How To Talk to Your Gifted Child

If you think that you have a gifted child, and people around you confirm that your child is really gifted, ask the nearest school to help you bring your child to a professional for a test. Leave it up to school procedures on what they will do in recognizing that your child is really gifted. Then plan to do the rest on your own:

• Parents of a gifted child should treat all their children the same. No additional favors or attention should be given to the gifted child.
• Talk to your gifted child the same way as you do to your other children. If you will treat her specially, the child will think that she was given special attention because of her gift.
• Talk to your child about her problems, if any. Do not put any pressure on her, even if some of her teachers do. Balance the situation as parents, so that the child will turn to you if she experiences burnout or other concerns.
• Talk to your child about everything and anything. Show your love to make her feel secure.
• Don’t be impatient when your gifted child asks questions, no matter how many. This is her way of understanding herself.
• Tell your child that she is unique, and that she thinks differently from other children of her age. As parents, join her teachers in helping your child to have as normal a life as the others.
• Tell your child not to act superior to other children. Don’t allow the child to think that she’s superior.
• Even if the gifted child has a mature reasoning capacity, remind her that she is actually not yet an adult.
• Ask your child how she finds the school and how she feels about it, how she feels about her friends and her family. From her answers, you will know her inner feelings and her problems.
• Talk to your child about her homework. You should know if your child is experiencing any problem in any of her subjects. Share with your child, affectionately, an experience you had at that particular stage in your life.
• You might also have beed a gifted child. If so, allow your child to know about your own experiences. Talk to your child about her endeavors. She will open up to you, because she thinks you share the same viewpoints.
• Do not allow your past experience to negatively affect your child’s condition. Her experiences could be different from yours.
• Give rewards and praise to your child for a completed job.
• If your child is disappointed with her performance, tell her that her worth is not measured by her performance but by her effort. Show her your happiness when she finishes a project.

Communicating with a gifted child requires skill, but so does all parenting. Offer your gifted child love and support, and he or she will develop all possible potential.