Early Identification of Gifted Children Essay

Gifted children are special children that need to be given the right education and attention. They are usually categorized on their capacity to do and produce. Huang (2008) wrote an article on the necessity of identifying them at the earliest time possible in order to nurture, cultivate, and lead them to a successful life. The article is entitled â€Å"Early Identification: Cultivating Success for Young Gifted. In its abstract it stated that â€Å"early identification and cultivating gifted preschoolers provides appropriate education for young children† (Huang, 2008). The kind of education that must be provided to learners must indeed depend on their capacity to learn and understand the concepts and the skills. It is difficult to impose concepts and to require mental and physical exercises beyond the capacity of the children. However, it is also equally frustrating for children of higher capacity to do lesser tasks when they have higher level of comprehension and performance. It is important therefore that parents must be able to assess the capacity of their children. It is imperative that parent must be able to detect that their children are not the usual children who can easily cope up with the environment and different situations as they expect them to be. The question however, would be the capacity of the parents and family members to identify the giftedness of their children. Parents could not waste time. The earlier time they can identify that there children are gifted, the greater the chances of leading their children to a fuller and happier life. This is what many other researchers have stressed on child giftedness: â€Å"There is no more crucial period in human development that childhood for maximizing the potential of gifted preschoolers (Odorn, Hanson, Blackman & Kaul, 2003 as cited by Huang, 2008)†. There are many ways in which child giftedness may be identified at an earlier stage. In Huang’s study where he utilized earlier researches and studies and reviewed relevant documents, he pointed out that early identification that were used in the 21st century were simple activities such as arranging of puzzles, building of blocks, and figuring of words on the back of cereal boxes. Huang investigated on the effectiveness of the implementation and the service treatment in three (3) phases: (1) â€Å"integrating the rationale of a development system of products; (2) analyzing service support and coordination and service approach about service treatment and benefits; and (3) outlining the future perspective. What Huang tried to establish in his study were also seen by other researchers such as Silverman (2007) who along with other researchers studies the development of gifted children. The following are some of the highlights in the study of Silver man that supports the thesis of Huang’s study: â€Å"(1) parents are excellent identifiers of giftedness of their children; (2) giftedness can be observed in the first three years; (3) when parents fail to recognize giftedness of children, teacher most likely do the same; (4) ideal age for testing is between five and eight; (5) second children are most likely gifted than firstborn children; (6) gifted children have different coping mechanisms and are likely to face problems; (7) they are asynchronous with uneven developments; (8) they have better social adjustment in classes with children like them; (9) traits such perfectionism, sensitivity, and intensity are associated with them; (10) most of them are introvert; (11) they have learning disabilities; and (12) giftedness cuts across all social groups (Silverman, 2007). The concept of Huang who stressed the need to identify giftedness was confirmed by Elhoweris (2008) who also explained what Silverman and her fellows found out in their years of practice. Elhoweris also pointed out that the gifted children are neglected in terms of educational and development programs: â€Å"One of the most serious problems plaguing in the field of gifted education is the need for the development of appropriate programs and identification procedures for gifted and talented students from different culturally and diverse backgrounds (Ford & Harris, 1991; Maker, 1996 as cited by Elhoweris, 2008)†. There is so much about child giftedness. Parent and teachers and the whole society must be work together in order to draw a better program that would bring out the best from the gifted children. Huang in his abstract of the study states: The experiences of early intervention in education can powerfully impact on attitudes toward learning confidence and later achievements for all children. The optimal development for gifted pre-school with individual special needs can be enhanced with intervention at early age (Huang, 2008). Parents and teachers then must be gentle and patient with their children and find every time and effort to identify the condition of their children or their students.The chance for the gifted children to succeed lies with the commitment of the parents and the educators. References: About. com. (1999). Young gifted children. GABC Newsletter. 1(1): 1 Retrieved October 5, 2008, from http://giftedkids. about. com/gi/dynamic/offsite. htm? zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn= giftedkids&cdn=parenting&tm=221&gps=101_1013_796_713&f=00&tt=14&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www3. telus. net/giftedcanada/erlychild. pdf Elhoweris, H. (2008). â€Å"Teacher judgment in identifying gifted/talented students. † Multicultural Education. Retrieved, October 5, 2008 from http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_qa3935/is_/ai_n25500441 Goliath. com. (2008). â€Å"Considerations for conducting culturally responsive research in gifted education,† Gifted Child Today. Retrieved October 5, 2008 from http://goliath. ecnext. com/coms2/gi_0199-8043736/Considerations-for-conducting-culturally-responsive. html Goliath. Com (2006). â€Å"Closing the achievement gap: How gifted education can help,† Gifted Child. Retrieved, October 5, 2008 from http://goliath. ecnext. com/coms2/gi_0199-5841295/Closing-the-achievement-gap-how. html Huang, Y. H. (2008). â€Å"Early identification: Cultivating success for young gifted children,† Gifted Education International 24 (1): 118-124. Silverman, L. (2007). â€Å"What we have learned about gifted children,† Gifted Development Center. Retrieved October 5, 2008 from http://www. gifteddevelopment. com/ What_is_Gifted/learned. htm