Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Gifted? Bright? High IQ?

Ah.... been so busy the last two weeks. My in-laws were here and conducted 2 holiday workshops. Now, slowly things are settling back to the usual routine and I can do some proper blogging and blog hop!

Just 2 weeks ago, I was at MPH and while shopping for stuff for my workshop... I came across this book on " How to increase your child's IQ". Now... I must say.. I am a little kiasu... hehe.. So I started to browse the book and it was quite interesting... I think I spent about 30 minutes or more reading the book! According to the book....


Typically, scientists have come to an agreement that there are three main factors that determine one's level of intelligence, which are:

Genes – accounts for 40-80% of an individual's intelligence

Environment and educational opportunities/exposure

Food, nutrition and drugs


Environment and educational exposure

Read to the child (read with expression and make it fun...)
Talk to the child
Play with the child (all kinds of pretend play..parents have to be creative here..)
Sing to the child (example: Sing and let the child finish the last word of each line..)
Make music with the child
Play memory games with the child (use flash cards)
Draw with the child
Play puzzles with the child (use blocks or any kind of simple puzzles for younger children)

It mentioned that music exposure can increase the IQ of a child. Don't just listen to songs and music... You should get the child involved in making music, apparently your singing is more effective then letting the child listen to CDs... Doing puzzles with them is also great.

I am just glad that what we have been doing with Reese since birth... is exactly what the author of the book suggested.. well.. maybe one or two less activities... but will make an effort to increase the variety of activities to stimulate Reese!

Food

mmm... I didn't pay much attention to this, but I guess I am on the right track! :)


After reading the book, I did a google search on toddler's IQ, below are some interesting info to share with you.

Intellectual Giftedness in Toddlers

For young children, between the ages of 3.5 - 5.5 years, the following traits have been significantly associated with intellectual giftedness:

Having a large vocabulary
Complex thinking ability
Unusual capacity for symbolic thought (mathematical skills)
Insight (ability to see relationships)
Early physical and social development
Sensitivity


(From: Parents' Guide To Raising A Gifted Toddler, Alvino, et.al. 1989)

From the U.S. Office of Gifted and Talented:

Short list of typical gifted preschooler (ages 2-5) characteristics:

Uses advanced vocabulary for age.
Uses spontaneous verbal elaboration with new experiences.
Has the ability to make interesting or unusual shapes or patterns through various media: blocks, playdough, crayons.
Ability to assemble puzzles designed for older children.
Sense of humor used in general conversation.
Understanding of abstract concepts such as death and time.
Mastery of new skills with little repetition.
Demonstration of advanced physical skills.
Demonstration of advanced reasoning skills through explanation of occurrences.


Comparison of Bright vs Gifted Child

Bright-Knows the answers.
Gifted -Asks the questions.

Bright-Interested.
Gifted -Extremely curious.

Bright-Pays attention.
Gifted -Gets involved physically and mentally.

Bright-Works hard.
Gifted -Plays around, still gets good test scores.

Bright-Answers questions.
Gifted -Questions the answers.

Bright-Enjoys same-age peers.
Gifted -Prefers adults or older children.

Bright-Good at memorization.
Gifted -Good at guessing.

Bright-Learns easily. Bored.
Gifted -Already knew the answers.

Bright-Listens well.
Gifted -Shows strong feelings and opinions.

Bright-Self-satisfied.
Gifted -Highly critical of self (perfectionistic).


Source: Janice Szabos as quoted in "The Gifted and Talented Child," Maryland Council for Gifted & Talented Children, Inc. P.O. Box 12221, Silver Spring, MD 20908

Well, I know at times I can be a little kiasu...but I will not force my child into something he doesn't like and neither will I over stimulate him! I just want to give him enough environment and educational exposure to then let him discover his own 'giftedness'. We as parents can only support and show our children the right direction..anything else is up to them.

2 comments:

Moomykin said...

Actually, I feel that raising a happy and healthy child (healthy in every aspect) is much more needed by our society than a clever one.

Then they can contribute to society in a their own ways and have contentment in their hearts.

Of course doing all those "kiasu" stuff can be enriching and fun and help them be happy. Just that we have to know how much they can take.

Happy nurturing Reese. :)

A gift from God said...

Kathie,

Yeah, I know what you mean... I don't want to over stimulate Reese.. I just want want to nurture him enough to let him discover things that he really likes.... :)

But being parents ah... sometimes... you just can't help to be kiasu... I never thought of things like IQ or EQ or whatever...so happen I was browsing some books...and it was there..haha