Your child is gifted. Perhaps a school psychologist has formally tested your child, or you have engaged private testing that indicated advanced skills. Or perhaps you watch your child on the ball field or in school plays. She just blows her peers away. Everyone knows that there is something very special about your child’s…… Continue reading Should You Tell Your Gifted Child About Their Giftedness?
Category: gifted children
Why Gifted Preschoolers Should Be Taught Handwriting Early (And With The Best Strategies!)
Gifted children are often identified by their asynchronous development. The three year-old that can read the names on cereal boxes, the two year-old that can play a song on the piano after hearing it once at music class, the four year-old that can complete his sister’s math homework…from second grade! These children have one or…… Continue reading Why Gifted Preschoolers Should Be Taught Handwriting Early (And With The Best Strategies!)
Holidays Hints For Sensitive Kids
The stores are full, your inbox is too, and you are wondering how to handle your sensitive child’s reactions to family and school events. You are not alone. Everyone knows about the “holiday blues”, where our dreams and expectations come up against real life: awkward family relationships, conflicting demands on our time and finances, etc.…… Continue reading Holidays Hints For Sensitive Kids
OT and Non-Disabled Gifted Children
I was asked to write another guest post for Therapro, the fantastic OT equipment and materials company that I have been using for clinic and home items for years. This time the subject is gifted children: Do Gifted But Non-Disabled Children Need Occupational Therapy?. The first time you encounter a young gifted child, you may…… Continue reading OT and Non-Disabled Gifted Children
Gifted Or Disordered? The Unrecognized Behavioral Traits of Young Gifted Children
Here is a short list of many common behavioral characteristics of gifted children that get labeled as “disordered”: Spontaneous. Very. Boundless enthusiasm. Intense focus on passions. Highly energetic. This is the child who doesn’t seem to need as much sleep or downtime as peers. Constantly asking questions. Constantly. Insatiably curious. Everything is interesting,…… Continue reading Gifted Or Disordered? The Unrecognized Behavioral Traits of Young Gifted Children
Is Your Gifted Child Is A Perfectionist?
Do you know a child who is always trying to get to “perfect”? Being called a perfectionist is almost universally a criticism in our society. It doesn’t have to be. Some kids that are reaching for the ultimate aren’t unnecessarily stressing them selves out. They may gifted. The gifted child is capable of seeing…… Continue reading Is Your Gifted Child Is A Perfectionist?
Gifted at Preschool: How to Support The Young Gifted Child In Class
Gifted children often cannot wait to go to preschool. They may follow an older sibling into their classroom and cry when they have to leave. After all, look at all those books, art supplies, and science stations to explore! Things can go right off the rails, however, if the teacher and the classroom…… Continue reading Gifted at Preschool: How to Support The Young Gifted Child In Class
Sensitivity and Gifted Children: The Mind That Floods With Feeling
Gifted children are often the most emotional and empathic toddlers in the room. They are the kids who cry when the ASPCA runs those tearjerker commercials. They are the teens who want to develop an NGO to provide clean water in developing countries. Gifted children don’t do this to get a boost on…… Continue reading Sensitivity and Gifted Children: The Mind That Floods With Feeling
Teach Your Child To Fail Today. You Can Thank Me Later
Yes, I said it: fail. We all will fail at something sometime. Even, and most especially, the gifted kids who experiment and explore constantly, will fail at something. Knowing what to do with your feelings when you fail is essential for a happy life. And that is why you will thank me later. Angel Duckworth…… Continue reading Teach Your Child To Fail Today. You Can Thank Me Later
Your Bossy Baby or Toddler May Be Gifted. Really. Here Are The Signs You Are Missing!
Very young children can be a challenge at times. Tantrums over broken cookies, insistence on hearing “Goodnight Moon” for the 11th time in one night, etc. They can be adorably cute and amazingly difficult in the same 15 minute period! Lurking inside all that chaotic behavior may be signs of genius. Here are some…… Continue reading Your Bossy Baby or Toddler May Be Gifted. Really. Here Are The Signs You Are Missing!
Is Your Gifted Child Also Your Most Strong Willed Child?
Parents of some gifted children know that this gift comes with more than a quick intellect. It can come with a will of iron and incredible emotional range. Gifted children can be expansively happy one moment, and intensely sad the next. No, it isn’t bipolar disorder, and it probably isn’t ADD (gifted kids are misdiagnosed…… Continue reading Is Your Gifted Child Also Your Most Strong Willed Child?
Your Gifted Child: More Than An Amazing Intellect
The characteristic that convinces a parent that their child is gifted is often an impressive vocabulary or mathematical ability. This is the criteria that will get them into the “G and T” program in school, and is often a source of pride for both parents and children. Wait! There are other characteristics of giftedness…… Continue reading Your Gifted Child: More Than An Amazing Intellect
How Occupational Therapy Can Help Gifted Children (And Their Exhausted Parents!)
Gifted children have abilities that make them more sensitive to their bodies, their world and the people in it. They notice sensations, emotional states and the interplay between the physical and the non-physical world in ways that non-gifted people do not. Exquisite sensitivity, combined with intensity and drive, often come at a price for…… Continue reading How Occupational Therapy Can Help Gifted Children (And Their Exhausted Parents!)