Gifted Children

Definitions

If you're new to this game, you should collect at least three definitions. Think carefully about each one and how it applies to your child.

I found it best to favour one definition for personal use, while also practising how to use other definitions in relevant contexts, e.g. with school teachers, with other parents, or with specialised services for gifted kids.

These are the definitions I use, but - remember - I think it's best to collect together your own preferred list.

For personal use, I like the definition provided by Ellen Winner in her book "Gifted Children: Myths and Realities" (1996, BasicBooks, USA). In fact, she identifies three features of gifted children:

1. Precocity

Gifted children start early and make rapid progress in mastering some chosen domain of interest.

2. An insistence on marching to their own drummer

Learning is qualitatively different, self-structured and self-imposed. Much of the time they teach themselves, and often they independently invent rules of the domain and devise novel, idiosyncratic ways of solving problems.

3. A rage to master

They show an intense, even obsessive interest in their domain, and an ability to focus sharply. Their natural ability combined with this focus yields high achievement.

Gifted students are those with the potential to exhibit superior performance across a range of different areas of endeavour.