Teachers say 11yo DD is gifted in 3 core subjects

[natellie1970]

DDs teacher says that she is gifted in English, Maths and Science and thats unusual. Is it really unusual for kids to be gifted in more than one subject? She has always been very intelligent and an avid reader speaking full sentences at 18 months old she wasn't an early reader but once she started reading there was no stopping her.

[17leftfeet]

It's more common to have strength in 1 area but its not unheard of to be g&t in more than one area

Well done your dd

[Au79]

More importantly, what is the school's plan for her? Identification is one thing but what do they offer for stretching, differentiation, etc.

What are you going to do differently if need be? For example does she have weaker areas she avoids or perfectionism to think about? We have that in our house.

And watch out for her well-being- emotional intelligence needed to avoid being bullied (or becoming a bully, we have found in some of my DDs ex-friends).

[natellie1970]

Should be getting the schools plans over the next few months and ill do what ever is needed. I'm very lucky with DD she is a little toughie (older brother!) shes also very good at looking after other kids our biggest problems with her are her quick wit and lack of diplomacy it can be very embarrassing!

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Maths and Science commonly go together, less common to have English as well. What does happen is Maths and Science very far ahead and English well above average.

[natellie1970]

Think you could be right. Even tho teacher said she is gifted in all 3 English seems to take a backseat a little bit on the other hand she did write several poems when she was 4 so who knows she's given up her career as a poet since then!!!!

[choccyp1g]

I think until you get nearly to GCSE level, if DC are "clever" and hardworking, then they can be well ahead in any academic subject, rather than it being some magical aptitude for that particular topic.

At age 11, being good at most subjects is mainly remembering what you have been told.

So if the school bases G&T on the classroom work and test results then it makes sense that they will be classed as G&T in several subjects.

If they base it on IQ type tests, then again, it is not uncommon to be very good across all of verbal, non-verbal, numeric reasoning etc.

[EmmaGoldmanSachs]

I'd agree with choccyp1g, right up until the end of school, to be honest.

Certainly if 'g&t' picks up say the top 5% in each subject I can imagine it wouldn't be that surprising for a child to fall into that category across the board with academic subjects.

I strongly suspect, based on my own experience + that of friends if you quizzed former state school pupils (certainly those from not- particularly- academic schools) who go on to Oxbridge they would have certainly been in the top 5% for pretty much anything academic within their school.

They may or may not then, on top of that, be exceptional (ie what I would call genuinely gifted) in one area.

[TallulahMcFey]

I know I'm a bit late, but in the same vein, my 11 year old has just been told and letters from school, that she is gifted and talented in music, graphics and Spanish and science - so far. I say so far cos she is clearly in the top few for other subjects e.g. geography, and they are clearly going through a spell of sending out their gifted and talented letters. She is bright and hardworking and takes note of what they need to do to get certain SATs levels and makes sure she does it. She is also very very competitive and wants to be the best. We know she has no real gift or particular natural aptitude. With regard to music, she plays piano and clarinet so would naturally have an advantage over others in music lessons and the decision that she was gifted was made purely on the basis that she was better than the others at note reading, rhythms etc, that had clearly been taught to her. She and I are happy she is doing well but both know that she isn't gifted!

[richmal]

Tallulah, this is what I think about my dd's achievements too. Though not so competitive, she enjoys learning and I enjoy teaching her and it has definitely made a difference to her ability.