‘Gifted and talented’ is a term that schools use to describe pupils who are naturally more able than their peers. The Department of Education classifies:
- ‘Gifted’ to mean a child is significantly ahead of their peers in one or more academic subjects.
- ‘Talented’ to mean a child who shows particular abilities in one or more creative subjects. These might be art, music or sports.
Some object to labelling certain pupils ‘gifted’ early on. It can put pressure on the child and some consider it elitist or harmful to separate children by ability too young. In England, the Government’s Young Gifted and Talented Programme closed in 2010 in order to relocate funds towards supporting disadvantaged students to attend university. In 2017 an anonymous author wrote that the term was grossly over used to describe children who are ‘above average’, rather than the much smaller number of children who possess an extraordinarily high IQ while underachieving in other areas.
Nevertheless, being aware that your child falls into the ‘gifted and talented’ group can help you and your child to explore their options for their future.
Schools are required to support particularly able children to try their best to reach their potential and you may be interested in looking into selective schools or getting them into extracurricular learning, activities or tutoring.
There is plenty of time to find out your child’s skills and interests, but it can be worthwhile to find out early on.
How early can you tell if a child is gifted?
Special abilities are easier to spot once a child has started school, but sometimes a child will be noticeably ahead of their peers as early as when they are a toddler. While a child is far less involved with academics before school, they are learning and developing rapidly.
If your child is in nursery, or another form of early years childcare, it may be easier to spot as they are around other children of the same age. Nurseries follow curriculums that have activities designed to build communication, social, emotional, creative and physical skills and to meet certain developmental goals. They also give children the capacity to explore their own interests and to grow in confidence.
Of course, each child develops at their own rate but staff will let you know if your child’s learning abilities are above average, or if they show a particular talent.
Early signs that a child is gifted
Early signs that your child may be gifted can include that they:
- Reach milestones early
- Pick up language easily and are able to use words that you wouldn’t expect a child of that age to understand
- Are curious by nature, asking lots of questions, showing perception and expressing great interest in new topics
- Can concentrate for long periods of time
- Have a fantastic memory and enjoy problem-solving
- Have a vivid imagination when playing
- Become bored or disruptive during nursery activities that don’t challenge them
Children can display one or multiple of these signs. If they excel in academic skills but are slow in their social or emotional development, it may be prudent to have them assessed for Special Educational Needs. A person with autism, for example, can have an extraordinary memory and IQ, but find understanding social or behavioural expectations more challenging.
Supporting a gifted child
Parents of a gifted child can struggle to know where to start with ensuring they support their child to reach their potential without being pushy. They can feel isolated as they don’t have the same experiences as other parents and their child can sometimes find making friends difficult.
Mensa’s gifted child consultant, Lyn Kendall, says gifted children can struggle socially when other children don’t share the same interests or cannot keep up with them. They often have a more sophisticated understanding of social rules than children their own age which can also cause disputes.
What’s more, gifted children tend to have slightly delayed physical development, which can be frustrating for them when their body can’t keep up their thoughts.
Ophelia joined Mensa aged three
At three years old, Ophelia Morgan-Dew had an IQ higher than Einstein. Mensa, the top high IQ society in the world, accepted her. Her parents, Natalie and Ben, said, “It’s like talking to a 19-year-old. She started talking at eight months and was quick to learn numbers and the alphabet.”
When Ophelia started nursery, it became clear that she was exceeding all her early learning goals. Her parents took her for an assessment by a child psychologist who specialised in gifted children.
They explained, “We didn’t want her to feel she was being pushed, but at the same time we didn’t want her to feel under-stimulated.”
Ms Kendall advises parents of highly intelligent children to support them to mix with children of equal intellect as well as how to lose.
“This is because gifted children in particular, cannot deal with failure,” she said. “They have to be top and can quickly become fearful of taking risks.”
Ms Kendall continued, “The biggest thing parents and practitioners can do is give them a high level of self-esteem and self-confidence by making them feel useful, wanted and valued.”
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