Gifted Education

To the trained eye, it can be fairly easy to spot a gifted child. Even to the not-so-trained eye of a parent, it's easy to notice that a child is not quite like other children. However, parents often question what those differences mean. They know their child is smart, but gifted? Looking at a list of gifted traits or characteristics is a quick first step in determining whether a child is gifted. If you have a toddler and you're wondering if he or she is gifted, take a look at the list of characteristics of young gifted children.

Cognitive Traits:

• Very Observant
• Extremely Curious
• Intense interests
• Excellent memory
• Long attention span
• Excellent reasoning skills
• Well-developed powers of abstraction, conceptualization, and synthesis
• Quickly and easily sees relationships in ideas, objects, or facts
• Fluent and flexible thinking
• Elaborate and original thinking
• Excellent problem-solving skills
• Learns quickly and with less practice and repetition
• Unusual and/or vivid imagination

Social and Emotional Traits (see Supersensitivities in Gifted Children)

• Interested in philosophical and social issues
• Very sensitive, emotionally and even physically
• Concerned about fairness and injustice
• Perfectionism
• Energetic
• Well-Developed Sense of Humor
• Usually intrinsically motivated
• Relates well to parents, teachers and other adults

Language Traits (See Language Development in Gifted Children)

• Extensive Vocabulary
• May Read Early
• Reads Rapidly and Widely
• Asks "what if" questions

Additional Traits

• Enjoys learning new things
• Enjoys intellectual activity
• Displays intellectual playfulness
• Prefers books and magazines meant for older children
• Skeptical, critical, and evaluative
• Asynchronous development