Hints for GT Parents
Here are some hints for parents of children who do things a little better, a little faster, and maybe a little differently from most other children:
1. They are children first and gifted second. A nine-year-old may be able to solve mathematical problems worth bragging about to the grandparents, but he/she has only lived nine years. Only behavior appropriate for a nine-year-old should be expected of him/her.
2. Be careful about comparing your gifted child with other children. That places on the gifted one the responsibility to live up to that image all the time, and it is certainly no fun for whoever comes off second best. All children are
unique and special in their very own ways.
3. Listen to your gifted child. Dinner may be about to burn, and the telephone ringing, but LISTEN, because the question may be important. If ignored, the curiosity to ask might disappear. The one thing we can all give our
children is our undivided attention … at least most of the time.
4. It is a great big wonderful world. Show it to your gifted children in the form of trips, books, interesting people, digs, symphonies, museums, wiggly things, theater, daisy chains, and the magical chemistry that makes a cake
rise.
5. Let them specialize early, if they want to. There are fringe benefits to living with dinosaurs; your children may be learning how to do research and how to take notes and keep records.
6. Children don’t have to be gainfully employed every waking minute. There should be time to daydream, to be silly and do baby things, and to lie on an unmade bed to contemplate the ceiling. Gifted children are often creative children, and it is difficult to be creative on schedule.
7. Encourage your gifted children in their efforts; emphasize the process as well as the product. Praise the wonderful things they do, and if an experiment does not work out as hoped, praise for trying. Inquisitive minds must take intellectual risks, and risk-taking needs to be encouraged and supported.
8. Discipline is necessary for harmonious family life and comes in the same shape for all brothers and sisters, whether gifted, curly-headed, or slowpoke. Giftedness is no excuse for unacceptable behavior.
9. Don’t expect your gifted children to live up to your unfulfilled aspirations. You may dream of “my child, the astronaut," but he/she may have other heroes.
10. Let them do for themselves what they say they can, because they probably know their own ability. If their judgment is faulty, that is learning, too. Gifted children are future leaders who thrive on early responsibility.
11. Encourage originality. Help them do their own thing and praise them for producing “the only one in the whole world” even if you don’t know which end to paste up on the refrigerator. Help them develop pride in original and creative work.
12. Remember that the fine line between encouraging and pushing may make the difference between a happy and productive child and an unfulfilled and underachieving one.
13. Realize that there are times to reach out a helping hand and times to get out of the way. Knowing the difference makes you a very gifted parent.
14. Enjoy!
Catherine Williams
Here are some hints for parents of children who do things a little better, a little faster, and maybe a little differently from most other children:
1. They are children first and gifted second. A nine-year-old may be able to solve mathematical problems worth bragging about to the grandparents, but he/she has only lived nine years. Only behavior appropriate for a nine-year-old should be expected of him/her.
2. Be careful about comparing your gifted child with other children. That places on the gifted one the responsibility to live up to that image all the time, and it is certainly no fun for whoever comes off second best. All children are
unique and special in their very own ways.
3. Listen to your gifted child. Dinner may be about to burn, and the telephone ringing, but LISTEN, because the question may be important. If ignored, the curiosity to ask might disappear. The one thing we can all give our
children is our undivided attention … at least most of the time.
4. It is a great big wonderful world. Show it to your gifted children in the form of trips, books, interesting people, digs, symphonies, museums, wiggly things, theater, daisy chains, and the magical chemistry that makes a cake
rise.
5. Let them specialize early, if they want to. There are fringe benefits to living with dinosaurs; your children may be learning how to do research and how to take notes and keep records.
6. Children don’t have to be gainfully employed every waking minute. There should be time to daydream, to be silly and do baby things, and to lie on an unmade bed to contemplate the ceiling. Gifted children are often creative children, and it is difficult to be creative on schedule.
7. Encourage your gifted children in their efforts; emphasize the process as well as the product. Praise the wonderful things they do, and if an experiment does not work out as hoped, praise for trying. Inquisitive minds must take intellectual risks, and risk-taking needs to be encouraged and supported.
8. Discipline is necessary for harmonious family life and comes in the same shape for all brothers and sisters, whether gifted, curly-headed, or slowpoke. Giftedness is no excuse for unacceptable behavior.
9. Don’t expect your gifted children to live up to your unfulfilled aspirations. You may dream of “my child, the astronaut," but he/she may have other heroes.
10. Let them do for themselves what they say they can, because they probably know their own ability. If their judgment is faulty, that is learning, too. Gifted children are future leaders who thrive on early responsibility.
11. Encourage originality. Help them do their own thing and praise them for producing “the only one in the whole world” even if you don’t know which end to paste up on the refrigerator. Help them develop pride in original and creative work.
12. Remember that the fine line between encouraging and pushing may make the difference between a happy and productive child and an unfulfilled and underachieving one.
13. Realize that there are times to reach out a helping hand and times to get out of the way. Knowing the difference makes you a very gifted parent.
14. Enjoy!
Catherine Williams
