Gifted Children and The Visual and Performing Arts

You might think that this blog, the 5th and final in our series on Areas of Giftedness, should be lumped in with the first blog on creative giftedness. But in the same way that we drew a distinction between general intellectual capacity and a specific academic ability, we’re drawing a distinction here between creative thinking and this area of giftedness for specific capabilities in the visual and performing arts. In the first blog we discussed creative thinking in general, i.e. independent thinking, a sense of humor, standing out from the crowd. When it comes to giftedness in the visual and performing arts, we’re talking about a specific ability to express themselves through the arts.

Just as with specific academic ability, gifted children with characteristics in the visual and performing arts have an uncanny ability to learn advanced modes of expression, whether in art, music, drama, dance, writing, or any other artistic expression. It simply comes natural to them. Both of our children, for example, are prolific writers and have not only tried their hand at creative writing, but have completed complex works and crave time to spend working on more. They also excelled in band (even though they didn’t relish practicing, which in hindsight indicates they had this gifted characteristic but perhaps didn’t have the personal interest that they do in writing).

Children gifted in the arts have great spatial skills and good—although not necessarily athletic—motor coordination. They easily connect the abstract emotional expression with the medium they’re working in (moral lessons in writing, for example, or themes and stories in music). They are observant and study those who have mastered the mediums: if their interest is writing, they enjoy critical literary analysis, or if their interest is dance, they crave watching and attending performances.

But perhaps most importantly, gifted children in this area will want to emulate the masters for their own expression, and you should definitely foster their expression. If their interest is writing, buy them a journal. If their interest is music, find an instrument that interests them, or let them compose their own work (there is plenty of great music composing software out there, like Noteworthy Composer, one of our personal favorite software packages).

We hope you've found this series of blogs useful. If you have any questions about this series, our blog in general, or just want to talk to us about your gifted child, we want to hear from you! Email us at giftedgalaxy@gmail.com

Gifted Children: Excelling in Specific Areas and Interests

In our previous blog on giftedness in intellectual capacity, we were referring more to a general ability to learn, a broader capacity to learn and excel in any problem solving area. In this blog we’re talking more about a specific—almost preternatural—skill in a specific topic.

Everyone’s familiar with the stereotypical nerd with mathematical capabilities, or the 9 year-old programmer. But the topic can be almost anything, even athletic ability (with the winter Olympics fresh on our minds, who would question whether Apolo Ohno or Lindsey Vonn are “gifted”?) Our son, for example, aced the state biology exam, and our daughter has always excelled in English.

What gifted children who excel in specific areas all have in common, regardless of the interest, are an advanced and natural comprehension of that interest. That subject simply “comes easy” to them. They possess the ability to memorize data, perhaps selectively with respect to their interest, and they will read and study their topic with voracity and an ease of comprehension. And naturally they will excel at their area.

If your child is gifted in a specific area, by all means do all that you can to feed their interest. Get them involved in activities that not only encourage them to develop their interest, but pushes them to refine their capability (for example, Apolo Ohno’s dad didn’t just take him to the skating rink, he drove him to Vancouver to participate in competitions).

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Gifted Children and Intellectual Capacity

This is the characteristic area of gifted children most everyone recognizes, but obviously (the point of our most recent blogs) isn’t the only area. There have been many Presidents of the United States obviously gifted in leadership and certain, specific academic areas (our next blog), who haven’t been particularly gifted with the kind of intellectual capacity we’re talking about here. And of course there have been many artists, musicians, and writers/poets who abound with creative gifts and skills in the visual and performing arts (blog after next) who don’t exhibit gifted levels of intellectual capacity.

Children gifted in intellectual capacity are able to process information in complex ways. This information can be almost anything you can imagine: numeric problems, written information, or even their environment. For example, our daughter exhibited some unique capabilities in this area. Even at the age of only 5 or 6 she was keenly aware of everything in her room (and I do mean everything). She would come home and a few seconds after going to her room, would come out and say something like, “who moved my Pound Kitties?” If I switched the positions of 2 (seemingly) insignificant items on her dresser, she could spot the change within seconds of her return (I know, I did this as an experiment on many occasions to see what she would do). She has uncanny skill with Where’s Waldo.

Gifted children with intellectual capacity can easily formulate abstractions and inferences. They are amazingly observant, even of intangible concepts, and are continually inquisitive. They can get visibly excited about new ideas, and they enjoy hypothesizing solutions. They will employ a complex vocabulary that far exceeds their years and they are voracious learners, though not of topics that you or their teachers may want them to learn.

If your child exhibits characteristics of intellectual giftedness, try to identify the topics that interest them and foster their independent learning in those areas. Take them to the library—the university library if necessary—to explore their interests. Let their teachers know of their specific interests, and encourage them to develop projects or experiments so that they can reach their own conclusions and develop their own hypotheses.