The need for a challenge.

Too often, gifted children are given no special provision. The understanding of many teachers and educational authorities is that the gifted will naturally do well and need no particular attention. What they haven't actually given any thought to is: do well at what? Should a gifted child be given no greater challenge than that of their average age-mates? Most school systems do just that and give their gifted nothing more to do than they would any other child.

Yet, from my experience, I would say that a gifted child should be challenged. They should be given something that demands more of them. Observing Ainan's quickness of mind when he was six, we decided that he needed something to challenge him - or at least appease, to some extent, the drive to understand that he was exhibiting. Thus it was that he began to take exams more typical of young adults. It was a good decision.

What might surprise some people is Ainan's reaction to being required to take science exams. He loves it. He gets a buzz from doing them. When asked what he felt about one particular science exam, for instance, he said: "Happy." It actually made him happy to sit in an exam room faced with a paper which would distress many average students.

That is a key difference between gifted students and the average child - and one that should not be ignored. Gifted students need a challenge - and the more gifted they are, the more of a challenge they need. Ainan is happiest when he is immersed in an intellectual challenge typical of a young adult science student. This is what gives him a sense of excitement.

Now, that might seem strange to some people, but it is important to understand this type of reaction if gifted students are to receive an appropriate education. Far from being "stressed" by a challenging academic situation, Ainan enjoys it. It is actually what makes him happy.

It seems to me that most educational systems - Singapore's included - do not know this. A happy gifted child is a challenged gifted child - by which I mean that the level of stimulus should match the level of ability. In some cases, this means that a rigorous exam is the recipe for a smiling child.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

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NUS High School responds

Yesterday, Ainan, 7, moved class at NUS High.

As regulars know, he has been attending the National University of Singapore High School for Maths and Science. The problem has been that the class has been of too low a level compared to his degree of understanding.

Yesterday, however, he attended a new class. The level was higher - but still well within his range.

After class his mother, Syahidah, spoke to the teacher.

The teacher remarked: "He was able to answer all the questions I asked him."

That is good and it is bad. It is good that his knowledge is strong enough to allow him to answer all the questions - but it is also a bad indicator that even this class is not of the right level. To be at the right level, I believe a class should be extending boundaries: so it should NOT all be immediately answerable. If it is, then nothing new is being learnt. It is only when the answers require new knowledge, skills or expertise, that the student is going to learn anything.

So, yes, NUS has responded to the mismatch between Ainan's ability and knowledge and the demands of class - but the response is too little.

Nevertheless, Ainan enjoyed the class and was comfortable there: there was something about it that he liked. The only issue is that if he stays in this class, he is unlikely to learn much that is new. He might pick up something here and something there as the knowledgeable teacher strays off the beaten track onto something related, but new - but the core of what is being taught is unlikely to contain much that is novel.

I am heartened, that there has been some response to the situation - it is just that the response needs to be of greater magnitude if it is going to meet Ainan's needs. We will see what happens in the next couple of weeks. I will keep you posted.

(If you would like to read more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and seven months, a scientific child prodigy, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and no months, Tiarnan, seventeen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Getting the gifted an appropriate education

As many parents of gifted children have found out, getting a gifted child the education they need is often a difficult matter. Schools stonewall. Teachers prove deaf. No-one wants to know. If they do listen, barriers are put up. The "system" often does not want to make an exception. In the midst of all this, the gifted child suffers - from boredom, lack of stimulation, frustrated development and, perhaps, the gradual loss and submergence of their gifts as they lose the will to fight on. It is a sad and all too common occurrence.

Last year we tried speaking to the Vice-Principal of Ainan's school in an effort to secure some sort of assistance with educating him: access to a lab and the like. Nothing came of the conversation, except the statement that the barriers in place were immovable. We had done what we could and didn't try again.

This year, Ainan's school has a new Principal. By chance, his Principal sat down recently and had a chat with Ainan. She asked him about what his interests were. The topic of Science came up and he told her of his interest in Chemistry. They began to talk about it and, in the course of conversation, he drew her a periodic table, up to element 103, from memory, for her. This rather surprised her. The conversation expanded and he began to draw chemical structures on paper. Another teacher came in - a teacher who used to be the best Chemistry student in her school. The conversation broadened out, Ainan wrote chemical equations for her, to illustrate the conversation. By the end of this conversation, Ainan had achieved what a visit from his parents to the Vice-Principal last year could not: a conviction in the school staff that something must be done for Ainan.

We received a phonecall from the Principal in which she told us of the conversation with Ainan and her astonishment at him. She then voiced various ideas about how she might help him receive a more appropriate education. I was buzzing with happiness by the end of the conversation for, in all this time, we have been labouring alone on Ainan's behalf, without the assistance of anyone. Perhaps now things will change and doors will begin to open for Ainan.

It is premature to speak of her suggestions - but if any come off, I will report them here. If any of them come to light, Ainan will be in a much better position to develop his gifts according to his nature and needs. One of her ideas, in particular, is very exciting: something highly appropriate, which has never been done before, in Singapore - but I will only speak of it if it happens.

A chance conversation with the right person - his Principal - may finally allow Ainan to flourish. Let us hope so.

(If you would like to read more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and one month, or his gifted brothers, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted children and gifted adults in general. Thanks.)