A gifted child’s development is not even. For young children who are gifted exhibit high-peak performances than high-leveled cognitive skills. For instance, a 3-year old kid may be able to read spontaneously, but may not have a very high IQ or may not have developed language skills early on. Other areas where you can see an uneven development is the relation between the advanced development in intellect and the poor development in emotional and physical skills. To illustrate, a gifted child ate age 5 may understand decimals and fractions, may have advanced reading skills, and may be well-versed on abstract ideas already. At the same time, he might find himself having difficulty handling a pencil, organizing his things, or sharing other stuff with others.

What Parents Can Do

Gifted children’s above average abilities are often times misleading for parents because they can think that other areas, like behavior, would inevitably be advanced as well. Parents must make certain goals according to their child’s abilities as an alternative to making unrealistic expectations.

There are some areas where the child does not excel or attain good results in other fields. Parents can now guide and help them by teaching them how to cope and solve problems.

You might take into consideration that young gifted children are usually shy and too conscious about themselves. So try to avoid pressuring or persuading them to show off their talents, just because it adds more to your pride in having such a gifted child.

Being a gifted child has its share of downsides as well. There is difficulty in establishing good relations with friends, for starters. As a parent, you may encourage your child to make friends with kids of various ages so he can have someone to share different interests and activities with.

For instance, a gifted child of 5 years of age might prefer playing complex puzzles than toys more appropriate for his age. When a child, most especially the gifted one, speaks in an elaborate manner in advanced vocabulary, he must be treated in the same way. Under the best circumstance, the young gifted child must be given an environment conducive to discovering peers of the same level. Since there aren’t preschools who offer their services to meet these gifted children’s needs, parents can do this by enrolling then in special classes or engaging them in activities based on their interest, which are more advanced than the suggested curriculum.

Unfortunately, there are not that many learning programs appropriate for very young gifted children. This is because not all children who excel in academics are gifted, and not all gifted children excel in academics.

Parents are usually the first teachers of their children, so they are most likely the ones who can observe their kids’ intellectual abilities and study habits.

As a child enters an academic program, parents must freely inform the teachers about the child’s advanced intellect and abilities. Teamwork should exist between parents and teachers to formulate the right educational alternatives in cultivating special skills, as well as helping the young gifted children in learning to maximize and accept their abilities. There are indeed some children who cover up their abilities, for fear of being different.

All through the years of parenting, remember that the strongest lifetime goal is having a child who is not into popularity, fortune, and honor. It is better to have a child who turns out to be a well-matured adult who productively utilizes his gifts.