Knowing Your Child Before Choosing a School
Welcome to Vanguard Gifted Academy’s educational blog. I’m Elizabeth Blaetz, Head of School at Vanguard Gifted Academy. This is the first installment of our new series, Selecting the Best School for Your Gifted Child. We’ll first focus on knowing your child before choosing a school.
Often, it isn’t until your child starts attending a school that you realize she doesn't fit in with other students or doesn’t respond well to the program itself. This misfit between a school and the gifted child can sometimes lead parents to believe their child is not gifted rather than realize their school cannot meet their child’s needs.
In this series, we’ll discuss various gifted programs and how to find the best learning environment for your child.
I encourage you to think carefully about your child before you begin exploring types of programs. When you visit schools, keep in mind how your child’s qualities will or will not fit in that program. Three aspects are particularly relevant. The first to consider is his or her social-emotional development. Many describe giftedness as asynchronous development, and it’s often hard to understand the social-emotional side of this, especially in the learning environment. Think about your child’s social maturity. Is she young for her age? Does she often act out or get upset about things that don’t seem very important? Or is your child older for his age? Does he tend to be the one to coach his age-level peers or lead them in activities? A child with more social-emotional maturity may fit into an acceleration program well. On the other hand, a child who is immature for his age will find it very difficult to be in a program with all older children. Understanding your child’s social-emotional developmental level enables you to make an educated decision about what program will fit him.
Secondly, consider your child’s personality tendencies. Is she strongly independent, or does she appreciate having a partner as she explores new ideas? Is your child flexible about her thinking or unwilling to change her mind after committing to an idea? These aspects of your child’s personality will impact what kind of school environment she fits into best. For instance, many online programs for gifted children require healthy independence and a willingness to do work all by themselves. Alternatively, some programs provide a teamwork-friendly community for gifted students who like that sense of camaraderie and companionship as they work through challenges.
The third aspect to consider is your child’s learning preference. Some children want to learn a little bit about everything. Anything they touch, see, or notice in a magazine or book makes them want to explore more. Once they satisfy this desire, they move on to the next exciting thing. The other type of gifted learner wants to dive in deep. These learners don’t want to know about everything, but they want to know everything about the topics they find intriguing. They’re the kids who discover an author they like and then read every book they ever wrote. They require time to dig into all the details. These two very different types of gifted children need different kinds of programs. The curious child who wants to know a little bit about everything would be satisfied in a program that moves forward very quickly, whereas the child who wants to dive deep and learn about one subject needs a program that will accommodate that preference
Think about these three aspects, in addition to others, as you continue reading our blog posts on selecting a school. Thank you for reading, and I hope you’ll enjoy the next installment in our series on public school gifted programs for primary-level learners. For now, you can learn more about Vanguard’s unique educational model on our website.