All parents consider their children to be pretty darn special. Part of being a parent is watching your child grow and learn. Many of those moments can make us extraordinarily proud. There is no doubt that your child has shown signs of intelligence. However, not all kids are gifted children.
Being gifted refers to a child’s ability to learn rather than being a standard measure of intelligence. A gifted child can be gifted in a number of ways. It’s important to know if your child is intelligent or not so that you can help them make the most of their abilities throughout their education. There are special schools and classes for kids who want to continue learning beyond what they are offered at school. If you think your child is gifted, you may be right. Here are ten signs of gifted children every parent should know.
10 Traits of Gifted Children
1. Individual thought
It can be easy to memorize and regurgitate information for some kids. That does not necessarily make them gifted. It’s a unique type of intelligence when a child can solve problems and think for themselves. They don’t need a teacher or a book to tell them how to do things. Indeed, they learn how to do things on their own. They learn how to solve other problems by incorporating those other skills. Finally, they know how to take knowledge from one area and incorporate it into another area with ease. These are the children who don’t necessarily need directions when given an assignment.
The child should not only be able to come up with their own solutions to problems, but the answers should be effective and efficient. Some kids go on their own path, but the trail doesn’t quite get them to the destination they want to the end they wanted. Look at the results of creative problem-solving.
You can always teach a child to solve the problem in the correct way. However, a gifted child will have the intuition to get them to the solution without as much guidance. This intuition cannot be taught and shows an innate compass that is right on track.
2. Curious nature
Some children want to relax and enjoy the world as is. Others wish to explore and learn. While there’s nothing wrong with a content child who likes to enjoy rather than jump into the way things are, curiosity is a sign of a gifted child.
Curiosity demonstrates that the child automatically gravitates toward learning. Many kids exhibit this characteristic from a very young age. Even some babies tend to be more curious by nature. These are the babies that might get in trouble by grabbing things or eating things unknowingly. When a child has this characteristic, it means they will continue to strive to learn for the rest of their life. Rather than seeing learning as a chore, they feel satisfaction from getting the questions answered.
They tend to ask a lot of questions. They may even question authority figures in their questioning. This isn’t necessarily a sign of defiance. Indeed, they most often sincerely want the answer to the question.
3. Exceptional focus
It’s hard to produce results without attention. Many kids come close to being gifted but lack the focus. Gifted children tend to show excellent focus when they work on something. They give it their undivided attention and tend to finish things before moving on to the next thing.
It’s important not to confuse a lack of focus with boredom since they can look similar. Many kids may seem unfocused in class when, in reality, they are further along and simply bored by the lesson cause it’s repetition to them. Try giving that child more challenging things to do to see if the focus increases. If it doesn’t, they may have some sort of attention disorder. Fixing this may fix any academic problems they may be experiencing.
To maintain focus, some gifted kids may get upset when someone or something interrupts them unexpectedly, such as a loud noise. It’s best to give them peace to work on their projects. Of course, rudeness should not be tolerated.
4. High emotional intelligence
There are a lot of areas of intelligence. Gifted children show levels of high emotional intelligence. They are kids who understand how to control their emotions. Most of the time, this is because they are too busy with their goals of attaining knowledge that they don’t have time to throw a fit.
They tend to be more grateful for the things around them, as well. Not every gifted child will demonstrate high emotional intelligence right away. You may need to work on this aspect with your child.
5. Desire to spend time with older kids and adults
Peers typically don’t stimulate gifted kids. To get that stimulation, they may seek out older children and adults to offer more stimulating conversation. A gifted kid would rather talk to an adult about something intellectual than kids their age about the most popular television show.
6. Expansive vocabulary
A gifted child typically has a far more extensive vocabulary than other kids their age. The baby talk and slang they hear sounds odd to them. They will usually speak in grammatically correct sentences, as well. They may even use words that most adults don’t even know.
People develop their lexicon based on the things they do and the people they surround themselves with. Gifted children tend to learn advanced words and proper grammar in their quest for knowledge. The books and articles they read use more sophisticated language than books for kids. The older people they seek to hang out with also have more advanced language skills. The child will pick up on this and incorporate it into their own communications.
7. Sense of humor
Gifted kids create jokes and goof off because they have the intelligence to develop those jokes. This does not include jokes that they heard from other people or saw on a television show. They should be able to create jokes, puns, and riddles on their own.
Many famous comedians are known to have been extremely intelligent, such as George Carlin. However, he was also known to rock the boat. Not every parent will appreciate this aspect of a gifted child, but it’s wise to allow them to explore their humor. Even if it doesn’t help them academically, it can become a great way to handle the pressures of life.
8. They recognize patterns easily
Everyday life is full of patterns. You will notice patterns in history, politics, at work, in relationships, and in nature. While incidents might not always follow these patterns, it’s a sign of intelligence to be able to recognize these patterns, especially at an early age.
Gifted kids will see patterns in puzzles and brain teasers before other kids. They will be able to take this ability with them in other aspects of their life. While not always accurate, it can help them make educated decisions when other people simply have to guess.
9. Ability to learn quickly and retain a lot of information
Some people can read a page in a book and forget what they read ten minutes later. Other people will remember every single word on the page and comprehend them. Gifted kids can internalize a lot of information. As a parent, test your child regularly.
A parent can simply ask them memory questions about the day. A gifted child should be able to recall a lot of details about the day and what they did. You can also pay attention to how quickly they learn things at school. Even more important, pay attention to if they retain the information down the line.
10. Creativity/ exceptional skill in one area
A gifted child doesn’t necessarily have to be gifted in school. Many gifted kids aren’t particularly gifted in math or science. However, they may be gifted in other ways, such as art or music. This love for the arts should be encouraged and supported.
You may have the next Picasso or Jimmy Hendrix in your home. Give them space to practice and explore. Of course, you can’t let artistic aspirations take away from academic achievements. They will still need fundamental education to help them navigate life.
Final Thoughts on Being the Parent of a Gifted Child
All kids are gifts, but only some are gifted. There are a number of ways to test your child if they show many of the signs, and you suspect they are gifted. If your suspicions are affirmed, what now? Gifted kids may benefit from specialized training or education to help them use their gifts to the best of their ability.
As a parent, it’s your job to give our children the tools they need. If your child shows several of these signs, talk to them about how they want to move forward in their education. They may choose additional classes or a different type of school.
