ERIC Identifier: ED321492
Publication Date: 1990-00-00
Author: Roedell, Wendy C.
Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children
Nurturing Giftedness in Young Children. ERIC Digest
Versions of the following conversation can often be heard when young
gifted children start school. "Bill doesn't belong in kindergarten!" the
parent cries. "Look, he's reading at the fourth grade level and has already
learned two-column addition." The teacher or principal, having already
decided this is a "pushy parent," replies, "Well, Mrs. Smith, Bill certainly
doesn't belong in first grade; he hasn't learned to tie his shoelaces,
and he can't hold a pencil properly, and he had a tantrum yesterday in
The problem in this continuing controversy is that both parties are
usually correct. Some gifted children entering kindergarten have acquired
academic skills far beyond those of their age mates. Such children master
the academic content of kindergarten when they are 3 years old. However,
their physical and social development may be similar to that of other 5
year olds, making an accelerated placement a mismatch as well. The usual
solution is to place a child like Bill in a program matched to his weaknesses,
rather than his strengths. Bill usually ends up in kindergarten, where
his advanced intellectual development becomes a frustration to his teacher,
an embarrassment to his peers, and a burden to Bill.
Educators justify this placement by saying, "Bill needs socialization;
he's already so far ahead academically, he doesn't need anything in that
area." There are two major problems with this rationale. First, educators
are essentially telling such students that there is no need for them to
learn anything in school. The second problem is revealed by examining the
so-called socialization experienced by a brilliant 5-year-old like Bill
in a kindergarten class of 25 to 30 students. A major component of early
socialization involves a child's feeling that she or he is accepted by
others--teachers and children alike. If the teacher does not validate a
gifted child's advanced abilities and intellectual interests by making
them part of the ongoing curriculum, the child experiences no feelings
of acceptance from the teacher. If, as is highly likely, this child makes
the additional discovery that she or he is quite different from most classmates
and that communication is extremely difficult because of differences in
vocabulary and modes of expression, then the child misses peer acceptance
as well. In fact, this first school experience, which should furnish the
impetus for future enthusiasm about learning, can be a dismal failure for
the brilliant child in a lockstep kindergarten program. Often these children
learn to hide or deny their abilities so as to fit in better with the other
children. Or, they may develop behavioral problems or psychosomatic symptoms
such as stomachaches and headaches, causing parents to confront the school
with justifiable concern.
UNDERSTANDING UNEVEN DEVELOPMENT
It is important to remember that these children very often do not develop
evenly. In fact, young gifted children frequently show peaks of extraordinary
performance rather than equally high skill levels in all cognitive areas.
The child who learns to read at age 3 or who shows unusually advanced spatial
reasoning ability, for example, may not be the child with the highest IQ
or the earliest language development. Unique patterns of development can
be observed within a group of gifted children, and uneven development is
frequently evident in the pattern of a single child. In some cases, it
seems as though children's abilities develop in spurts, guided by changes
in interest and opportunity. Reading ability, for example, might develop
almost overnight. Children who know all their letters and letter sounds
by age 2 1/2 may remain at that level for some time, perhaps until age
4 or 5, and then in a matter of months develop fluent reading skills at
the third or fourth grade level.
Another area of unevenness in the development of gifted young children
is found in the relationship between advanced intellectual development
and development of physical and social skills. Evidence seems to indicate
that intellectually gifted children's performance in the physical domain
may only be advanced to the extent that the physical tasks involve cognitive
organization. And, although intellectually advanced children tend to possess
some advanced social-cognitive skills, they do not necessarily demonstrate
those skills in their social behavior. In other words, they may understand
how to solve social conflicts and interact cooperatively but not know how
to translate their understanding into concrete behavior.
It is not uncommon to find gifted young children experiencing a vast
gap between their advanced intellectual skills and their less advanced
physical and emotional competencies. For example, 4- and 5-year-old children
may converse intelligently about abstract concepts such as time and death
and read fluently at the fourth grade level, yet find it difficult to hold
a pencil or share their toys with others.
Often these uneven developmental levels can lead to extreme frustration,
as children find that their limited physical skills are not sufficiently
developed to carry out the complex projects they imagined. These children
may throw tantrums or even give up on projects without trying. Adult guidance
in developing coping strategies can help such children set more realistic
goals for themselves and learn how to solve problems effectively when their
original efforts do not meet their high expectations.
Adults, too, can be misled by children's advanced verbal ability or
reasoning skill into expecting equally advanced behavior in all other areas.
It is unsettling to hold a high-level conversation with a 5 year old who
then turns around and punches a classmate who stole her pencil. Sometimes
young children's age-appropriate social behavior is interpreted as willful
or lazy by parents and teachers whose expectations are unrealistically
high. The only accurate generalization that can be made about the characteristics
of intellectually gifted young children is that they demonstrate their
unusual intellectual skills in a wide variety of ways and that they form
an extremely heterogeneous group with respect to interests, skill levels
in particular areas, social development, and physical abilities.
Understanding the unique developmental patterns often present in gifted
young children can help both parents and teachers adjust their expectations
of academic performance to a more reasonable level.
CHOOSING A PROGRAM OR SCHOOL
One of the few psychological truths educators and psychologists agree
on is that the most learning occurs when an optimal match between the learner's
current understanding and the challenge of new learning material has been
carefully engineered. Choosing a program or school for a gifted child who
masters ideas and concepts quickly but behaves like a typical 4- or 5-year-old
child is indeed a challenge.
Many intellectually gifted children master the cognitive content of
most preschool and kindergarten programs quite early. They come to school
ready and eager to learn concepts not usually taught until an older age.
However, academic tasks designed for older children often require the learner
to carry out teacher-directed activities while sitting still and concentrating
on written worksheets. Young children, no matter how bright they are, require
active involvement with learning materials and often do not have the writing
skills required for above-grade-level work.
Since many gifted children will hide their abilities in order to fit
in more closely with classmates in a regular program, teachers may not
be able to observe advanced intellectual or academic abilities directly.
If a kindergartner enters school with fluent reading ability, the parent
should share this information at the beginning of the year instead of waiting
until the end of the year to complain that the teacher did not find out
that the child could read. When parents and teachers pool their observations
of a child's skills, they begin to work together to develop appropriate
educational options for nurturing those abilities. Parents whose children
have some unusual characteristics that will affect their learning needs
have an obligation to share that information with educators, just as educators
have an obligation to listen carefully to parent concerns.
When the entry level of learners is generally high but extremely diverse,
an appropriate program must be highly individualized. Children should be
encouraged to progress at their own learning rate, which will result in
most cases in subject matter acceleration. The program should be broadly
based, with planned opportunities for development of social, physical,
and cognitive skills in the informal atmosphere of an early childhood classroom.
One primary task of teachers is to make appropriately advanced content
accessible to young children, taking into account individual social and
physical skills. Lessons can be broken into short units, activities presented
as games, and many concepts taught through inquiry-oriented dialogue and
experimentation with manipulatable materials. Language experience activities
in reading and the use of manipulatable mathematics materials, as described
in products such as MATHEMATICS THEIR WAY (Baratta-Lorton, 1976), are good
examples of appropriate curriculum approaches.
An appropriate learning environment should also offer a gifted young
child the opportunity to discover true peers at an early age. Parents of
gifted children frequently find that, while their child can get along with
other children in the neighborhood, an intense friendship is likely to
develop with a more developmentally equal peer met in a special class or
interest-based activity. Such parents may be dismayed to discover that
this best friend does not live next door but across town, and they may
wonder whether or not to give in to their child's pleas for inconvenient
visits. Probably one of the most supportive activities a parent can engage
in is to help a child find a true friend and make the effort required to
permit the friendship to flower.
In looking for an appropriate program for their gifted preschooler,
then, parents must be aware of the learning needs of young children and
not be misled by so-called experts who advocate rigid academic approaches
with an emphasis on rote memorization and repetition. Rather, wise parents
will look for open-endedness, flexible grouping, and opportunities for
advanced activities in a program that allows their child to learn in the
company of intellectual peers.
Allen, R. V., & Allen, C. (1970). Language Experiences in Reading
(Vols.1 & 2). Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica Press.
Baratta-Lorton, M. (1976). Mathematics Their Way: An Activity Center
Mathematics Program for Early Childhood Education. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley.
Roedell, W. C. (1989). Early development of gifted children. In J. VanTassel-Baska,
& P. Olszewski-Kubilius (Eds.), Patterns Of Influence on Gifted Learners
(pp.13-28). New York: Teachers College Press.
Roedell, W. C., Jackson, N. E., & Robinson, H. B. (1980). Gifted
Young Children. New York: Teachers College Press.
Spivack, G., & Shure, M. B. (1974). Social Adjustment of Young Children.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Smutny, J. F., Veenker, K., & Veenker, S. (1989). Your Gifted Child:
How To Recognize and Develop the Special Talents in Your Child from birth
to Age Seven. A practical sourcebook containing a wealth of information
for parents and educators of young gifted children. Leads parents through
infancy and early childhood, discussing topics such as language development,
creativity, and how to choose schools. Provides a developmental checklist.
New York: Facts On File.
Prepared by Wendy C. Roedell, Director, Early Childhood Education and
Assistance Program, Educational Service District 121, Seattle, Washington,
and senior author of GIFTED YOUNG CHILDREN.
NOTE. Reprinted by permission of the publisher from Roedell, (1989).
Early development of gifted children. In J. VanTassel-Baska, & P. Olszewski-Kubilius
(Eds.), Patterns of Influence on Gifted Learners, the Home, the Self, and
the School (pp. 13-28). (New York: Teachers College Press, 1989 by Teachers
College, Columbia University. All rights reserved.)