Bright Child Vs Gifted Child – Learning the Basic Differences

Many a time, both parents and teachers tend to get confused, while differentiating between a bright child and gifted child. Just ask any teachers, who the gifted children are in their class, they are more likely to pick the ones that are presumed bright. For them, bright children are a real treat to teach. Bright children are always studious, intelligent, and smart, and they listen to their teachers without any problems. Bright children also do not question their teachers and they answer their teachers with all their respect. They may even hesitate to challenge or question their teacher's competence or knowledge. In all, for a classroom teacher, a bright student is the most preferred of all students, just because they are malleable and adjustable. In their basic nature, bright students enjoy their school and they always finish their work in time and without any problems. For them, classroom lessons and homework is easy and simple.

On the other hand, in almost all schools, you may find another lot of students who tend to veer away from normal classroom routines. Touted as gifted, such students are different lots, who may show not too normal characters that tend to put off their teachers. Labeled as rebellious, these students spend most of their classroom time thinking or doing something other than what their teachers need and want. Most of these gifted students need something different in their classroom. In fact, they show their boredom for those things that are extremely repetitive. As a result, they tend to fall behind in their classes. In many cases, teachers find gifted students staring out of the windows or reading a book when the classroom is in progress.

Many gifted children dislike classroom environment and they may not like going to their schools. Ordinary classroom work never challenges them and they do not like concepts or ideas taught in their classes, just because they are far below their intellectual abilities. As a result, they may create some unusual problems in their classes; in some cases, they may try to give wild and silly looking suggestions or they may even annoy teachers by not involving in classroom work. Strange enough, such students do wonderfully well when it comes to taking their tests.

In many cases, both teachers and parents do not know how to handle an intellectually problematic child like a gifted one. Gifted children are always extra bright and intelligent. It is just that they are not impressed by what is going on their classroom. Unfortunately, most teachers tend to neglect such children. Most teachers also love handling bright children, because they suit their ideas and perceptions better than a gifted child. Several reasons tend to hold back a gifted child from performing better in their classroom. Of all these reasons, their perceived superior intellectual capabilities may be far better than the average one that is seen in a typical classroom.

Teachers and parents should know who a bright child is and they should also identify a gifted child among them. When you know the essential differences between a bright and a gifted child, it becomes very easy to manage them and teach them according to their intellectual capabilities.

Note: These differences are very minor ones and you may need to observe your children with an intellectual magnifying glass to separate bright ones from gifted ones.

Gifted Child	Bright Child
Curious to know things	Just interested to know about things
Asks a lot of intellectual questions	Good in answering questions
Tend to be very methodic in questioning	Good in asking straight questions
Mentally very alert	Mentally very attentive
Physically very fickle and unstable	Very stable in actions
Always interested in playing	Always alert in a classroom
Full of wild and silly ideas	Very firm in ideas and expressions
Can participate in discussions	Needs encouragement from others
Enjoys learning new things	Contended with learning classroom lessons
Can easily initiate new projects	Needs support from teachers and parents
Can easily initiate interesting discussions	Needs support from teachers and parents
Enjoys learning but may not like schools	Enjoys school very much
Can draw from a pool of vast knowledge	Very good memory
Can manipulate information	Can easily absorb information
Beyond the group but does well in tests	Tops the group and test

These are just some of the minor differences between a bright and gifted child. Mind you, you will need to be very careful, while differentiating between two children, because it can make lot of difference to their mental attitude and ability. It is almost difficult to change or modify the behavior of a gifted child. On the other hand, you can make a bright child much more efficient and brighter by using a number of methods and techniques. Continue to read Nurturing Bright Children - Some Methods and Techniques

You Know Your Child Is Gifted When...: A Beginner's Guide to Life on the Bright Side
By Judy Galbraith M.A. and Ken Vinton M.A

You know your child is gifted when…your three-year-old programs your VCR. Or your five-year-old gives you permission to use the dictionary during Scrabble. Or your eight-year-old solves your computer problems. Parenting a gifted child can be a mixed blessing. It helps to know what to look for, what to expect, and what other parents have experienced.

This light-hearted introduction to life with a gifted child is a great place to start. Perfect for parents, it's also recommended for teachers, childcare providers, counselors, and others who work with children. Humorous cartoons and lively illustrations blend with solid information on giftedness - its characteristics, challenges, and joys. First-person stories from parents who have been there offer reassurance and insights.

Bright Child Vs Gifted Child - Learning the Basic Differences