Gifted children are often identified by their advanced cognitive abilities. They can demonstrate an extraordinary level of aptitude through academic or artistic pursuits. With these exceptional minds come a variety of challenges, from academic underachievement, to social struggles and emotional predicament.
Understanding how gifted kids behave is essential for creating a safe and supportive learning environment.
1. Intellectually Advanced
Gifted children typically begin to show signs of advanced cognitive development around their preschool years. This can manifest in a wide range of ways; from excelling at puzzles or bringing words to life. Gifted children often absorb information quickly and excel in the traditional academic areas such as language arts, science and maths.
Gifted kids may display a preference to engage in deep conversations beyond the common topics of conversation involving their peers. As they mature, they display a greater ability to think abstractly.
2. Precociousness
Precociousness is an important trait to consider when attempting to understand how gifted children behave. Gifted children often exhibit a maturity beyond their peer group, demonstrating the capacity to think more abstractly.
Additionally, they may display social and emotional maturity by searching for answers to life’s deeper questions. This heightened sense of awareness and understanding can cause confusion, regarding their place within the social hierarchy of their age group.
3. Creativity
Gifted children often possess an exceptional level of creativity, demonstrating the capacity for deep thought by exploring ideas uniquely. Furthermore, a gifted child’s creativity may also extend beyond traditional art forms; including but not limited to the manner in which they approach problem solving or engage in conversations with their peers.
By quickly evaluating and interpreting data, gifted children often find interest in taking on new challenges, regardless of previous experiences.
4. Uniqueness
The uniqueness of a gifted child is highly visible in interactions with their peers, principally through descriptions of rare topics. Kids who are gifted often demonstrate a distinctly unique way of presenting ideas, where they are accepted by their peers with regard to their distinctiveness. Furthermore, they will often possess a deep sense of identity and place within the world; confidently expressing their thoughts and feelings.
5. Underachievement
Underachievement is a common problem amongst gifted children. In their pursuit of pleasure, they do not receive the recognition and acknowledgement they desire, leading to feelings of inadequacy.
This can manifest through an aversion to boredom, difficulty concentrating, and a reluctance to put forth their best effort in activities that do not immediately stimulate them.
6. Sensory Challenges
Gifted children possess an exceptionally acute sensitivity towards their surroundings. An extreme sensitivity to sound, light, and touch can quickly overwhelm gifted kids, causing them to have difficulty in larger classrooms or particularly noisy environments.
This can increase the challenge of linking their perceived emotions to reality, leading to irritability or a general lack of understanding during conversations.
7. Leadership Qualities
Gifted children often acquire the ability to understand their peers, often displaying leadership qualities. They possess the capacity to lead by example and will make decisions based on their ability to empathize with their peers.
Gifted children often enjoy their capacity to fill a leadership role, regardless of whether it be on the soccer field or classroom.
8. Social Challenges
Socializing with peers can prove difficult for gifted children as they often find themselves struggling to identify with their age group. This can create isolation as they struggle to relate to their peers’ topics of conversation or lack of understanding of their interests. Furthermore, gifted children may come across as having a competitive streak and may be perceived by their peers as intimidating or intimidating.
9. Hovering
Gifted children often require a certain amount of guidance and support in order to fully demonstrate their talents. This assistance forms the basis of what has been referred to as “hovering”, where the parents of gifted children are highly engaged in their interests and pursuits. This level of support and guidance can also involve a certain degree of overprotection.
10.High Expectations
The parents of gifted children often harbour a certain level of expectation when it comes to their children’s academic or artistic pursuits. This may manifest as pressure to excel in their fields, particularly when the child’s achievements do not appear to meet the parent’s expectations. On the other hand, some parents may struggle to keep up with the pace of their child’s development, leading to a lack of appropriate attention.
11. Perfectionism
Gifted children are often characterized as possessing an unwavering pursuit of perfection, where they place too much pressure on themselves to be “the best”. This innate pursuit can lead to self-doubt, low levels of motivation, and generally an inability to enjoy the process of learning. By allowing gifted children to not feel overwhelmed by the pursuit of perfection, a healthier relationship with learning can be established.
12. Aversion to Authority
Gifted children often feel challenged by authority, due to feelings of exclusion caused by their unique position within the group. This can manifest as a feeling of having to prove themselves to their peers and teachers, leading to reluctance in following instructions. As a result, gifted kids may become deceptive or rebellious in order to minimize their difference and inclusion in the group.
13. Emotional Vulnerability
Observing the emotional struggles of gifted children is essential in understanding how they communicate and process their environment. It is common to observe a heightened level of emotions, such as extreme sadness or hyperactivity. Furthermore, it is common for gifted children to feel embarrassed, ashamed or inadequate, due to their heightened level of understanding of the world.
Conclusion
Gifted children possess a unique set of traits that set them apart from their peers. From the intellectual breadth to the social idiosyncrasies, understanding the behaviour of gifted children is essential in creating an inclusive learning environment. Children who feel accepted and well-supported have a greater capacity to explore and develop their abilities.