood, and whether the child will have the opportunity to realize his talent. Identifying talented kids is a painstaking and difficult task. Gifted children are guys who show high mental inclinations from an early age and stand out among peers with remarkable intelligence.
Who exactly should be considered gifted and what criteria should be guided, considering this or that child the most capable? How not to miss the talent? How to identify the hidden potential of a child who is ahead of her peers in their level of development, and how to build work with such children?
Pros and cons of giftedness
Giftedness has a positive and negative side. The pluses include excellent verbal skills, emotional stability, creativity, a variety of interests, a good memory, a pronounced personality and abstract thinking of the child. Negative traits include dictatorial inclinations, excessive demands on oneself and others, fluctuations in interests, different speed of writing and thinking compared to peers, and poor physical fitness.
In order to confirm giftedness, it is necessary to collect complete information about the child from parents, educators and teachers. After all the data has been collected and various tests have been passed, it is possible to draw conclusions about the presence of talents and abilities based on this information. It is important not to lose sight of such a child and try to educate and train in such a way that in the future he will benefit the society in which he was brought up. But, paradoxically as it sounds, it is a talented child who makes it difficult for teachers to teach a children's team.
Giftedness is classified in accordance with the types of activities and is as follows:
- Intellectual. Children show increased curiosity and quick wit.
- Creative. It is expressed in the originality of thinking, generating ideas and solutions.
- Academic. It manifests itself in the successful study of individual subjects. But it differs in the selectivity of the interests of the child.
- Artistic and aesthetic. Reflection of talent in music, literature and creativity.
- Social. Easy to establish contacts and sociability.
- Sports. It is characterized by the ability to control its movements and control the coordination of the body.
School for gifted children: tasks and goals
One of the priority tasks of a comprehensive school is the allocation and education of gifted students, as well as the development and assistance in realizing their capabilities. Among students, in collaboration with parents in schools, educational work is carried out. It includes seminars and courses that are aimed at providing information on the training and education of capable students. The purpose of the school is the formation of modern ideas about the identification and stages of development of giftedness.
In our country, in addition to the general educational process, lyceums, gymnasiums and specialized centers function in which gifted children study. Innovative programs aimed at improving the efficiency of work with talented youth are operating and updating in these educational institutions. Therefore, if a gifted child grows in a family, care must be taken to competently and harmoniously develop his talents with the help of specially created programs, whether it be music, art or any other direction.
But it also happens that a teacher often cannot notice the student’s uniqueness or does not know about his abilities. There are teachers who are indifferent to unusual children and do not seek to somehow stimulate their abilities.
Typical problems of gifted children
Common problems of talented children are:
- The difficulty of finding congenial people.
- Attempts to adapt to peers and try to seem like them.
- Forced participation in activities with classmates that seem boring and uninteresting.
- Difficulties of studying in a school where work is not being conducted to stimulate the development of intellectual abilities.
- Increased interest in the problems of the world and the role of man.
- The need for attention from adults.
The teacher is not always able to understand and identify among the students a gifted child and give a positive assessment of his abilities and achievements. And psychologists do not have the appropriate methods and recommendations to diagnose the intelligence of children. Standard tests do not show the full picture, and with their help it is impossible to elicit individual personality traits.
The difficulty lies in the fact that the child feels his dissimilarity, perceives it as something abnormal and begins to hide his abilities from strangers. Studies confirm that highly gifted children are constantly in social isolation due to the lack of equal children in his mind. Such a child needs peers not by age, but by the level of development of his intelligence.
Pedagogical support of gifted children
The school, teachers and psychologists are faced with the task of supporting gifted and capable children. To work with this category of students, the school should focus on the following:
- Individual training.
- Create conditions suitable for the successful development of a capable student.
- Provide maximum opportunities for talent development.
- Gifted children - this is a special contingent that can be considered a national treasure. Therefore, special support measures, both material and moral, are required. For this category of students, it is necessary to create all conditions in schools so that children can improve in accordance with their interests.
If we consider the percentage ratio, then there are much more gifted children than talented adults. This is because without the help of professionals and their participation, growing up, children become ordinary people.
A special child should be at the center of special social and educational programs, since the prosperity of the nation is directly connected with talented youth. The sooner you start developing abilities, the higher the likelihood of their further disclosure and improvement. Assistance to talented children is based on the following postulates:
- Build confidence in success through individual lessons.
- In a more in-depth study of school subjects in the electives and additional classes.
- Involvement of the child in research activities.
- Participation in olympiads, contests, quizzes and brainstorming.
- Close interaction with other schools and institutes.
- Awarding and encouraging gifted students, publications in the media.
Difficulties in learning and communicating with classmates
The joint activity of the psychologist and teacher at the school is aimed at the development of talented children, their cognitive activity, creative abilities and original thinking. The teacher plans his activities with the inclusion in the pedagogical plan of courses for working with such children. And if possible, the formation of a profile class, given the characteristics of gifted children.
A gifted child in the classroom is always curious, attentive, shows perseverance and perseverance in order to achieve their goals. He has a rich imagination and a great desire to learn. Along with positive qualities, there is an inability to accept the points of view of other children. A formal attitude to learning is also expressed. In addition, a gifted student physically lags behind classmates and never seeks to defend his opinion in a dispute.
A talented child has such character traits that do not contribute to establishing contact with classmates. Having their own idea of humor, they often make fun of classmates, make fun of their weaknesses and mistakes. At the same time, they themselves are painfully reacting to criticism addressed to themselves. They are unrestrained, they do not know how to concede and control their behavior. As a result, the following picture emerges: intelligence develops ahead of schedule, and the personal and social sphere corresponds to biological age, therefore it is late in its development. Hence all the problems of gifted children.
A capable child always aims to be in the spotlight, receiving only praise and appreciation for his abilities. At the same time, making a mistake or not meeting praise from the teacher, he may be offended and capricious. In order to help the child develop correctly in the peer team, it is important to understand the peculiarity of the socialization of such children. And carry out work aimed at developing their positive communication skills with classmates.
Assessment of the behavior of capable children
Psychology suggests applying several basic principles aimed at accompanying gifted children. In this case, it is necessary to be based on a correct assessment of the behavior of the child and his activities. It is advisable to use many different methods and technologies:
- Using various options for monitoring a child.
- Maintaining and creating a database of talented students.
- Conducting diagnostic trainings.
- Inclusion in training of lessons in special programs.
- Connecting the child to individual games and activities.
- The implementation of various intellectual games, competitions, contests, competitions, matches and festivals.
- Organization of specialized camps, as well as sending children to participate in scientific, environmental, local history expeditions.
- Conducting an expert assessment of the behavior of the child by parents and teachers.
- Assessment of the child's activities by professionals.
Do not set a goal and immediately record the presence of giftedness in a child. The identification of abilities must be associated exclusively with the tasks of their training, education and the provision of psychological assistance and support to teachers.
Gift or punishment?
It is believed that a child ahead of his peers in development, who has a more developed mind for his age, will not have difficulties, problems in learning, he has a promising future and a worthy place in the sun. In fact, capable children face great difficulties at school, at home and likely tragedies in their teens.
Many families believe that gifted children are a gift that needs to be fully utilized because it promises good dividends in the future. Parents admire the success of their child and demonstrate his abilities to relatives and friends. The kid will surely catch the admiration for his achievements, remember and will wait from the adults for his continued approval. Parents do not suspect that by doing this they only fuel the vanity of their child. And he, having an overestimated self-esteem, will not be able to find common ground with peers. Inability to adapt and communicate with ordinary children can turn into grief and grief for a growing person.
The education of gifted children is built in such a way as to maximize the strengths and weaknesses. Composing an individual training program, close interaction with the family is necessary - then education will have a positive momentum.
The specifics of talented children
Any child is individual, but with all the variety of manifestations of character traits, a smart kid immediately stands out in the general mass of peers not only by his behavior, but also by communication with adults, a relentless desire for knowledge.
Psychologists identify some conditions for working with gifted children, the knowledge of which helps to properly build the educational process. Mostly gifted children are those who are characterized by the following features:
- Curiosity and desire to show oneself.
- Early mental development, honesty, openness, seriousness.
- Perseverance, will and desire for high achievements.
- Passion for his work, good memory and energy.
- Demonstration of independence, but also loneliness at work.
- Sociability and the ability to quickly establish contact not only with children, but also with adults.
- A lot of knowledge.
- Confidence and calm in any situation.
Primary school as the start of personality formation
A child who has received the makings of upbringing in a preschool and from parents is fully revealed at school. Primary education is a period of learning new things, the accumulation and assimilation of knowledge. Therefore, the teacher faces such a task as the development of each personality and the identification of gifted children. The fact that there are gifted children in primary school, it becomes clear already at the beginning of educational activity. They show their identity, make decisions independently and build their behavior.
The puberty period introduces certain problems into the life of a teenager. If in elementary school an able student failed to establish communication with classmates, then on average, and then in senior level, such a child becomes an outcast. Children cease to be interested in him, considering arrogant and arrogant. The attitude of classmates can develop into a psychological problem and affect the future life of the child. It can become closed and closed to others. How to behave at the beginning of school life? The answer lies on the surface. Do not hide your abilities, but constantly to advertise them also does not make sense.
Identification of individual abilities
In order to understand that a particular child is gifted, it is necessary to carefully analyze the particular successes and achievements of the student. This happens by observing the class, studying psychological characteristics, memory and logical thinking. As well as a method for identifying capable children through extracurricular and educational work. In schools, it is necessary to create a base where data on capable and talented children will be entered. It is advisable to diagnose the capabilities of the child by a psychologist.
Teaching gifted children - meeting their knowledge needs
When a child with extraordinary abilities begins to show himself, the teacher raises the question of how and what to teach in order to promote the development of the student’s abilities. Programs designed for gifted children should differ from ordinary educational methods. Ideally, the education of such children should be appropriate to their needs. And it is desirable that a school for gifted children function. Talented students have such features that are worth considering:
- The ability to quickly learn the meaning of concepts, provisions and principles. And this requires additional material for study.
- The need to focus on issues of interest and a desire to sort them out.
- The ability to notice, reason and put forward their explanations.
- Concern and anxiety due to their dissimilarity to peers.
Psychologists note a lack of emotional balance in a gifted child. He is impatient, impulsive, vulnerable, and characterized by exaggerated fears and anxiety. There are two different points of view on teaching children with pronounced abilities. According to one, it is necessary to equip special classes or educational institutions. Another point of view suggests that talented children should learn and build relationships with ordinary students, otherwise they will not learn how to live among ordinary people, work and communicate with them.
Early manifestation of extraordinary
Psychology divides giftedness into two types. It happens early, late and directly depends on the psyche of the child and the age period when she showed herself. It is known that the early detection of any talents in a baby often does not translate into high rates at an older age. Also, the absence of any manifestations of talent or talent in a preschooler does not mean that then the child will not show himself as a talented person.
An example of early giftedness is brilliant successes in one type of activity: music, drawing or vocals. Intellectual children stand apart, who have a high rate of mental development. They are characterized by early successes in reading, writing and counting. Such kids have a tenacious memory, observation, quick wit and desire for communication.
It is noted that early talent manifests itself in art, especially in music, and later in drawing. Gifted children in a preschool educational institution demonstrate quick assimilation of information, feel a desire to create and learn about the world around them.
The mistake of parents who understand the unique abilities of their own children is to constantly tell him about his dissimilarity and exclusivity, raising him above the rest of the children. Because of this upbringing, children behave separately in kindergarten. They are removed from other kids and they are not interested in joint games.
The baby's communication with his peers is an important factor in his development. It follows from this that the more successfully the relations of the gifted child with the children around him are formed, the more he will want and will be able to realize his abilities. To adapt the child in society, you should know what leads to problems in establishing contacts. The reasons are divided into three groups:
- Standards of behavior dictated by society and culture.
- High expectations and ambitions of parents.
- Personal qualities of the child.
How to organize the development of gifted children?
Activities to organize work with talented children are structured as follows:
- An individual teacher’s assessment of creativity and ability.
- Analysis of the success and effectiveness of the student.
- Identification of preferences, interests and characteristics of the child.
- Support for talented children in their self-realization.
- Correction of programs and plans for working with gifted children.
- The inclusion of complex tasks and control over participation in competitions at various levels.
- Encouragement with diplomas, diplomas and prizes.
When working with talented children, teachers must take into account the interests of each child and focus on personal characteristics, provide assistance in solving problems and take part in their fate.
Subtleties of working with gifted children: support at school and in the family
In order for a child to feel the support and care of adults, it is necessary to conduct group classes with gifted children in schools, electives, and study circles. And also to attract children to participate in contests and olympiads.
For a long time, giftedness was considered separately from social and pedagogical practice. Oriented to the middle level, the comprehensive school is not suitable for those students who differ from classmates in their abilities. Accordingly, she is not always ready to help talented children develop and fully realize themselves.
Meanwhile, a gifted person is able to make a great contribution to the development of society. Letting talents drift is the mistake of any state. And as a result, I want to add that working with gifted children is a constant, complex, requiring attention process. It requires new knowledge, flexibility, personal growth and close cooperation with parents from teachers and educators.