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Gifted and talented

Talk to other parents about parenting a gifted child on this forum.

Only 3% of gifted children fulfil their potential

65 replies

minimathsmouse · 27/09/2010 11:22

I have just read an article in the Mail this morning on pg 5. Professor Joan Freeman has found in her research with exceptionally gifted children that only 3% go on to fulfil their potential.

What are the implications for the economy and wider society? Does it worry you and in what way?
Do you worry about your child meeting their potential and what support do you think gifted children most benefit from?

I worry endlessly and sometimes feel that I have a huge responsibility for and towards DS, that with an average child I might not feel. I have one gifted and one bright but average achiever, my little average achiever gives me the most joy and the least worry! I know he will be happy and fulfilled come what may.

OP posts:
PrincessTV · 02/03/2011 17:17

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Idratherbemuckingout · 01/04/2011 11:13

My son saw Professor Freeman when he was 7 and she assessed him as being only slightly above average, despite all his teachers and in fact every adult he has ever met, saying he was gifted.

He is now ten, and studying level 8 maths well.
What does that make you think?
Above average? Average?
If only average, how did he get to level 8 in Year 5?
Was she talking rubbish or are her tests for giftedness flawed?
Got to be something like that.
I think.
Incidentally, also very interested by history, archaeology, astronomy etc

darleneconnor · 01/04/2011 11:25

What is level 8?

darleneconnor · 01/04/2011 12:08

What is level 8?

Idratherbemuckingout · 01/04/2011 13:13

High for KS3, equivalent of a Grade B at GCSE.
Only just starting it though, but coping well.

MollieO · 01/04/2011 13:23

Doing GCSE Maths at 10 is very bright but not sure being bright equals being gifted. Doesn't being gifted mean truly exceptional? I would have thought Prof Freeman sees a lot of potentially gifted children so is able to assess.

squidgy12 · 01/04/2011 13:45

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Zoonie · 01/04/2011 15:00

Just wanted to echo my slight misgivings re: the sentence about "my little average achiever" since it struck me as odd when I read it.

My DD thank heavens picked up on her social skills, and her insatiable brain slowed down quite a lot as she became more gregarious - when she was between 1 and 2 yrs on her nursery days she would sit silently in the corner of the room with a huge pile of books and just read / look through them, one by one. We were in bits. But she grew out of that phase.

DS, meanwhile, is now in reception, just learning to read, has some friends but is fairly quiet, thinks constantly, asks questions about the way things work constantly, and has such good coordination he goes to proper gymnastics.

Now it's my view that he's not average at all, and he's just doing everything in a different order. I may be wrong, but for me it's very important that we don't just focus on DD's needs. We give a ton of time to DS to get to grips with reading, look for answers to his questions in books... I never underestimate what he'll be capable of.

Their happiness and fulfillment very much depends on how much unjudgemental love (and happy, silly, friendly, reassuring love) kids receive at home. It's that environment which will help to build confidence to face the future. Classifying kids down makes me extremely uneasy.

It was probably just a turn of phrase but one of DD's teachers warned us not to neglect DD's needs once, so I'm returning that sensible advice, just in case.

cory · 02/04/2011 09:35

I always did badly at IQ tests, because I kept looking for ways of tripping the test setter up and finding a different way of grouping the words into categories (both Y and Z start with a sibilant when I knew that they meant both X and Y are mammals). Many IQ tests seem to be mainly about ensuring that you think in the same box as the examiner.

Idratherbemuckingout · 02/04/2011 09:50

You're absolutely right there. I am really good at IQ tests, but my husband, who is much better on general knowledge amongst other things than me, is not. He is no less clever than me, and arguably probably more so in fact, but on paper he would not appear so.
Our skills lie in different directions I suppose and his are not tested by a standard IQ test, nor proven.
He is streets ahead of me on the Mastermind and University Challenge questions, I outstrip him in maths, but his knowledge (according to all our five kids) is the most awesome they have ever come across.
Hence the quote in our house of " ** will know". And sure enough, he does. I have yet to phase him with something he doesn't know!

Mind you, he does come from a family of off the wall geniuses, or is that genii? No idea at all.

It's in his blood and in our son's. (the other three are mine, one is his and one is ours)

squidgy12 · 02/04/2011 12:54

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purepurple · 02/04/2011 13:03

My nephew is 17 and has been recognised as being G&T since primary. He is a whizz at maths, science etc and has had mentoring from the university. He taught himself Japanese and would play his console games in Japenese. He is now at 6th form, has the potential to go to Oxford/Cambridge but is only interested in music. DSis is not worried, as she would rather he is happy doing something that he enjoys than be bloody miserable living up to everybody else's expectations.

activate · 02/04/2011 13:07

who dictates what fulfilment is? If the research was done on did the child feel fulfilled I think their rounder personalities might have more bearing on it, their desire and gumption has more to say than their innate academic talents

cory · 02/04/2011 19:34

absolutely what activate says

my careers teacher at college tried to get me to go to university to study medicine or law "because you're bright enough for that"

"Yes, but what about the fact that I don't want to study medicine or law?"

she didn't really seem to think that should be taken into consideration. I did.

squidgy12 · 02/04/2011 19:49

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