There are gifted children, and there are talented children. I believe that every child has a talent or a gift. It is our duty as parents to discover and harness those talents and gifts. In schools, the terms ‘gifted’ and ‘talented’ usually go hand in hand. Schools like to categorize and label don’t they? There is however, a distinctive difference between the two. Gifted children have exceptionally high and measurable intelligence. Meanwhile, talented children may have a propensity or natural inclination toward a particular activity. This propensity may be clear or ambiguous. Valorie Delp has written a few articles on the topic of homeschooling gifted children. In her articles, she shares her experience with homeschooling her son, a gifted child.
I would now like to address homeschooling talented children. My children are more talented than gifted, (although the younger of the two who was labeled ADHD in school now qualifies for gifted programs). I have spent our last four years of homeschooling helping my children develop their talents. The problem with developing talents is that the possibilities are innumerable and helping a child to find his or her niche is difficult at best.
Children start showing evidence of talents at a young age. My son for instance, showed in interest in computers at 18 months. I remember him shimmying up into the computer chair and correctly entering dos prompts in our pre-windows operating system computer. It was obvious that his interests were in computers, and so we did our best to nurture it. Of course, it is not that easy. He also began showing a dedicated interest in art and music a few years later.
It was at this point that I started homeschooling (for other reasons). Considering his early interest in computers, we were sure to make sure his curriculum was computer based. This would maximize his computer time while still covering his required courses. Meanwhile, we purchased a piano and created an environment where he was free to paint and explore art. At that point, all we could do was watch and try to make impartial suggestions.
Stay tuned for my next installment on Homeschooling Talented Children (Nurturing the Talents)
Related articles:
Ten Signs that Your Child Might be Gifted
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