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Early Academic Intervention. Do Young Gifted Children Benefit ?. High Public Interest. Discussed even in daily newspapers Especially for at-risk and minority children High enrollment in enrichment programs (Language Stars, Kumon etc.). Early identification.
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Early Academic Intervention Do Young Gifted Children Benefit ?
High Public Interest • Discussed even in daily newspapers • Especially for at-risk and minority children • High enrollment in enrichment programs (Language Stars, Kumon etc.)
Early identification • Educators generally in favor (McBride, 1992) • Nurture at home independent of ID (Colangelo, 1986; Tannenbaum, 1992) • Danger of being labeled (Freeman, 1995) • Early Identification not reliable (Ziegler, 2004) Identified children on the “gifted track” can be under pressure to perform
Early is the ideal time... • Stimuli work best with children under 5 (Tannenbaum, 1992) • Earlier entry – better performance (Field, 1991) • Children discouraged from learning may hide their talents (Whitmore, 1986; Barbour, 1992) • Early school entry gives confidence – children know the “drill” (Sylva, 1994)
Later is better ... • Loss of childhood (Elkind, 1981) • Children need free time to incorporate learned content (Elkind, 1988a) • Formal schooling “quenches” creativity (Meador, 1992) • If early then child-centered (Stipek, 1995)
Conclusion - or what is best? • Early academics for gifted children must be child-centered / flexible • Gifted children learn early to value and use their talents • Nurturing and supporting environment more important than being or not being in a preschool
References: • Barbour, N. B. (1992). Early Childhood Gifted Education: A Collaborative Perspective. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 15(2), 145-162. • Colangelo, N., & Fleuridas, C. (1986). The Abdication of Childhood. Journal of Counseling and Development, 64, 561-563. • Elkind, D. (1981) The Hurried Child – Growing up too Fast too Soon. Cambridge, MA:Perseus Publishing • Elkind, D. (1988a). Our President: Acceleration. Young Children, 43(4) • Field, T. (1991). Quality Infant Day Care and Grade School Behavior and Performance. Child Development, 62, 863-870. • Freeman, J. (1995).Annotation: Recent Studies of Giftedness in Children. Journal of Child Psychology Psychiatry, 36(4), 531-547.
References II: • McBride, N. (1992). Early Identification of the Gifted and Talented Students: Where Do Teachers Stand? Gifted Education International, 8, 19-22. • Meador, K.S. (1992). Emerging Rainbows. Journal for the Education of the Gifted 15(2) • Stipek, D. et al. (1995). Effects of different approaches on Young Children's Achievement and Motivation. Child Development 66(1) • Sylva, K. (1994). School influences on Children’s Development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 36, 135-170. • Tannenbaum, A. (1992). Early Signs of Giftedness. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation. • Whitmore. (1986). Intellectual Giftedness in Young Children. New York: Waworth. • Ziegler, A. (2004). Stabilität von Intelligenz und Hochbegabung im Vorschulalter. LVH aktuell, 13.