Should I be happy because my child is very smart?
Intelligence, also known as mental power, is the mind's ability to learn, benefit from what is learned, adapt to new situations and find new solutions. In other words, intelligence is a combination of abilities that emerge as a result of the harmonious work of many abilities of the mind. Intelligence plays a decisive role in many processes such as learning, perception, judgment, memory, thinking, analysis and social communication. The word means sparkle in Arabic, the shining of the fire.
Intelligence development begins with the birth of the baby and develops until later in life. The first 4-5 years of life have an important place in intelligence development. Determinants of intelligence can be listed as genetic inheritance (heredity) and environmental factors. Environmental factors include education, friendly environment, place of residence, etc.
Intelligence has an important role in child development and living in harmony with the environment. Intelligence plays a major role in establishing healthy human relationships as well as academic success.
Intelligence also plays a leading role in overcoming the problems that a person may encounter. It has been found that people with healthy intelligence have a low risk of developing psychiatric diseases, and the rate of recovery from the disease is high in people who are diagnosed.
Intelligence assessment is made through clinical observation and intelligence tests. As children get older, the margin of error of intelligence tests decreases and their objectivity increases. The results of intelligence tests are reflected as IQ scores. 90-120 is considered as intelligence within normal limits and reflects the social average.
Roughly speaking, an IQ score below 90 indicates mental retardation, and scores above 120 indicate superior intelligence. Generally, the rate of gifted people is the same in all societies and they constitute approximately 3% of the society.
How can it be understood that the child is gifted?
The fact that the child is gifted begins to become evident in the first years of life and later in life. becomes clear. The first characteristics of gifted children are that they pass the developmental stages early and have good learning and imitation skills. For example, characteristics such as a child responding to his/her name at an early age, speaking early, and being able to distinguish faces may indicate that the child is gifted. What a sign. These children start exploring their surroundings early and can use the things they discover for their intended purpose. In older ages, the child is expected to learn early, to be interested in learning, not to forget what he has learned, and to be able to associate the information he has learned with other things he has learned. It is often observed that children with high intelligence understand the cause and effect relationship more easily, pay attention to details, and discover innovations in their lives due to this feature. Characteristics such as establishing healthy social relationships, being a leader among peers, and communicating with older children also suggest that the child may be gifted. Gifted children can learn concepts by age 3, speak fluently and comprehensively, describe things they see in detail, and even memorize long poems. They learn to read and write before school, and they can learn to speak a second language. It is known that gifted children ask questions more frequently than their peers and want to receive detailed and comprehensive answers to their questions. In addition, the ability to distinguish emotions, abstract thinking and empathy skills may develop early in these children. Gifted children are selected from their siblings and friends, and this may lead to them being treated differently in the family and society.
How should parents treat their gifted children, what path should they follow?
Gifted children They may be treated differently from the moment they are noticed by their families and surroundings, and this may wear them out emotionally. Families also have high expectations from these children, and this expectation can cause extreme anxiety and anxiety in children. It should not be forgotten that a gifted child is not a machine with superior features. While they may have strengths, they may also have weaknesses. Also, like every child, they need to experience their childhood, have fun and love. Excessive pressure and high expectations on these children prevent them from having a healthy childhood. Especially the perfectionist and dissatisfied parent profile hinders the healthy development of these children. For this reason, the child's existing achievements are applauded. The child should not be forced to achieve greater success. Using motivating methods instead can reduce the child's anxiety and increase his success. Excessive compliments and praise can cause these children to over-inflate their egos and therefore become arrogant, selfish and narcissistic. Education at a very high tempo and for a long time may hinder the social development of these children. For this reason, children should be allowed, and even encouraged, to engage in social activities, make friends and communicate with the people around them.
Gifted children cannot encounter an educational model in which they can benefit from their talents and show themselves during their education life, and they cannot meet their families. If they are not supported by their environment, they will not be able to develop their abilities and there is a risk of atrophy in their existing abilities. Children need to be discovered early in order to avoid this risk and to prevent their talents from becoming dormant. Early diagnosis will increase the child's chance of being educated with an educational model that can develop his/her abilities; In this way, not only will their talents be prevented from becoming idle, but it will also pave the way for the scientific and artistic products they will produce in the future.
In the identification of gifted children, parent-teacher collaboration must be ensured; In addition to ensuring early and accurate discovery, this joint work also contributes significantly to the mental, physical, emotional and social development of these children.
In addition to the education given to gifted children to develop their talents, it also ensures that they are provided with appropriate opportunities. They also have needs. For example, one of the ways to provide an environment and opportunity for a gifted child to develop his/her talents before school is to ensure that he/she goes to kindergarten. In kindergarten, the child encounters various activities and opportunities where he can show his talents and demonstrate his mental and physical strength.
Gifted children need to communicate with children from different age groups and attending different classes who have similar characteristics and abilities to them; Therefore, they are given the classroom and Opportunities to participate in club activities should be provided. Additionally, these children need a variety of sources to access more information. In order to provide this diversity, computers, libraries and various workshops are needed.
Gifted children do not like to constantly engage in the same activities and they often express their reactions to this issue. For this reason, they need to be interested in different activities where they can demonstrate and develop their talents. Families need to be sensitive about ensuring these differences and mobilize all the resources at their disposal.
Since gifted children can follow their lessons at school without much effort, they cannot acquire the habit of long-term, regular and planned study throughout their education life. For this reason, they need guidance in gaining regular and planned study habits from the beginning of their educational life.
In addition to all this, it should not be forgotten that gifted children may also encounter various psychiatric problems. As there are many examples in history, many genius people have learning difficulties, speech difficulties, attention problems, etc. They were exposed to many psychiatric diseases such as. For this reason, gifted children need to be under good family and teacher supervision and receive expert help when necessary.
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