About Gifted Kids
At NZCGE, we describe a gifted child as one who has high abilities in relation to their peers of the same age in one or more areas (including intellectual, creative, social, cultural and physical), along with particular personal qualities like intensity, sensitivity and big emotions.
What is giftedness?
A gifted child has a brain wired to learn and process faster, and retain more than their neurotypical peers. About 1 in 20 children - unaffected by gender, ethnicity or socio-economic status - are born with their brain wired in this way. About 30% have an additional neurodiversity like ADHD, ASD and dyslexia.
Giftedness can be nurtured which may result in outstanding achievements, in and out of school. We know that with the right support, our gifted learners can develop those differently wired brains and can achieve extraordinary things.
Hear from our MindPlus kids what it means to be gifted, the challenges they face, and what MindPlus means for them.
How do you know a child is gifted?
Gifted kids are not necessarily easy to spot. Some will be obvious - they are excelling at school, but sometimes in a particular subject area only. Some will be finding school boring and are acting out. Some will be hiding their giftedness because they don’t like being seen as different. And others will be managing other neurodiversities which complicates them exploring their gifts.
How do I support my gifted child?
The best thing we can do for our gifted children is to ensure they are in a learning environment where they feel they belong and where they are supported to develop their skills - social and emotional as well as academic - and explore their talents.
Sometimes, and at some stages of their development, your child may be getting all they need from their current learning environment. You’ll know because they will seem (mostly!) happy, with at least one or two friends, at ease with themselves, curious, and excited about what they are learning.
If this isn’t the case, you may need to do more.
Take our fun quiz!
Yes, gifted kids are intense! Gifted people really do react quickly, more strongly and for longer than neurotypical people to different types of stimuli, whether they be:
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Intellectual (of the mind)
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Sensory (of the senses)
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Imagination
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Psychomotor (of the body)
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Emotional (of feelings)
Find out your or your child’s top intensity in our super-quick online questionnaire!