Gifted and talented students, but are they at school?

Abilities and talents are something as important to us as the sun is to planet Earth - this is our primary positive power! When we can realize our potential - we feel full of energy, happy, motivated and resistant to failure. Therefore, it is worth asking your child the following question: What would you like to do in your life, if you knew that you would definitely succeed? Gifted and talented students.

Most of us have a feeling of our abilities and talents. He knows exactly that he likes to do something, and he doesn't feel comfortable with something. When bringing up a child, parents notice that certain activities, games and situations are consciously chosen by the child, that there are no problems with concentration then, and that they make progress quickly. It happens that a child can recognize, for example, several dozen horse breeds or car brands - even though he has trouble remembering the multiplication table or poem ... All because learning is strongly associated with positive emotions.

Unfortunately, at school, children cannot learn only what they feel comfortable in, but we - as parents - can try to:

• Teach them in the most friendly way for them, in line with their natural predispositions,
• Emphasize their strengths instead of stigmatizing their weaknesses all the time,
• Build in them a feeling that they are capable, that they can cope with their learning difficulties, which are as natural and obvious as possible, because they are just learning!

It is worth knowing that when we recognize the child's learning style and the profile of his abilities and talents - we have tips on how to teach the child also what is less willingly applied to.

The world needs all the abilities and talents - just try to imagine a world composed of, for example, only lawyers or IT specialists ... So let's support all the talents of children and help them release their natural potential!

Does the school support abilities and talents?

It's a tough question: partly yes, partly no. Let's take a closer look at what are the possibilities of supporting a child's abilities and talents in a traditional school (the classification of abilities and talents comes from Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, which became one of the greatest discoveries in the humanities of the late twentieth century).

Let us start with the definition of the "school" learning profile, ie a description of the characteristics of the student the school "likes" the most. It will definitely be a person who:

• Prefers learning by listening and reading (at school, students usually listen to the teacher's lectures and have to read a lot),
• Has a natural predisposition to logical information processing (analytical mind),
• She likes to learn alone,
• Has linguistic and mathematical skills (i.e. dominant linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence).

Such a combination of features given by nature occurs only in a specific group of children (about 20%). They usually become high school students. They learn easily and quickly according to the school's requirements. It is these children who most often receive certificates with a red stripe, awards and are the source of pride of teachers. Recognized as capable - they often receive a lot of support, praise and very good grades.

What happens to the rest of the students? Medium, weaker or very weak? Is it not puzzling that so many students have problems at school? (Problems, of course, measured by weak grades).

For these students, school quickly ceases to be a source of joyfully acquired knowledge, and it is certainly not a space for development. Students who function in the band of school failure and poor grades over time begin to believe that they are useless; feel frustrated, fall into the trap of educational helplessness and even school phobia, their self-esteem drops drastically.

How can this "black scenario" be changed

You need to learn to understand the potential and predispositions of a child / student (human). Almost everyone can intuitively recognize individual differences. Let's look carefully at the children's behavior.

Must Read: How to shape our child™s self-esteem?

Some of them are interested in constructing objects almost from birth, they build, stick together, design, and spend many hours making models. Perhaps they also draw a lot and color precisely - these are probably children with high visual and spatial intelligence. (And in the future: architects, engineers, photographers, designers, builders, mechanics ...). Other children may spend their time solving math puzzles, playing sudoku, measuring and weighing everything, or playing math calculator games. This is how logical-mathematical intelligence manifests itself. (In the future: mathematicians, economists, lawyers ...).

Another group of children - endowed with kinesthetic intelligence - perfectly masters riding a bicycle or a board, climbs walls, dribbles or dances excellently, performs difficult gymnastic stunts, revealing extraordinary skills of imitating movements. (In the future: athletes, dancers, actors¦). Other children - with high interpersonal intelligence - quickly establish contacts with others, invent games for the group and become child leaders in the group of friends. (In the future: therapists, politicians, traders, teachers¦).

Still others may prefer to play alone, with imaginary friends, from time to time they surprise adults with mature questions about the nature of the world, evil in the world, death - this is how intrapersonal intelligence manifests itself. (In the future: psychologists, philosophers, spiritual leaders, poets ...). Some show a passion for music: they sing, play, have excellent hearing and sense of tact and pace. (In the future they are: singers, musicians, composers ...).

By careful observation and compilation of the facts, it is possible to understand the type of multiple intelligence of our child. Remember that intelligence, abilities and talents are not limited to traditional school skills. Poor grades in school do not preclude being gifted and talented - often the abilities and talents of children have no connection with what is awarded at school!

Supporting children is about highlighting their strengths, abilities and talents, not highlighting weaknesses.

Children with "non-school" intelligence profiles have the hardest time at school. We already know that the school primarily prefers logical-mathematical and linguistic intelligence. What is the situation of a child at school, e.g. with high interpersonal intelligence? Let us remind you that these are children who like to be in touch with others, so they probably talk to their classmates, share their impressions (perhaps about what they are learning), rush to help others (e.g. borrow school supplies) . But at the same time they probably receive comments in the diary that they talk in class, that they are disturbing ... If such a child is additionally called auditory - probably collects this type of remarks very often, because it is in the nature of the auditory listener to talk. At the same time, it is an example of a person who has to talk to others in order to learn.

Another case: a kinesthetic type child. He is a child who likes movement, but what is important for learning - he has to touch everything, unfold it, fold it, play it, recreate it with his own body. It learns when it moves. Such a child immobilized in a bench - stops learning!

Observe your child and read carefully the remarks he receives from the teacher. To a large extent, they will contain information about the child's learning style. Children with a non-school learning profile are less likely to be successful at school unless we learn ...

How to support a child in learning based on his individual predispositions

First of all - appreciate the child's abilities and talents! Don't waste your time on pursuing his interests and talents for tutoring in a subject for which he has poor grades. It will only lower his motivation and self-esteem. Instead, use your child's interests and abilities to overcome difficulties in the weakest area. For example: learn the multiplication tables while walking, translate sports interests into maths ("and you see, this can be used to calculate the probability of team X winning a match" or "let's draw this equation on the coordinate axis to make it easier for you to imagine it. "). Your child cannot learn a poem - encourage them to repeat the lines by playing them dramatically with voice and movement. Play a historical role together or play in the kitchen of dividing and deciphering the concept of "a pinch of salt" ...

The true mission of raising a child is to help him be what he would like to be the most, which is why Dear Parents:

• Let us recognize the true abilities and talents of children;
• Remember that these abilities and talents will not necessarily be in line with school expectations or even our own;
• Let us use these predispositions to build a bridge to the ways of learning appropriate for the child;
• Let™s show how you can learn in a slightly different way - not necessarily sitting at a desk or reading a book.