Is Your Grandchild Gifted?

The experts weigh in on what signs to look for

by Charlotte Latvala

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Your grandchild could count to ten by the time she was a toddler, knew her alphabet before she hit the "terrible twos," and was reading Green Eggs and Ham at 3. Is she gifted? We know what you think. But we spoke to experts to find out what it means to be a "gifted" child today, and how you can help your grandchildren develop their budding intellects. Is there a new Mozart or Einstein in your family? Whether there is or isn't, it will be fun finding out.

The Early Signs of Giftedness

If you think your grandchildren's ability to speak or read at an early age is a sign of their intellectual potential, you may be right. "Gifted children reach developmental milestones earlier than other same-age children," says Janet Gore, a retired educator, school principal, and gifted-education specialist, and the coauthor of Grandparents’ Guide to Gifted Children (Great Potential, 2004). "They have large vocabularies and will ask hundreds of questions when they learn to talk."

Irene Deitch, 75, of Austin, Tex., says that her granddaughters, 13-year-old Jennifer and 10-year-old Elizabeth, both showed signs of giftedness at an early age. "They were highly verbal, using descriptive adverbs and adjectives," Deitch says. "They loved to create songs and stories, and each of their stuffed animals played a role in their creations."

Verbal ability is often the most obvious sign of a gifted child, says Jill Adrian, director of family services at the Davidson Institute for Talent Development in Reno, Nev., but other indicators include:

* insatiable curiosity
* an ability to learn and process information rapidly
* an unusually good memory
* quick wit and an advanced sense of humor
* longer attention span
* increased intensity or sensitivity
* a high concern for morality and justice

How Schools Identify Gifted Kids

For years, many school districts used IQ tests to identify their most-promising students, and funnel them into gifted classes. And while that practice is still in use in some communities, experts in giftedness now believe an IQ test only tells part of the story.

"The concept of giftedness has been evolving during the past few decades, and each state or school district has a different definition," Adrian says. Some researchers believe there are at least six different types of intelligence, including intellectual ability; academic aptitude; creative thinking; leadership ability; aptitude in visual or performing arts; and psychomotor ability (fine motor skills and athletic ability). Children may be gifted in one of these areas, and average or below average in others.

Still, traditional intelligence tests remain a starting point; in general, a child is considered intellectually gifted if his or her IQ is at least 125, Adrian says, and about five percent of the population meets that standard. Many school districts use modern IQ-style tests that measure aptitude, problem-solving ability, and spatial skills, not just acquired knowledge, to select children as young as kindergartners for entry into their gifted programs. Typically, schools will invite students scoring in the ninety-fifth or ninety-seventh percentile into advanced classes, although critics of early testing bemoan the many differently-gifted students those tests may leave behind.

How to Support Gifted Kids

Whatever the tests a school district uses to identify gifted kids, the programs offered can vary widely from community to community, and advocates for gifted children urge parents and grandparents to do all they can to support children who make it into gifted classes. These students are prone to a specific set of difficulties at school, Gore says, including underachievement; perfectionism and frustration; and discipline issues that boredom spurs. 

You can help your grandchildren achieve, Gore says, by being a good listener. If a child prone to perfectionism is becoming especially frustrated by schoolwork or extracurricular activities, she says, "a grandparent can help just by modeling a calm, more relaxed attitude." With your distance from day-to-day frustrations at home, and your broader life experience, you can offer a different perspective than the child's parents, she says. "You can help everyone realize that the current problem is not the end of the world." A grandparent can talk about how mistakes are necessary when learning new skills; you can't learn to ride a bike without falling a few times, for example, and when you first learn cursive writing, it will not be perfect.

Are your grandchildren gifted? Of course they are! 57.1% Most of them are 15.9% It doesn't matter to me 20.7% No, but they're still terrific 6.4% Are your grandchildren gifted? Of course they are! Most of them are It doesn't matter to me No, but they're still terrific

Similarly, Gore says, you can support good grades without demanding them. Gifted kids may have an intense interest in one or two curriculum areas, and virtually ignore others in which they have less aptitude or interest. Their report cards may reflect this. But rather than harping on grades, Gore advises, keep the focus of your talks with grandchildren on what they are learning, and what they like or dislike about school. In that way, she says, children will learn to take responsibility for their education, and not to see good grades simply as something they need to obtain to please their parents, or to win the praise of their grandparents.

Above all, encourage kids to expand and develop their own interests. On birthdays and holidays, Deitch buys her granddaughters writing journals, books, and subscriptions to magazines like National Geographic. "I've always taken them to museums, plays, and children’s concerts, and I attend all their performances in school theater productions, sports, and dance," she says.

Of course, staying actively involved in your grandchildren's lives and supporting their interests, whatever they may be, is always the best approach, whether or not a test has identified them as "gifted."