What is your definition of a 'bright' child?

[roadkillbunny]

As always reading through the threads in primary eduction I am struck by the fact everybody seems to describe their child as 'bright' and I am left wondering what peoples definition of 'bright' really is!

For me a 'bright' child is one who is exited by learning, enthusiastic and inquisitive. I believe that being 'bright' has no relation to any specific academic level for example the 'bottom' group in a class may well have 'bright' children who are achieving to the best of their own personal ability and the 'top' table may have children who are achieving beyond the national average for their age group but may not be naturally enthused and exited about learning but simply have natural academic ability so are able to achieve higher academic levels without having a natural enthusiasm and excitement for learning. (hoping that makes sense outside my head)

What is your definition of a 'bright' child?

I used the term 'bright' in my post about DD. The teacher used the term but acutally, after reading this I have no idea what she actually meant!

I take 'bright' as someone who is quick to pick things up and understand, has ability and keen.

My own DD doesn't show many (or any) of these at school!

Pumpkinsandpickles I would put the first two on your list more towards intelligence rather then brightness but your last as one of the attributes to bright.

A child can be 'bright' at home (by my definition) but not show these attributes at school for a long list of possible reasons and the same is true of 'intelligence' or 'academic aptitude' and I think it is this that causes all the posts you read (and there are so many, not singling people out here, my question is out of interest), a child often displays different behaviour at home then at school for reasons ranging from bullying to personality and it is this that prompts people to post 'my dd is really bright but school says they can't do/are struggling with X Y and Z but I know at home they can do X, Y and Z plus A, B and C!'.

It is a term that is used a lot in posts and I have noticed it too. I do think we all recognise things that our DC are good at and these come under the term 'bright'
hence it means all things to everyone.

(my DD is definately a 'bright but' kid when it comes to school )

This is very near to being a question that was in the General Paper a million years ago when I sat my Oxbridge entrance.

Which, incidentally, got me a place - but I then flunked most of my A-levels. So does that make me bright or not?

Last year I taught a class full of "bright" children they rose to every challenge, they were excited by every new idea and had enthusiasm by the ton ... were they all very able and highly academic ... no

I dont like the word bright much. I can just about deal with it when it is applied to a child but it really pees me off when it is used to describe a woman.

Its never used for grown men.

Anyway... Dont know the answer to the OP really. I suppose my DS2 is bright but he isnt clever, he has LDs but he is sparky and interested in stuff.

I always thought it meant people who are quick to learn. They seem to 'get' a new concept or use their initiative more quickly than others. They can be chatty or quietly getting on with it. It doesn't have to be academic. A child can pick up new skills in PE or just see things that need doing and get on with it.

There are children in my class who will sit at their table doing nothing because they don't have a pencil. I wouldn't consider that 'bright'. Other children will just go and get a pencil from where they all know they are kept and get on with their work. I would consider that 'bright'. Some children need to be reminded of the same thing every day. I would not consider that 'bright'.

fairenuff my dd has to be reminded to take her things into school everyday and has an IQ on the 99.9%

mrsshears

Exactly. That's why I don't think it's anything to do with being 'academic'. There are some highly intelligent people who have very little common sense or initiative.

I think it is a euphemism for clever, and is applied to intelligent, inquisitive children who are doing well academically and have adequate common sense too.

For the Richard Branson example - it would make immediate sense (and fit the above definition) to say "Although he wasn't considered bright at school, he went on to confound expectations when freed from formal hide-bound practice".

You wouldn't say: "X was bright at school and failed everything"; it would be "X was bright at school but failed everything". The idea of academic success is part of the meaning.

It is of course not the only thing that is important about a child. Motivation, diligence and purposeful practice may well take someone further.

I think it is a euphemism for clever, and is applied to intelligent, inquisitive children who are doing well academically and have adequate common sense too.

I've taught a handful of children who would fit this description and I would never use the word bright to describe them ... I think bright is much more than merely clever

What is the diffference between bright and clever mrz?

I don't think you need to be "clever" to be "bright" and you can be "clever" and extremely "dull"

Bright:
spark in their eyes
cheerful disposition
excitable
willing
brave
inquisitive
charming
witty
talkative
sociable
challenging
stubborn
resisting
will talk their way out of anything
able, but sometimes lazy and with very bad attitude.

IMO totally different from intelligent, gifted, very capable, very academic.
Majority of children posses some attributes/ qualities from both categories, which in turn makes them unique, beautiful and special to us parents.

The second dictionary definition given for 'bright' in the first two online dictionaries I've checked (and forgive me if I can't be bothered to dig out my 20 year old paper Collins tome) is "quick-witted, intelligent".

So that is why people often describe academically able children as bright - it is what the word means.

adj. bright·er, bright·est
1.
a. Emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts; shining.
b. Comparatively high on the scale of brightness.
c. Full of light or illumination: a bright sunny day; a stage bright with spotlights.

1. Characterizing a dyestuff that produces a highly saturated color; brilliant.
2. Glorious; splendid: one of the bright stars of stage and screen; a bright moment in history.
3. Full of promise and hope; auspicious: had a bright future in publishing.
4. Happy; cheerful: bright faces.
5. Animatedly clever; intelligent.
6. High and clear:

DD1is bright to me because she loves learning things, has an enthusiastic, zany, lets-go-for-it approach and her teacher says she is the one who gets the class going whenever they tackle something new. She's around average or just below for levels and is small, has small teeth and thin, wispy hair because of pregnancy problems. People say she is weird. I see a lovely kid who is a bit off-the-wall but who loves life. DD2 is conventionally "bright" and has a much easier ride of it.

I hate labels as a result and wish people could see a child and not just a SAT score or whatever

strictlovingmum I love your list. It completely sums up all the contrasting aspects of my 'bright' ds.

Creative, thinks outside the box, and can apply learning and general knowledge in diverse contexts.

Receptive, interested.

Good social skills and empathy, to enable them to understand other people's ideas and to share these ideas to evolve new theories and inventions.

These are the skills of the modern world.

Interesting thread. I think sometimes people on here might use 'bright' to describe their dc as it is perceived far less boastful than intelligent or gifted etc. It also covers more than intelligent, bright isn't just about knowing stuff, its about having that spark (curiousity, keenness to learn etc).

Personally, I have more of an issue with gifted (not really with other people using it, more a certain level of discomfort using it myself). Im not trying to stealth boast, but it feels really boastful to say dcs are gifted. They are clever, keen, 'bright' & on the schools g&t list, so how do you describe that succinctly? Gifted to me, is how I'd describe the Einsteins of this world, but with the creation of the gift list it covers a range now from top 1% of the population through to simply 'above average'. So what term do you use for a dc who's highly intelligent, a fair bit above national expectations etc, especially if you can't use 'bright' as a less boastful way of describing that je na sais pas of ability, attainment, intellect & keenness?

I think of it as having a spark, a love of finding out. For a young child (mine is 4) it's curiosity, saying WOW and really meaning it when she finds out something new, taking an interest in her surroundings, picking new ideas up quickly.

I guess the definition may change as a child gets older though as they are tested and assessed and have to fit in with curriculum etc.

Changeforthe i want her! , she sounds gorgeous. I could do with some sweetness and light, instead of the anti-christ dark haired torment that is my DD..