Gifted children are those whose potential significantly exceeds that of children of the same age. They typically develop talent and achieve mastery notably faster than their age peers. Highly gifted children are those whose potential vastly exceeds that of peers their age.
Gifted children have above-average natural abilities. Talented children have developed their natural abilities to a high level. Children can be gifted or talented in many areas, including sport, arts, music, maths and more. Gifted children need support and encouragement to develop their abilities into talents.
In the past, giftedness and talents were used interchangeably, but nowadays, researchers agree they have distinct meanings (Gagné, 2009).
Several of them might surprise you.
Gifted characteristics can often be seen at an early age and may include:
12 Signs of Gifted Students
Experts often categorize gifted children into five levels to better understand their abilities:
The development of gifts and talents cannot be attributed to a single factor such as genetics or environment. Intelligence is thought to be a result of both genetics and environment. Twin studies suggest that the environment plays an active role in how genes are expressed.
Elementary School (Ages 6-9):
For many children, elementary school is the ideal time to evaluate giftedness. By this age, children have often demonstrated enough of their abilities to provide a clear picture of their intellectual potential.
Common Characteristics of Gifted Children:
Gifted students, as defined by this model, are those individuals who showcase an innate potential that significantly surpasses the average in one or more of the four primary domains: intellectual, creative, social, and physical. Each domain provides a unique perspective on how giftedness can manifest in a student.
Studies since the early 1970s consistently show that such development is the result of an interaction between the child's genetic endowment and a rich and appropriate environment in which the child grows. No child is born gifted—only with the potential for giftedness.
Talents are natural leanings you're drawn to and can develop. Gifts are God-given, grace-based, and essential to your divine assignment. When you embrace your gift, you step into the fullness of who God created you to be. You stop comparing yourself to others because you realize your gift is unique to your purpose.
Research reflects that giftedness does “run in families”: for a gifted child, their genetically-related relatives — siblings and/or parents — are likely to also be gifted, though there are plenty of exceptions.
While there is no one correct way to decide who is more gifted than usual, most screening processes begin with referrals by parents and teachers. They will often use an IQ test to measure some of the skills used in school classrooms.
Gifted children are challenging to parent in many ways. The more gifted the child, the more often it seems the more the parent is frustrated with the discrepancy of someone able to do school several levels above age level but unable to remember to take their finished work to school.
Gifted kids can be misdiagnosed. Some are diagnosed as having learning differences such as ADHD or High Functioning Autism, but are really just gifted, or bored and gifted kids. Others are not diagnosed, when they struggle with Executive Functioning (EF), social skills or other learning challenges.
The most frequent signs of giftedness found in this study included long attention span, excellent memory, early and extensive vocabulary development, curiosity, early reading ability, rapidity of learning, and the ability to generalize concepts (See Table 1).
Gifted children and talented children might behave in challenging ways because they feel frustrated or lack learning opportunities. You can tailor strategies to support the emotional, social and behavioural needs of gifted children and talented children.
Their high intelligence can also contribute to social problems: Many gifted kids seem intolerant, bossy, and impatient because (in their view) other children think and act too slowly.
Sixteen personality types: The most common types among gifted adolescents were INFP, INTP, ENFP, and ENTP, which constituted nearly 50% of the gifted sample compared with 19% of the normative group. The most common preference among gifted adolescents is intuition.
5 Problems Gifted Kids May Face – And How to Help Them
What are the signs of a gifted child?
The vast majority of children are not gifted. Only 2 to 5 percent of kids fit the bill, by various estimates. Of those, only one in 100 is considered highly gifted. Prodigies (those wunderkinds who read at 2 and go to college at 10) are rarer still -- like one to two in a million.