by Shannah B Godfrey

Created on: February 12, 2009   Last Updated: March 20, 2009

Raising Gifted Children

5 Feb 2009

Many questions arise when parents realize they have a gifted child. What exactly is a gifted child? Can a child be molded into a genius? How does one maintain the balance between encouragement and pressure? Is it possible to raise a gifted child with his happiness still intact? What is the best way to raise genius children? The end of this article has several useful, hands-on ideas for parents to try.

Having been a gifted child myself, and also having several gifted children, has given me plenty of insight into the dos and don'ts of parenting intelligent youngsters. Whether some children are gifted- and others are not- depends upon our definition. What makes some children gifted is the ability to memorize things easily. What makes other children gifted is the ability to see patterns and relationships. Others easily see geometric relationships in three dimensions. Even others have the ability to readily understand language structure. Sometimes we view giftedness as having a strong talent for music or art. Maybe there are savants in some specialized area.

Too often we think of "gifted" as doing well in school and getting top grades. But there is also the ability to be intelligent in understanding human relationships, behavior motivators, and body language. Sometimes our definitions are too narrow. Genius children can seem attention-deficit or hyperactive due to boredom and a need for constant data input for their brain. They are misdiagnosed ADHD when all they need is more interesting mental stimulation!

Being gifted is a combination of genetics (nature), environment (nurture), and attitude (the child's own viewpoint and choices). I have one son with a t-shirt that reads, "Genius by birth, slacker by choice," which is so true for him! Attitude is everything. I have a daughter who gets top grades, but she has to put a lot of work, time, effort, and study into it. She has made herself gifted, in a sense.

If a child is genetically gifted, her parents can enhance her abilities or destroy her self-esteem by how they handle the situation. Parents can encourage a child's natural abilities or they can ruin them with too much force. Is being smart the only area of the child worth developing? What about heart? What about compassion? Social awareness? Gratitude? Humility? A child's love of learning can grow or wither depending on parents' choices.

The bottom line is, yes some children learn more quickly than others due to genetic and/or environmental

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