The Myths of Gifted Children
Every parent thinks their kid is a genius. But for some people, their kids actually are far above the norm. They’re not just good in school — as a matter of fact, sometimes they are not good in school at all. Instead, they fall into the category of “gifted children.”
Actually, the idea that “gifted children do very well in school” is one of many myths about gifted children. They often are either so bored they sort of mentally check out of school, or their brain is simply wired differently and a traditional classroom just can’t meet their needs. Because of that, they often do poorly when it comes to grades, although they might be doing things like writing a novel or conducting scientific experiments in their spare time.
In 1982, Gifted Child Quarterly, the journal published by the National Association for Gifted Children, published an article on myths about educating gifted children. In their current issue, the journal gave the research a fresh look and found that most of the myths remain, and some new ones have joined them. Among those are:
* Creativity is too difficult to measure
* Gifted education means having a program
* High ability students don’t face problems and challenges
* It’s “fair” to teach all children the same way
* Advanced Placement (AP) is an adequate secondary program.
I think anyone who’s watched these kids struggle in school would agree that while traditional schools might do a great job of educating the kids within the spectrum of normal, they’re not so good about dealing with anyone outside that group. I don’t have any answers. Do you?
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Tags: ability, educating gifted children, education, genius, gifted child quarterly, gifted children, giftedness, intellect, school
13 Comments
Ri-chan commented on Nov 04 09 at 4:22 pmI was identified as gifted and talanted in school, but I tended to get really bad grades in all but a few subjects. This was because, though I can remember the most insignificant details of a book I read 10 years ago, I cannot memorize a list of 10 names and dates, even giving a week or two to learn it. I tried many diffrent studying technics in school, but none of them worked. I cannot memorize a list and because a lot of school subjects rely on memorization as a replacement for actual understanding, I tended to get a lot of C’s and D’s.
Ali commented on Nov 04 09 at 4:22 pmYes, we need more schools for the gifted. This country loves the mediocre and penalizes the gifted. I have heard “Well, she has such an easy time learning why should she be given any more advantages?” or my favorite, “It is not nice to brag on yoru kids.” Yeah, we should just point out their flaws and humiliate them. There are thousands of people with IQs over 160 that are jobless and uneducated. Our school systems have failed them. I became a home schooler for just this reason. A bored 5 year old reading at a 3rd grade level trying to keep from being bored in Kindergarden. The schools here have a gifted program - 2 hours a week extra with a gifted teacher. The gifted teacher told me to home school my child since the school had nothing for her. So everyone elses kid gets an education for free but not mine. Gifted kids are not just good test takers their minds are different. They are the other end of the special needs spectrum and they are ignored and abused in our nations schools. There is a huge difference between a child with an IQ of 130 and one with an IQ of 160. Mine is over 160 and life is very hard for her. Everyone seems to hate smart kids and dont want to help them.
GP commented on Nov 04 09 at 4:30 pmWell, something by nature “institutional” like a school—-especially a public school–-has to deal with the average/norm primarily. I would say it might fall on parents to seek out alternatives if they’re not finding what’s in place suitable for them…
BB commented on Nov 04 09 at 4:33 pmI was in the gifted program from K-12. And in 1st grade, when I should have been reading a year or two ahead, the teacher had me sit in the corner and do NOTHING because she “preferred to work with the remedial students.” I am pretty sure my dad committed a small act of violence when I came home and said what was happening. Public schools are hell on gifted students. I was so bored, I would do my friends’ homework for them (since I was faster), so we could gossip. Just day after day of sitting there…
Kare commented on Nov 04 09 at 5:46 pmThe biggest myth about gifted children is that every family has one. Giftedness occurs at a far lower rate than parents would have you believe. Though less than 3 percent of the population has IQs above 130 (the cut off for giftedness), you can throw a stone and hit a parent claiming to have a “highly gifted” kid. Take the parent above. This parent claims to have a child with an IQ of “over 160.” This is strange given that the IQ tests in use today don’t even measure past 160, and even highly gifted individuals rarely achieve this score because of the statistical properties of the test. It’s funny, mental retardation occurs at the same rate in the general population as giftedness and yet you don’t hear so many parents talking about their cognitively impaired kid.
jenny tries too hard commented on Nov 04 09 at 8:30 pmYou may be right about there not being enough schools equipped to deal with gifted kids—my brother called himself “severely” gifted because he skipped a few grades and was always the short, baby-faced, un-pubescent kid in his class pictures. GP is certainly right that schools are there to address the majority (average) kids. But, well, that’s one more issue that could be nicely addressed by…….school choice. Everybody say it with me, now….vouchers.
jenny tries too hard commented on Nov 04 09 at 8:31 pmer, schools=public schools
Mel commented on Nov 04 09 at 10:45 pmI’m sorry, but I don’t see how school choice or vouchers would be helpful. There are very, very few schools, public or private, that seem like they would provide adequate programming that these parents believe are required for their students. It’s not just a question of sending them to the private school (where there are actually usually less gifted or special needs programs) across town. It sounds like all public schools need to train teachers in gifted and talented education to offer classes that meet those students’ needs, which is different from an honors program for “good” students.
flodyjuice commented on Nov 05 09 at 1:17 amenough
jenny tries too hard commented on Nov 05 09 at 5:38 amSome private schools, like the one that my brother and I went to for a few years in El Paso Tx (not exactly a bastion of progressive thinking, educationally or otherwise) do a great job by grouping kids by age for part of the day and by ability the rest and using a self-paced program. My understanding was that it recieved a certain amount of special ed vouchers for Asperger’s and ADD kids who were underserved in public programs, but those parents really fought hard for those vouchers in the 90s. The grouping by age (with typical, gifted, etc) gave kids a chance to work on social skills, especially for the lower grades and the Aspies, and the grouping by progress/ability kept the kids from getting bored or overwhelmed. You need small class sizes and a certain type of teacher but it was great. School choice would make it easier for schools like this to start up and give parents another option, without putting them in debt. I definately agree that “honors” programs are not the same as a program that means the needs of gifted students, and that all private schools are not automatically better for gifted kids. There just isn’t a one-size fits all approach for special ed, typical, or gifted kids, so empowering parents to make the choice for their kids seems like the best way to help kids of all abilities.
GP commented on Nov 05 09 at 7:20 amYes, I and I really think parents need to take the lead, even if it means they, themselves, nurturing the child in the way it needs AFTER school, hiring a consultant outside the auspices of the school, etc. As I said, a school can not really be expected to cater to every flavor of “gifted” there is out there. And, the gifted are still going to need to know how to “succeed” within the expected metrics of our society, however pedestrian they may be…
Ronda Neider commented on Dec 17 09 at 10:54 amComments I’m chiming in late on this one, but depending on your state, the public school may be required to meet your gifted child’s needs. In Pennsylvania, Gifted is considered a special need, the child has an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) and by law his/her education needs as determined by a professional must be met. That being said, my son has been in the gifted program since third grade (now in eighth) and I can say with certainty that his needs have not always been met. But everything can’t be perfect; as stated above, parents need to supplement, and not just with academic needs. These kids need social developement as well: sports, art, music and so on go a long way to helping them grow as people and hone those skills often ignored to lieu of IQ.
Too many bad habits commented on Jan 03 10 at 1:10 amI was a classic example - I was totally bored in public school in the 70’s. I found the SRAs ridiculously simple - only the black ones in the back were even moderately interesting (I was reading lots of SF at the time, and subscribed to Scientific American at age 9). I don’t know what my “IQ” was measured at then (mom wouldn’t tell me), but taking repeated tests (of very different styles) as an adult gave me numbers of ~170-175 (which is around the upper limit of those tests).
My mother got a job at the top private school in NYC and I transferred there in 7th grade. There I was challenged, and tiny class sizes helped too (graduating class had around 30% National Merit finalists, to give an idea). After 9th grade though I had to transfer to a more ‘average’ boarding prep school in CT, and once again was bored, even though I took advanced math at a local college. I’d start papers the night after they were due, ignore homework mostly, etc, and still graduated 5th/100. Gave me horrible habits when I got to college, and it hurt me a lot.
I also saw how kids who were bumped into full college at 15 or 16 struggled socially and otherwise (one friend failed out initially, and had to go the community college route to get back into the engineering university we went to, so skipping grades isn’t a great alternative. A good challenging program is the right solution, perhaps with some local college classes on the side.
