Assessing Gifted Children
By Inderbir Kaur Sandhu, Ph.D
Q:
My daughter is going to be 3 coming April 2011. And currently, we have
been relocated to Goa, India for two years. I suspect my little one is
very gifted, chances are high since I am also gifted. I was recommended
to read Dr. Deborah Ruf book on 5 level of Gifted and was shaking in
disbelief as I read along, noting that my girl shows similar
characteristic of level 4 and mostly level 5, some even at an earlier
stage comparing to the examples given. I'm very anxious to get her
assess because we will be going back to Singapore early next year and
Singapore does not allow home-schooling. For your information, my girl
is attending play-school and lately refused going to school, complaining
that the teachers were too fierce, not at her but at her friends. I was
told that not many can assess very gifted children and my nearest
reliable place to do so is Australia, by Miraca Gross. I noticed that Dr
Sandhu is currently in Gurgaon, India will she be able to assess my girl
in private?
A:
It is very possible that your little girl is gifted especially as you
have used Dr Ruf's levels of giftedness and she fitted in the category
well. More importantly, you mentioned being gifted - and giftedness is
in the genes! There are other general checklists that you can find to
further gauge more specific behaviours and distinct traits of gifted
children.
Assessing a child formally at 3 may not be a good idea as the results
are not very stable at this stage. You may want to wait a little longer
to get an assessment. In general, schools in Singapore may not take into
account the reports of IQ tests for acceleration purposes. Teachers are
also not trained to interpret results or IQ as such. However, well
reputed schools in Singapore do have a good programme for bright
children which allow gifted children to develop well intellectually. The
general system of education in Singapore favours bright children and is
rather challenging. Schools have gifted programmes as well as soon as
children are well settled in formal schooling. These programmes are very
beneficial for children who are gifted.
Furthermore, for gifted children, there are also a number of enrichment
programmes that can be introduced to keep them intellectually occupied.
You may want to check them out when you get back. Homeschooling is a
good option for very highly gifted children; though a lot of effort and
skill need to be applied for a good programme. I am aware of a few
people who are
homeschooling their gifted children in Singapore, so it is
definitely an option.
Yes, I am shuttling between Gurgaon and Singapore; unfortunately I do
not have a clinic here and my work is mostly on a consultancy level
since the move. I am planning on starting something here soon. The WISC-IV
is a good tool to assess gifted children of any intellectual level; you
may want to consider that should you require assessment at a later stage
(6 years onwards). For now, I think you it would be great to continue
play school - one that allows a lot of free play, creativity and
discovery activities. At preschool level, I personally find the
preschools here allows for more creativity and learning that is
conducive for preschoolers. You should make use of this as most
preschools in Singapore in general are more structured which may not be
very helpful for gifted children, even if it is a
Montessori based one.
This is probably to prepare children for the very structured formal
schooling, which makes sense but less helpful for gifted children. You
can also enrol her in enrichment centres, music, library, museum visits,
etc. What she needs is a variety of activities that she finds
challenging and meaningful to stimulate her intellectually. Wishing you
all the best!
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