How do you know if gifted or just good at maths?

[Waitingforsleep]

Posted he below in primary education as I'm concerned my son is not being pushed. I also wonder if he is gifted and have wondered a while. How do I know if it's more than being really good?
He has sensory problems mainly with touch and is very sensitive too..
Thanks

Not sure if he should be doing harder work. In reception he showed a flair for maths in particular. He astounds me and was put doing harder work. He is in year 1 and still
Amazing me yet his teacher says he is consolidating his learning. I feel he is year 2 work, should he be allowed to do more? This is totally coming from him. I'm not keen on maths and he loves it, his knowledge is great!

[JustRichmal]

How does being gifted differ from being good at maths?

Lots of children could learn maths faster than the pace they go in British schools. The British system is not set up for this.

You could get him on to Khan Academy or similar at home. To get good at maths, you have to practice and learn.

What more is there than being really good? Throughout the world there are lots of children who are really good. Not all of them are going to win the Field prize and be hailed a genius. However, lots will have a lifelong love of maths and good careers which incorporate maths or logic.

[user789653241]

I posted on your other thread about good website.
I think it's difficult to know if your child is gifted or just better than most.
Yr1 doing yr2 work doesn't sound so much ahead, but if you haven't done anything with him yet, you never know. Gifted children still need to learn from somebody/something.

[AllTheLight]

I have a DS who is very good at maths. Last year (when he was in year 5) he came in the top 500 in the UK primary maths challenge, out of 72000 children who entered (sorry for the stealth boast - but relevant to this thread I hope).

When he was in year 1 he was on top table but nothing else really. It's hard for the teachers as they have 29 other children to worry about! Now he's in year 6 he does get differentiated work. I'm hoping there will be more opportunity to stretch him at secondary school.

I recognise your feeling of wanting to know how good he is (gifted or just good at maths?), but you can't tell at this age really.

I know some people do extra stuff at home but I didn't do that - personally I think it's nice for them to come home and chill out. There are lots of good websites if your DS wants to though.

[lljkk]

The MN definition of Gifted seems to be 1:10,000 at most frequent (or maybe 1:1 million). What do you want gifted to mean, OP?

[JustRichmal]

Even if gifted is 1 in 1 million or 1 in 10 thousand, how is it being measured? Is it done on what the child has learnt or their natural ability?

If it is natural ability, how do you separate this out from what they have learnt? If you look at the UKMT maths challenges, children improve at these with practice; they can learn how to do them. Also, a child who had been taught maths to a higher level will have a greater chance of doing well. Hence their giftedness can therefore be increased.

If it is how advanced they are, then by teaching them faster, their giftedness will increase. Children as young as 7 have started on A level maths.

I do not think you can separate education out of giftedness. They are too closely bound. No child is going to work out all the content of maths by themselves. If they are not taught at a higher level, they will not know the maths at that level.

I do not see why depth and advancement have to be exclusive. At 13, dd had just been learning e=2.18... That is all she needs to know. Finding why e=2.18...required deep thinking. She would not have been working on this without looking at a lot of other maths beforehand.

If you have a child who enjoys doing maths, why put a label on it? As a parent, you can choose for them to go at the speed the education system dictates and go for more and more depth at the level their class is at, or you can let them learn maths at home.

[JustRichmal]

or even e=2.718...

[Waitingforsleep]

Ah ok - perhaps I should have explained more maybe. I'm not fussed if he is gifted to be honest. The whole reason for asking is because I'm trying to work out what could underpin some of the difficulties he has. I have been looking at various things such as high functioning autism and I came across gifted which did fit with a lot of ds. He struggles with sensory processing as one example.
It's not about a label as such but more from an understanding of what makes him tick etc, certainly not as a boast point either as I'm unsure if it is always positive.
Hope that's slightly clearer

[Waitingforsleep]

Oh and I'm all about a child being a child we have lots of fun at home, he cracks me up though wanting to do work, and a lot of the work he just seems to know without me teaching (I have to look up answers at times!)

[user789653241]

I don't see any problem doing work at home if the child wants to.
One of my school gate friend asked me how I make my ds do extra work at home, since her ds resists it. I don't make/force ds to do it. He does things he wants to do. Sometimes I steer him towards something he need to do like writing, but generally, he always enjoyed working at home.

[JustRichmal]

I do not think it is possible on description alone to tell if a child is autistic. My understanding is there is a spectrum to autism. If you are concerned it is worth getting a diagnosis, as so much can be done to help on social aspects.
I too cannot see the problem with children working on maths at home, if they are enjoying it, so long it is a balance with other activities.

[Waitingforsleep]

I suppose my worry is misdiagnosis maybe he is gifted and not autistic if that's what they say so was trying to find out more info about gifted children, will keep reading

[user789653241]

My ds has traits of asd/adhd, but now he is older(9, yr4), it's not so obvious to others.
He still have sensitivity to some texture(especially food), rarely has more than 6 hours of sleep, too much/not enough concentration depending on the subject etc.

When he was younger in nursery, we all thought he definitely had asd.
At school now, teachers I asked all said they don't think he has it.
I still think he is 2e, but since he isn't suffering/causing any trouble, we decided to leave it for now.