All children are special in their own way, but some show an early affinity for tasks that are beyond the average skill level for their age range. Educators call these children gifted.
Your Gifted Child and Reading: How to Identify and Support Advanced Literacy Development, a new booklet from the International Reading Association, offers a wealth of ideas for parents and educators alike in identifying gifted youngsters and helping them develop their reading skills in the most appropriate manner.
The booklet describes Dr. Linda Silverman's Characteristics of Giftedness Scale, which includes more than a dozen traits. These traits include several that relate closely to literacy acquisition--extensive vocabulary, unusual curiosity, good problem-solving and reasoning abilities, rapid learning ability, keen powers of observation, vivid imagination, and early or avid reading ability.
The booklet notes that children who exhibit several of the traits on the Characteristics of Giftedness Scale are probably gifted, so parents should watch for these and other signs of advanced ability. The booklet notes that gifted children need to be recognized and challenged by parents and teachers. Otherwise, they may begin to withdraw from activities at home and at school.
Parents who believe that their child is gifted should talk to teachers and administrators about testing procedures and the gifted-child programs available at school. The booklet describes tests that are commonly used to identify giftedness and ways for parents to interpret the scores.
How to help at school
Once you determine that your child is gifted, how can you provide support? The booklet notes that constructing an educational plan for a gifted student can be overwhelming and suggests that parents and teachers take the following steps to ensure the best possible outcome:
The booklet discusses the options of accelerating gifted children to a higher grade, having them start kindergarten early, placing them in a class specifically for gifted students, or having after-school activities that provide extra motivation for them. The booklet also discusses legislation and mandates relating to gifted education in the United States.
How to help at home
The booklet describes homeschooling as a possible option for educating gifted students but also describes many other ways that parents can support the advanced literacy development of gifted students. Noting that "gifted children are often voracious readers," the booklet offers several ideas for parents tc/support their children, including the following:
________________________________________________________________
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling parent, author, children's rights advocate, and Founder and C.E.O. of Learning by Grace, Inc. She and her husband of almost 3 decades reside with their 8 children in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Rothschild co-founded Learning By Grace, Inc. because "our current system of education has broken its promise..." Learning By Grace, Inc. delivers Internet-based multimedia education to PreK-12 children in the United States and throughout the world.
Rothschild has authored a number of books about education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Daily Education News Blog contains feature stories on alternatives in education.