Gifted Children 11/24/23

Common Characteristics of Gifted Children:

• Ability to comprehend material several grade levels above their age peers 
• Surprising emotional depth and sensitivity at a young age 
• Strong sense of curiosity 
• Enthusiastic about unique interests and topics  
• Quirky or mature sense of humor 
• Creative problem solving and imaginative expression 
• Absorbs information quickly with few repetitions needed 
• Self-aware, socially aware, and aware of global issues 

https://www.davidsongifted.org/prospective-families/gifted-traits-and-characteristics/#:~:text=Common%20Characteristics%20of%20Gifted%20Children%3A&text=Enthusiastic%20about%20unique%20interests%20and,quickly%20with%20few%20repetitions%20needed

 

Mike Peters was the first child prodigie I knew. We met in high school. Mike began drawing cartoons as a child. He stuttered and tried to avoid redicule. His parents encouraged him to practice his way out of stuttering. His cartoons were exceptional and he ended up with a Pullitizer Prize and giving speeches.  I met other teens in high school who were focused. Marsha Mason was one of Mike’s classmates in grade school.  Marsha was focused on acting.  Mary Fran Leuke was focused on padgents and became the first Junior Miss in 1962.  All were similar to the Olympic athletes in their focus and energy.  Bonnie Bramlet was the singer in our Blues Band at the Livingroom on Gaslight Square in St. Louis. She ended up on LA as Nonnie Delanie and Friends with a hit record called Never-ending Love for You. I saw her on the Johnny Carson show and later as the singing waitress on Roseann.

Intelligence is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. Our motivation is required to pursue specific knowledge and skills as we decide to begin. I was home schooled until age 6.  I took an IQ test, scored 120 and entered 3^rd grade at age 7.  My Iowa tests in 6^th and 7^th grade showed I was 2 years ahead of my age group. School was never hard. I viewed myself as a customer and focused on long term retention. My parents and grandparents were equally blessed.

My favorite noncollege grad went to work pulling fenders at a junk yard after high school.  He observed the inefficiency of customers calling one junk yard after another to fine a part.  He put on a suit and visited the local Telex office.  They lent him 6 telex machines to allow him to publish one phone number for customers to call. It worked.  I ran into him years later.  He was hosting his annual banquet for his 300 customers and their wives

The “Normal Curve” gives us a way to look at knowledge and skill. Every specific skill has its own normal curve, like baseball and math.  

My great grandson Jordan was above average in gymnastics at age 2.  He could soar through the air on a trampoline and land wherever he wants to land.  He further developed this skill diving, playing baseball and skateboarding.

We raised our 6 kids to “be themselves” and make their own decisions.  Our oldest daughter Lisa was challenged to make A’s by her 6^th grade teacher.  She became am A student.  Our youngist son Tim was motivated in 8^th grade by a presentation where his football coach praised a team member for maintaining his A average.  Tim became an A student. Our daughters Julie and Colleen became A students in college.  Motivation to excel is often delayed.  Dr. Ben Carson reported making his decision to excel in grade school.  He was raised in a housing project.  He became a top neuro-surgeon and became Secretary of Housing in the Trump Administration.

Generations tend to lack consistency in accomplishment. Documentaries of famous Titans of Industry show mixed results for the children of these Titans. The Vanderbilts accumulated wealth in the 1800s by providing ferry boats to deliver goods in and out of New York and continued to include steamships and railfoads. When the family focused on building multiple mansions, their wealth shrank. These families sould have done better by encouraging their children to be themselves. The Kennedy fortune was secured in the stock market and spent on political aspirations. The great contribution by Titans like Rockefeller, Carnagie, Morgan, Edison and Ford  was improving transportation to allow goods and services to expand.

There are also examples of high achievement by those with serious medical conditions.  Teddy Roosevelt was a sickly chile who adopted a strenuous lifestyle.  Franklin Roosevelt suffered from polio, but didn’t allow it to slow him down.  John F Kennedy suffered from illness his entire life, but managed to function.

I see this in my own observations. My grandfather Leo was homeschooled on the family farm. Took a factory job at age 11 to pay for a science tutor, entered medical school at age 16, graduated at age 19 at the top of his class and was appioint Professor of Internal Medicine.  His brother Humbert inherited the family farm. He was form in 1886 when medical advances were despirately needed. My great grandmother was a Lewis. Her cousin was Meriwether Lewis. None of Leo’s 12 children went to medical school. Two died in WW2 and 3 were disabled by muscular atrophy. One aunt did marry a doctor but non of their 7 children went to medical school.

My experience with employee development taught me that skills can be increased. My experience at Schwan Foods in Salina Kansas in the 1970s proved that APT testing, study and retesting can improve performance.

The workforce grew up as farm kids, expected to learn the Bible, get A’s in school and do the farm chores at home.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader