How to Recognise a Gifted Child

It is important to recognise a gifted child in order to help promote his or her intelligence, curiosity and desire to learn. Most of these children are never recognised and so their potential is not developed correctly. A gifted child is not a genius and does not have to know everything or do things out of the ordinary, such as play the piano at the age of two or speak several languages at the age of three. They are children who are basically differentiated from others in their ability to learn much faster and go more deeply into subjects. Some of the characteristics of a gifted child are:

1. They generally walk and speak before their first year of age.
2. They tend to use very rich language and adultlike vocabulary.
3. They easily understand and remember the information they are given.
4. They generate a great quantity of ideas and solutions to problems.
5. They have a well-developed sense of humour.
6. They have a great deal of curiosity, which makes them question everything.
7. They usually worry about the problems in the world.
8. They adore reading.
9. They like complicated board games.
10. They are leaders.
11. They persevere (they concentrate on a task and persist until they finish it).
12. They have a high level of self-judgment, demand much of themselves, and tend to be dissatisfied.
13. They prefer to work independently and do not need much help.
14. They are vulnerable to the rejection of their classmates.