Emotionally gifted?

[Sarahkay]

Not sure if there's any help out there, but here goes...

 

I'm making a "diagnosis" that my 2nd grade DD is emotionally mature, or at least I think that's what to call it. She's very sympathetic, has insights into feelings and others' motivations then articulates the situation very well, picks up on subtle character development in movies and books often pausing a movie or book and saying something like this: "...so is Anne feeling a little jealous that Diana is getting married even though she's also very happy for her best friend? Do you think Anne is thinking about Gilbert and regrets that her pride got in the way? Do you think Annes really loves him and it's too late for her to tell him?"

 

She is a talented actor and dancer, yet is too self-aware and embarrassed to audition. She notices subtle body language and speech patterns and can mimic and impersonate people almost immediately.

 

She loves to read fiction about people and relationships. Her academics are just fine -- at or a little above grade level. She's a "language arts" kid rather than a "mathy" kid.

 

Does anyone else have a child like this? Thoughts about activities to encourage this? What kind of academics or studies would work well?

 

Not sure this is the right place to discuss since it's not traditional academic gifting, but just throwing it out there. Thanks!

[Runningmom80]

I would just consider her gifted. I'd try to stretch her with reading and language. Get her some Shakespeare. :lol:

 

My DS is like this, he has tested as exceptionally gifted, and is also language/reading strong, and not necessarily "mathy." it's been a little challenging figuring out where to go and how to accelerate. It seems to be a much clearer path for the mathy kids.

 

Disclaimer: This is off the cuff, from a mother of a 5 year old, who obviously lacks the experience of most here. :D

Edited April 10, 2012 by Runningmom80

[jenbrdsly]

You might try looking into Howard Gardener's theories about Multiple Intelligences.

[deacongirl]

I would google Dabrowski's overexcitabilities and check out the articles at SENG. Yes, IMO it sounds likely she is gifted.

[acurtis75]

That sounds a lot like my dd. I would encourage you to work on stretching the schoolwork and accelerating a bit more. I wouldn't know that dd should be ahead if I hadn't read a lot here and starting pushing a bit. I don't mean pushing in a negative tiger mom kind of way...just introducing more difficult/challenging work. I find that she is happier with more challenge. Apparently her work was way too easy and I didn't realize it. If she's more language oriented and your not doing so (can't see signature since I'm already typing) add Latin. Let her write stories, etc.

 

Basically, I think it's unlikely that level of emotional giftedness is totally detached from any academic giftedness. I'm not saying you have to push for achievement but that it's likely that she will enjoy more challenging schoolwork. I've moved several years ahead in most subjects but I'm not sure we're even where we need to be yet. I think this is the type of child who might be overlooked in a ps setting because they aren't necessarily as academically motivated as some of their gifted peers but they are very capable and need to be stretched.

 

I will also say that for me the level of emotional response was quite a challenge to say the least. I was/am a tomboy who rarely cries about anything. She cries about everything! She cries about books. She cries about movies. She cries if I am sick. She cries if she hears someone else is sick. She even says things like "I feel so happy I think I'm going to cry." It is amazing to me how insightful and emotional she is.

[SuperDad]

It seems to be a much clearer path for the mathy kids.

 

:iagree:

[acurtis75]

I would just consider her gifted. I'd try to stretch her with reading and language. Get her some Shakespeare. :lol:

 

My DS is like this, he has tested as exceptionally gifted, and is also language/reading strong, and not necessarily "mathy." it's been a little challenging figuring out where to go and how to accelerate. It seems to be a much clearer path for the mathy kids.

 

Disclaimer: This is off the cuff, from a mother of a 5 year old, who obviously lacks the experience of most here. :D

 

FWIW, my dd is a also not "mathy" but I've figured out she's still capable of working many levels ahead of grade level. She doesn't like math so it is a challenge to find a balance between forcing her to work on something that will actually challenge her and build character and making sure she doesn't dread doing it everyday.

 

It's still an evolving plan for us (she's only 7) but we are kind of in a sweet spot right now moving quickly through our MUS spine to learn basic operations which she tolerates because there aren't a lot of bells and whistles, Singapore CWP's which are more difficult but she likes a little better, and Life of Fred and Beast Academy which she really enjoys because they are more language/problem solving based programs.

 

As for language arts, I'm still not sure I'm pushing her enough but we've skipped ahead a year in FLL and WWE and added MCT. We moved up to more difficult Latin work and added Greek at her request. She also wants to add Hebrew and Spanish but there aren't enough hours in the day for me to organize that just yet.

[GoVanGogh]

 

Yeah, just be careful with Shakespeare. I read a few plays to my son and he cried his head off. Oops..:001_huh:

That is better than my son going around quoting Macbeth constantly. :lol:

[KirstenH]

My youngest is like that, which is the biggest tipoff to me that he might be gifted. (My eldest is highly gifted, but only intellectually. Emotionally, he's behind his age peers.)

 

I agree, it's harder to know what to do for the emotionally gifted ones. Bacon couldn't care less about learning his letters (although he's by far the best in the house at Angry Birds and Wii), but sometimes I feel like he's operating on a higher level than I am, emotionally, and I'm 31. It's disconcerting and wonderful at the same time. I worry for him.

[SunshineMom]

Your daughter sounds just like my dd8-welcome to the club. She is very sensitive about animal rights, our role as humans w/regards to animals being endangered, global warming issues, and ecology. She also picks up on subtle inferences in readings, character motivations, relationships between author styles, themes, etc. She also spends a great deal of alone time researching topics of interests (mostly animals, ecology). She loves reading poetry and more lately, writing short stories. I have accelerated most of her school work but the library offers her the greatest source of enrichment. If you haven't started a foreign language already, I would recommend Latin. I would also encourage suggesting classic reads to your dd however I would stay away from analysis for awhile or least keep it light. Wishing you all the best on your journey:)

[Donna]

My oldest and youngest have a knack for noticing details about people. They seem to always find the behavior or subtle details that someone might not even realize they do so when they imitate that person, you know immediately who it is.