I have a daughter who is 7 years old. She is an extremely bright child Mashallah. She started speaking at 1, was memorizing surahs by herself at 15 months. Before she was 4, she had started making picture storybooks, is exceptional at Maths, shows a penchant for artwork. I won’t go into too many details. Lately, she has been going through phases where is disinclined towards homework. she would happy as a lark but as soon I mention homework she starts sulking… when i do make her sit down she is done with in minutes without much help from me. Despite her recent reluctance towards studies she is still top of her class. I was wondering maybe she finds school work boring?? not intellectually stimulating for her??
what should I do?? I don’t want her talent to go waste. I live in Pakistan and there are no gifted children programmes in the city I live.
thank you
It's common amongst creative minds, to not follow a dicplined approach. I suggest that you involve her in creative activities that does not involve her to comply with anyone
my daughter has never been a wonder child but she does not like to do anything more than her HW at home yet I see her performing very well in her class Masha Allah. I think some children pay complete attention in school grasp the concepts and do not need re-enforcements/repetition of those concepts at home. I personally feel that sometimes unnecessary repetition at home confuses the child.
you can identify her interests like drawing , composing , reading etc and arrange for her suitable resources.
I am a strong believer that every child is gifted but they all get gifts different from each other and you just need to identify & polish it.
Yeah it does.
Parents aren't always qualified to measure their own children. We have biased opinions and we may make the mistake of mis-diagnosis.
To the OP -- TLK is right....perhaps she craves a different style. Have you considered a Montessori program? It has a less stringent method that allows the child to make decisions about what they need to do quite independently. They do coach but the child still feels like they are in charge of what they want to do and how they want to do it. She might do better in that sort of environment.
Yeah it does.
Parents aren't always qualified to measure their own children. We have biased opinions and we may make the mistake of mis-diagnosis.
To the OP -- TLK is right....perhaps she craves a different style. Have you considered a Montessori program? It has a less stringent method that allows the child to make decisions about what they need to do quite independently. They do coach but the child still feels like they are in charge of what they want to do and how they want to do it. She might do better in that sort of environment.
^ it's not funny, because if the school has tested her and she did "qualify" for the gifted child...they would place her in different classes. here is the US they have a Gifted and Talented (GT) program for such kids. This program is suppose to be more challenging for the kids.
My 12 year old 7th grader was just chosen for LEAP (the gifted/talented program in our school district). His whole schedule at school is changing now as he is being placed in special classes over and and above the AP classes he was already in. The curriculum will be very different as well.
It's a very thorough and rigorous process that requires teacher recommendations, parent surveys, testing and interviews. I agree with Muzna & rabia3983, it's more then just parents thinking their child is advanced.
In Pakistan, in most schools there is no such testing program or classes set aside for gifted kids. So, in this case, parents should be the best judge. I would advise the OP to put her in the best school you can afford and see if you can get her to skip a grade. That is easily possible in Pakistan. Though, keep in mind it's not allowed to complete matriculation before fifteen years of age. Don't know how that works for O levels though. You can also see if Liberty books has gifted child books or check into gifted activities online. MA, your daughter seems very bright. Gifted or not, she does seem to require more stimulation. Don't worry about homework. She needs to do it of course, but remember, she's just seven.
Touche try to engage her at home. Get her to read stories, factual books whatever interests her. Also practice writing stories and encourage her to see documentaries. I was not a genius but I would get best grades without studying. My parents did try to encourage me but lack of stimulation left me bored and with a terrible work ethic. Boy was it a rude shock to go to uni and realise I could no longer ace by just turning up to the class. Got me a while to get to grips with hard graft.
thank you so much for your replies. @Muzna, rabia and khattichic
I live in Pakistan and there are no programs in schools for accessing if a child is gifted or not, at least I haven't come to know of any and I have asked friends. That's why I decided to ask here. Probably my choice of words was wrong, maybe if I should have used 'bright' instead of gifted.
@the rest of you, I am grateful for your advice. She does go to a very good school. I buy her lots of books she loves to read. Lately she has been really interested in things related to space like planets, black holes, formation of stars and I have been spending time with reading up about these things on the internet. I am not pushing her too hard with the school work , I decided to go lightly for a couple of months and see how it works. :)
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE … let her explore whatever field she is intersted in. encourage her, but her books or let her be part of opportunities that interests her. This is the right time when you can let her brain grow.
Pakistan might not provide her enough opportunities but now the internet can. Look at this free course from MIT