Even as tiny babies, gifted children can seem different from most others.
Parents and carers often notice that they focus their eyes at an absurdly young age. They have a quick recognition of tones of voice and words, an alert interest in their surroundings, and may also have early motor control, walking and speech.
As toddlers they often display unusual memory skills, advanced powers of reasoning and exceptional abilities to concentrate on activities that interest them. Many find it enormously frustrating when their motor skills are not adequate to carry out their ideas. Their intense curiosity and desire to understand can be challenging for both parents and practitioners.
Some children will be gifted socially as well as intellectually, but others may not know how to talk to children whose language development lags so far behind their own, or simply not yet be ready to play in a group, a stage which some children reach as toddlers but others never fully master.
If a very bright toddler seems content in his own company, then it might not be a cause for concern. Certainly it is important for practitioners to avoid the suggestion of, say, Asperger Syndrome, just because a child's mind is engaged at a different level from most pre-school children. For this reason many gifted children prefer older playmates.
Gauging giftedness
For early years practitioners, giftedness presents challenges like any other special educational need. These children's needs and abilities are so far from the norm that the usual expectations may be inappropriate.
Gifted children often hate to be rushed from one activity to another, if they are able to concentrate for long periods. They may know colours and shapes, numbers and letters by the time that they start nursery, and have a wide general knowledge. Bright boys in particular, whose fine motor skills do not match their intellectual abilities, can find colouring a chore rather than a pleasure. Many gifted children are perfectionists who are reluctant to have a go if they sense that they might fail.
Of course, not all gifted children are the same. A shy child who has a special interest in, say, dinosaurs, can be given confidence when practitioners encourage him to talk about that interest. Once he feels secure with them, he might feel able to join in with creative activities that at first felt intimidating. A child whose social skills are underdeveloped could be helped to understand turn-taking if practitioners provide a pretend bus-stop for the piece of equipment that he would otherwise hog.
Combating isolation
All children can be helped by adults using the language of emotions: 'You seem angry/scared/sad. Is that how you're feeling?' Many gifted children are unusually perceptive, and can feel lonely in a group when they sense that they are different from the others. But if they also sense that practitioners understand and accept them, this can help them feel safe enough to begin to connect with the other children.
Early years practitioners are often the first people to offer parents a professional perspective on their child. A gifted child's parents might initially feel quite defensive about this perspective. They sometimes feel that nurseries do not understand their child, focusing on concerns about social skills while ignoring exceptional intellectual abilities - but may feel unable to say this because they don't want to be seen as 'pushy'. If a practitioner can, first, be open with parents about the areas in which their child excels, then it will be easier for them to listen, afterwards, to concerns about other areas of the curriculum.
These parents, like their gifted children, often feel isolated by their child's difference. It will come as a great relief when early years practitioners talk openly about their child's gifts, offering insights into what is typical of very bright children and what might, on the other hand, be a cause for concern. They will also be reassured if practitioners ask them about what their child is like at home. Does she have any special interests? Does he prefer to be on his own? What does she find difficult, educationally, socially or emotionally? When parents' confidence has been won by practitioners who engage them in a genuine dialogue, the chances of a fruitful home-nursery relationship will be much higher.
Further information
* The National Association for Gifted Children can be contacted on 0845 4500221 or at www. nagcbritain.org.uk
* Gifted Children: A Guide for Parents and Professionals by Dr Kate Distin (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2006) is available from www.
giftedchildren.co.uk
