At Grayson we are excited to be celebrating National Parenting Gifted Children Week! Parents deserve this recognition for all that they do to help their gifted children to excel and reach their full potential. We want to ensure that parents know the resources that are available to them so that they are able to take full advantage. It’s appropriate then that, at the end of this week, we will be heading to the Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG) Annual Conference to present on social-emotion supports and addressing disengagement. We look forward to collaborating with other parents and educators about how to support gifted learners!
From the moment a child is born, he looks to his parents to learn about the world. The way that parents act and respond to situations are all things that help to shape a child’s mind and increase their curiosity for learning. All parents want their children to succeed, which is why we found an article “How to Raise Gifted Children” by Christina Vercelletto, which provides ways for parents to encourage learning among their children. When parenting a gifted child, even the smallest tasks can be turned into a beneficial learning experience. For example, going grocery shopping can be an opportunity to learn about math and money, and even to increase vocabulary. By finding ways to incorporate learning into everyday life, a child will be more interested in discovering new things in the world, which will continue in the classroom. In addition to this, it is important to encourage curiosity and to hone in on interests of children. The author suggests that parents should ask their children open-ended questions that will promote thinking and encourage them to come to conclusions on their own. This can be done through simple activities such as asking them about things that you see while driving along a road, or through reading about and exploring new topics with your child.
Another piece of advice that the author gives is for parents to praise their children on specific tasks, rather than saying how smart they are. This means telling them how good it was that they found a new way to solve a math problem, rather than telling them how good they are at math overall. This will help so that they do not get frustrated quickly when a concept does not come as easily to them.
The author mentions that many well-known innovators’ curiosity with learning started with help from their parents. For example, Steve Jobs’ father taught him basic knowledge of technology when he was a kid. Mark Zuckerberg’s father taught him Atari BASIC programming at a very young age as well. Alexander Graham Bell was given a workshop after showing his creativity in building. All of these great thinkers were given opportunities at a young age to explore their interests; their parents gave them the tools that they needed in order to excel. If all parents encourage the learning of their children, there is no telling what the future of education might hold.
