Children Special Needs n Gifted Assmnt

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CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS & GIFTED CHILDREN AND EARLY CHILDHOOD

EDUCATION

ASSIGNMENT

TOPIC : CURRICULUM FOR GIFTED CHILDREN

QUESTION : DISCUSS ONE KIND OF INTERVENTION FOR GIFTED CHILDREN.

INTRODUCTION

Gifted children may develop asynchronously: their minds are often ahead of their

physical growth, and specific cognitive and emotional functions are often developed differently

(or to differing extents) at different stages of development. One frequently cited example of

asynchronicity in early cognitive development is Albert Einstein, who did not speak until the age

of four, but whose later fluency and accomplishments belied this initial delay. Psychologist and

cognitive scientist Steven Pinkertheorized that, rather than viewing Einstein's (and other

famously gifted late-talking individuals) adult accomplishments as existing distinct from, or in

spite of, his early language deficits, and rather than viewing Einstein's lingual delay itself as a

"disorder", it may be that Einstein's genius and his delay in speaking were developmentally

intrinsic to one another.

It has been said that gifted children may advance more quickly

through stages established by post-Freudian developmentalists such as Jean Piaget. Giftedindividuals also experience the world differently, resulting in certain social and emotional issues.

The work ofKazimierz Dabrowski suggests that gifted children have greater

psychomotor,sensual, imaginative, intellectual, and emotional "overexcitabilities".

Francoy Gagne's (2000) Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (DMGT) is a

developmental theory that distinguishes giftedness from talent, offering explanation on how

outstanding natural abilities (gifts) develop into specific expert skills (talents). According to

DMGT theory, "one cannot become talented without first being gifted.There are six components

that can interact in countless and unique ways that fosters the process of moving from having

natural abilities (giftedness) to systematically developed skills.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitivehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotionalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einsteinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Pinkerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disorder_(medicine)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geniushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental_stage_theorieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental_psychologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piagethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazimierz_Dabrowskihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensualhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotionalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_Disintegration#Dabrowski_and_the_gifted_individualhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_Disintegration#Dabrowski_and_the_gifted_individualhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotionalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensualhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazimierz_Dabrowskihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piagethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental_psychologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental_stage_theorieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geniushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disorder_(medicine)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Pinkerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einsteinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotionalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive


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Certainly, it seems appropriate to identify these children to ensure that the necessary

approaches and activities are available to them. However there are two important difficulties

imbedded in identification: one with definition and the other with response of young children to

formal assessment.

The variety of definitions used in the literature and in practice run a broad gamut. Some

view giftedness as an unusually high level of development in abstract reasoning skills

(Gallagher, 1975), while another view is to perceive giftedness as "exceptional potential for

learning and academic achievement in relation to chronological age peers. Renzulli's "three-

ringed" approach (1978), on the other hand, defines giftedness as the convergence of three

traits (above-average intelligence, creativity, and task commitment), while others have used

Gardner's (1985) multiple intelligences (linguistics, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-

kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal) to define giftedness as superior performance inany one of these areas (Maker, Nelson & Rogers, 1994; Matthews, 1988).

Despite this obvious lack of agreement, there appears to be one commonality in all

definitions: Giftedness is regarded as a high level of performance or the potential for such

performance beyond what is expected of typically developing individuals (Clark, 1992; Heller,

1993).

The second area of difficulty with identification is related to the nature of the early

childhood years and specifically the response of young children to the process of assessment

and testing (Neisworth, 1993; Peterson, 1987). Some of the problems in evaluating young

children include the difficulty they have paying attention during testing. Accompanying this

aspect of a shortened attention span is the tendency of young children to become easily

distracted and to be less concerned with performing in order to please adults. Even more

important is the high variability that young children demonstrate on a day-to-day basis. Thus a

child may perform at a very high level on a task one day, but be unwilling or apparently unable

to perform at that level the next day. Therefore, the information gathered for identification of

young gifted children has been viewed as less dependable than that for older children. As a

result, identification in the traditional and more formal sense has often been delayed to a later

period in childhood when there is more confidence that the process is providing secure results

(Horowitz, 1993).


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The difficulties with definition and identification seem daunting indeed and give rise to

another question: Is it possible to provide early intervention without formal identification? The

answer is a strong yes, and the support for this position is based upon the concept of

developmentally appropriate practice (Bredekamp, 1987; Bredekamp & Rosegrant, 1992). This

important concept focuses on providing for children in ways that are both age appropriate and

also individually appropriate.

In early childhood classrooms and in child care settings, teachers and caregivers first

need to observe the child's performance in the early childhood setting across the traditional

early childhood domains (i.e., cognitive, language, motor, social-emotional, self-help, and

aesthetic). Second, teachers should relate these observations to the expected behaviors for a

child of that age as well as the characteristics and behaviors which might indicate potential

giftedness (Roedell, 1986).

Teachers, while not formally identifying these children as gifted, should design activities on

an individual and group basis that provide and expand the child's areas of strength as well as

support any needed areas. Essentially, the teacher will be following best practice or

developmentally appropriate practice with an eye to an expanded notion of developmental

expectations. This expanded view of developmental levels includes many or all following

characteristics that are usually associated with giftedness in the early years (Robinson,

1993). Young children who are potentially gifted often:

1. Excel at memory activities beyond what one would expect at the given age level.

2. Demonstrate unusually mature thinking on tasks that are complicated, learn very

quickly new information or ways of doing things, or perceive hidden meanings.

3. Show advanced understanding or precocious development of a specific skill area,

e.g., early reading or mathematics without having been directly instructed, or rapid

development when provided the opportunity in the arts.

4. Are self managers in their own learning.

5. Have a high need for a variety of experiences, seek new and different opportunities to

investigate, and seem to delight in novel problems to solve.


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6. Seek older children as playmates and engage in especially creative imaginative play

scenarios.

7. Have an advanced vocabulary and enjoy playing with words or other means of

symbolically representing their world.

8. Demonstrate notable variability between very sophisticated thinking and behavior in

other ways that indicates they are still young children.

Early childhood teachers and other child care personnel should observe carefully the needs of

the various children in the center and make accommodations for those children exhibiting all or

many of these characteristics. The accommodations should be based upon the following

considerations.

Recommendations for Accommodations

1. Remember that no two gifted children are alike. These children vary among

themselves as much as they do from typical children.

2. Bear in mind that being gifted or highly able is not a reward for anything. It does not

necessarily place children at an advantage over other children. In fact, in some

circumstances gifted children may find it difficult to fit easily into the average setting.

Therefore, do not place additional burdens on these children by expressing the view

through your language or non-verbal expressions that "If you're so gifted or smart why

can't you-" (The use of the term gifted with gifted children is problematic anyway, since it

has little meaning to them. Furthermore, using the term with children and their parents

before formal identification is inappropriate. The point here is that criticizing children in

this way is very poor practice and should be avoided.)

3. Gifted children remain children, regardless of their talents. Therefore expect that they

will experience some unevenness in development among the various domains (Roedell,

1986). For example, they may be quite exceptional in figuring out the answer to

intellectual problems or read at an early age (without having been directly taught), but


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have difficulty with fine motor skills, being responsible for their belongings, or making

friends.

4. Consider the needs of gifted children to interact with mental peers (children who are

on the same thinking level). Therefore, gifted children may prefer older children as

playmates. Provide opportunities for cross-age groupings and activities with older

children in the child care center whenever possible. Permit individual gifted children to

spend time in the older group, perhaps during story time or dramatic play periods.

5. Provide opportunities for gifted children to think divergently as well as convergently.

For example, they need to have many educational experiences and problems for which

there is more than one correct answer. Questions such as "How many different ways

can we ...?" imply that there are many answers possible.

6. Assist gifted children to understand that all individuals have something special to

contribute and to respect others who may not grasp something as quickly. Therefore, set

up social situations in which gifted children can be followers sometimes and leaders at

others.

7. Be careful not to emphasize upper-level academic activities that use pencil-and-paper

production. While gifted preschool children may often learn to read and understand

content from the early grade levels and beyond before they enter school, they are still

young children and the "sit down and complete" (fine motor skill) tasks are not

developmentally appropriate (Bredekamp & Rosegrant, 1992). Instead, provide for

higher-level intellectual exploration needs through such activities as a science corner

with a variety of books and objects that present advanced ideas, as well as more

advanced books in the library corner where children may choose according to interests

and ability level.

8. Discourage parents from forcing academic skills on their children, as some parents

may wish to encourage the development of "school skills" because the child

demonstrates advanced understanding. Rather, encourage them to answer children's

questions and provide many opportunities that allow for active intellectual exploration

such as "hands on" museums, youth concerts, children's libraries, etc.


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9. Adapt curriculum to a thematic approach. Theme units should be based on the

emergent curriculum approach that is designed to focus on children's interests as well as

on the action-oriented approaches of play-based settings (Bredekamp & Rosegrant,

1992; Stile & Hudson, 1993; Jones & Nimmo, 1994). Modifications for children with

disabilities should be built into the various levels, as it is possible to have gifted children

with disabilities, also. There are a variety of already prepared materials for teachers to

use in this process. Many of these, however, are developed with school-aged children in

mind. For a discussion of specific programs for young gifted children, see Karnes &

Johnson (1991).

10. Collect information that demonstrates the child's exceptional talent, a portfolio that can

be shared with the teacher (with parent permission, of course) at the next level (Shaklee

& Viechnicki, 1995). Ask the child to select items to be collected and to record his or her

reasoning and reflection on the work. This should include all the developmental domains

in order to present a picture of the whole child, and might include art products, dictated

stories as well as videotapes of dramatic play or creative dramatics, audiotapes of

conversations or book readings, photographs of block constructions, etc.

11. When the time for gifted preschoolers to enter kindergarten arrives, remember that

gifted children require activities that challenge them intellectually. Therefore, even

children with birthdates that make them youngest in the class may be quite ready for

school. Blanket recommendations that all children who have birthdates that make them

younger in the kindergarten class should be held from school are developmentally

inappropriate for all children (Bredekamp, 1987; Bredekamp & Rosegrant, 1992), but

may be particularly harmful for gifted children (Sweeney, 1995). Any delay of entrance is

a functional retention and may run counter to the best interests of the young gifted child.

Instead, recommend that the parents seek individual professional evaluation to assist in

decision-making about school entrance.


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Conclusion

Young children with special needs have been the focus of much attention . While

much of this attention has been focused upon children with disabilities, young gifted children

too have special needs that place them at risk for underachievement. Young gifted children

have advanced understanding and/or performance in a variety of areas which require the

development of a challenging curriculum and appropriate educational interventions which

are still sensitive to the developmental needs of these children. It is important that we design

developmentally appropriate educational practice for all children-and that includes our young

gifted children, too.


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REFERENCE

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_giftedness

2.http://www.amazon.com/Creatively-Gifted-Students-like-Other/dp

3.http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/4098605/gifted-children-eriksons-theory-

psychosocial-development

4.http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/parentingadvice/a/gifted_child.htm

5.http://www.edutopia.org/blog/intervention-gifted-students-ben-johnson

6.http://giftedkids.about.com/od/nurturinggiftsandtalents/p/how_to_nurture.htm
http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/parentingadvice/a/gifted_child.htmhttp://pediatrics.about.com/cs/parentingadvice/a/gifted_child.htmhttp://www.edutopia.org/blog/intervention-gifted-students-ben-johnsonhttp://www.edutopia.org/blog/intervention-gifted-students-ben-johnsonhttp://www.edutopia.org/blog/intervention-gifted-students-ben-johnsonhttp://pediatrics.about.com/cs/parentingadvice/a/gifted_child.htm


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TABLE OF CONTENT

1. INTRODUCTION (pg. 1)

2. REPORT OF THE ANALYSES (pg. 2-7)

3. CONCLUSSION (pg. 8)

4. REFERENCE (pg. 9)

5. ATTACHEMENTS

I) NOTES

II) CD


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ATTACHEMENTS1.Notes2. cd

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Children Special Needs n Gifted Assmnt