Features of gifted children - features of development of gifted children

"My child is a genius!" - most of the parents who are "preoccupied" with the mental development of their baby want to say these words. But what is really expressed features of gifted children?

And the first thing that arises in response is the accelerated development of intelligence. However, until today the exact definition of the term "intellect"( namely, it underlies the "separation" of children who are ordinary from children gifted) has never been created. Among psychologists, even a joke goes that human intelligence is what the intelligence test measures. Although it is possible that this is not a joke, after all, since the creation of the first tests, the purely theoretical definitions of "intellect" directly related to them have undergone repeated changes.

In recent years, it has been realized that along with the abstract intellect habitual for us, which is involved mostly in scientific theoretical knowledge( the so-called "academic intellect") and manifests itself in the study of various sciences and the solution of artificially created test-tasks isolated from practice, in lifethere are many other types of intelligence. For example, emotional intelligence, social and practical intelligence. In addition, the intellect is only one part of the overall development of any person. The intellect of a fully developed person will "work" more productively than a person's, the feelings, the will and imagination of which have not been developed for some reason.

Smart and not only

So, making sure that the concept of "intellect" differs with a rather vague formulation, it is worth paying attention to some other criteria for evaluating your child. And to begin with - to determine what is generally included in the concept of "giftedness."But here scientists and psychologists offer several options. However, if we try to combine all the formulations( and they are in different vocabularies in psychology), we get that giftedness is something( inherent in the child from birth), which in the future allows us to achieve any achievements in any of the regions of our world( "by jumping over"Thus the" bar "set for ordinary people).In this case, ordinary people should include not only those who during their lifetime showed average abilities, but also those who did not show themselves for any reasons, both external and internal.

Unclaimed gift

But how do parents understand if their child is a "gifted" group? The answer is very simple: if you have a child in your family, he is already gifted with nature( and his mother and father only need to find out in which area of ​​life his gift may appear).

Unfortunately, not all adults get it, because in most cases, parents simply are not able to test the child's ability in too many areas of activity. This creates an artificial limitation of the child's abilities, which prevents the development of his natural giftedness. Simply put, if a child grows, for example, in a family of musicians, his "field of activity" will most often be limited to areas related to music. Other parts of our world( exact sciences, sports, etc.) will be inaccessible for "testing".Although the likelihood that the baby could achieve a lot in these areas is very high.

The second obstacle that prevents the development of giftedness is the existing system of training aimed at "combing" all children "under one comb."A gifted child at school can become a hindrance to the teacher, standing out against the background of other students. And since the teacher must teach EACH of his pupils, a gifted child( "grasping" all the information from a half-word) is often deprived of the attention of the teacher( not taking into account the development of gifted children) and gradually loses interest in studies.

The third obstacle that stands in the way of development of the natural gift is the desire of adults to direct the child to that area of ​​future activity in which they themselves could not succeed( that is, the child "hangs" the duty of "working out" the life plans of one of the parents,ability of the baby).Moms and dads, in their turn, justify their choice with the existence of their life experience and the possibility of "foreseeing" the future, which allows them to choose the most popular( and, respectively, more paid) activities for the child.

Faced with all three barriers, the child's natural giftedness gradually decreases to an average level( making it easier for the toddler and partly for the people around him).

Save and increase

So how to preserve and help develop the gift that the nature of your child has endowed? First, it is necessary to take into account the psychological characteristics of gifted children. Any kid( not having serious health problems) is curious from the very first day of his birth. It is thanks to this quality that he "absorbs" all the world around him. And although its development at first glance is a kind of jerks - first physical skills, then mental - in fact, this process by nature is balanced in such a way that the instinct of knowledge of the world is not inhibited due to the lag in the physical development of the body.

Having dealt with the "management" of its "new" body, the child begins to "use" it to familiarize with the environment. At this time, it is very important not only not to limit the initiative of the child( for example, the children's "arena" or crib), but also take care of its safety( the curious kid is not afraid of anything and can easily slide down from the sofa and stuff).Growing up, the child chooses an occupation( game) for himself. In most cases, it will reflect the "sector" of the giftedness of the child, but at the same time be one of many to which the child will have abilities. It is difficult to tear off a child from his "own" activities, he is not just carried away, but literally immersed in his work, devoting a considerable part of his time to this. At the same time, he practically does not require assistance from adults, preferring his own nonstandard solutions to emerging situations, and not the "patterns" of actions that parents can share with him. Of course, Mom and Dad should take into account the personality characteristics of gifted children to help the child expand the boundaries of his hobbies, show him the diversity of opportunities for his surrounding and ensure a more harmonious development of it( without a "skew" in one area, for example, with a gifted mentality, do not forget aboutphysical development of the body).

Of course, there are special features of the education of gifted children. But since all children are endowed with nature to a greater or lesser degree, they are trained approximately the same way: on imitation and the example from adults( remember how the kid tried to learn how to walk, as people around him do).And if you want your gifted child to develop successfully and with maximum benefit to himself, become for him a gifted imitation. Remember that by expanding your life "boundaries", you increase the possibilities of your child. At some point, of course, you will have to "pass" your child to the experienced hands of a professional mentor who has a greater body of knowledge than you. But at the same time completely avoiding the training of your child you should not.