How to Identify Innately Talented Children

Schools often have some special programs specifically for gifted students and can identify talented students based on IQ scores along with standardized tests. However, you should not completely trust the school in discovering the talents of your children. There are many factors you can use to identify a gifted child, but some of them go unnoticed in the traditional education system. If your child is talented, you need to make sure he gets the special attention he needs to thrive. You can recognize a gifted child by his outstanding academic ability, excellent communication skills, thoughtful thinking, and high empathic abilities.

Table of Contents

Test Your Ability to Learn

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Pay attention to the child’s memory. Talented children often have better memories than other ordinary children. Often you’ll notice something special about your baby’s memory in the least unlikely of circumstances. Look for signs that your child has a super memory. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Children will remember information better than others. Talented children often remember information that they have known from an early age, mainly because of their own curiosity to learn. Children will remember a poem they like or a part of a book. In addition, children can remember the capitals of countries and the names of some birds.
Watch for signs that your child has a superhuman memory in everyday activities. You will find it easy for children to remember information in books or on television. In addition, children also remember full details of an event. For example, children remember all the names of everyone present at dinner, including people they have never met, and may remember physical characteristics of each family member, such as hair color, eye color, and clothing.

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Note reading skills. Early reading is often a sign of a child’s talent, especially when children learn to read and write on their own. If your child can read before school, this is a sign of talent. You will also find that your child has a better reading ability than children of the same age. Children score well on standardized tests of reading comprehension, and teachers also see children reading often in class. Children will prefer reading to other physical activities. ^{[2] X Research Source}

However, it should be remembered that the ability to read is only one of the signs of a child’s talent. Some intelligent children have difficulty with reading at an early age because they live in their own world. For example, as you know Albert Einstein didn’t know how to read until he was 7 years old. If your child doesn’t have outstanding reading skills but shows other signs of genius, he’s still a gifted child.

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Assessment of math ability. Talented children often have outstanding skills in some areas. Some kids are very good at Math. As with reading, keep an eye on your child’s test scores and performance in Math. In addition, at home, children like to play puzzles and mind games in their free time. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Note that, like reading, not all gifted children are good at Math. However, children will have different interests and skills with each area. Although gifted children are often interested in Math, having difficulty with Math does not mean that children are less talented. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

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Consider early child development. Smart children tend to reach developmental milestones earlier than their peers. Children will say complete sentences earlier than their peers. In addition, children also have a rich vocabulary at an early age and can participate in conversations and ask questions earlier than other children. If a child develops earlier than his or her peers, he or she may be a gifted child. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

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Children’s knowledge of the world around them. Talented children have a special passion for understanding the world, politics, and other life events. In addition, children also ask a lot of questions. Children will ask about historical events, family traditions, culture, etc. Children are often curious and enjoy learning new things. A gifted child will know more about the world around them than other children. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

Assessment of Communication Skills

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Vocabulary assessment. Because talented children have a good memory, they will also have a rich vocabulary. By the age of 3 or 4, children can use some complex words in everyday communication. ^{[7] X Research Resources} Talented children also learn new vocabulary quickly. When children learn new words at school, they quickly use them in communication. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

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Pay attention to the child’s questions. Children often ask questions, but the questions of gifted children are often special. They ask questions to better understand the world and people around them because they want to learn. ^{[9] X Research Source}

Talented children will constantly question their environment. Children will ask about what is heard, seen, felt, smelled and tasted. When you play a song, talented children will ask a lot of questions about the song such as its meaning, who sang it, when it was composed, etc.
Talented children will also ask questions to better understand things. Besides, children will ask about other people’s feelings to know why someone is sad, angry or happy.

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Assess how children engage in conversations with adults. Talented children can join the conversation early. Although many children tend to talk about themselves when talking to adults, gifted children learn to keep up with conversations. They will ask questions, discuss the topic at hand, and easily grasp the nuance and deeper meaning of the conversation. ^{[10] X Research Source}

Talented children will also change the tone of the conversation. You will find that children use different vocabulary and expressions when talking to peers and adults.

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Pay attention to the child’s speed when speaking. Talented children often speak quickly. Children will talk about their favorite topics at a fast pace and will suddenly change the subject. This may seem like the child is not paying attention. However, this is a sign that your child is interested and curious about many things. ^{[11] X Research Source}

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See how children follow directions. In the early stages, gifted children can follow many directions without problems. You don’t need any more prompting or explanation. For example, a gifted child will easily follow directions like “Go to the living room, get the red-haired doll from the table and put it in the upstairs toy box. Then, get your dirty clothes down here. for washing”. ^{[12] X Research Source}

Pay Attention to the Way of Thinking

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Find out your child’s special interests. Talented children are considered to be passionate and interested from an early age and are able to concentrate intensely on a topic. Although children often have unique interests, gifted children will have an understanding of many topics. ^{[13] X Research Source}

Talented children love to read books with information on certain topics. If children are interested in dolphins, they will often find relevant information in books about dolphins. You will find that your child has a lot of knowledge about dolphin species, life, behavior and facts related to dolphins.
Children especially love to learn about certain topics. Although many children develop an interest in animals, a gifted child will be overwhelmed when viewing wildlife documents and learning about animals for a school activity.

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Observe the change in thinking. Talented children have a special ability to handle problems. Children have flexible thinking, find new solutions and initiatives. For example, a talented child will find loopholes in the rules of a game or add a few steps and rules to a certain game to make it more interesting. In addition, children will also learn about assumptions and abstractions. You will hear your child say “what if” when trying to find a solution to a problem. ^{[14] X Research Source}

Due to the vividness in the minds of gifted children, they will have difficulty in the classroom. A question on a test with one answer will make children feel disgruntled. Talented children often see multiple solutions or answers. If he’s a gifted kid, he’ll do better on the essay than on a fill-in, multiple-choice, or true-false test. ^{[15] X Research Source}

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Note the imagination. Talented children have innate imaginations. Children will love role-playing and fantasy games. Children will have a unique fantasy world. Talented children will often dream and will have many very special details. ^{[16] X Research Source}

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Observe how children approach art, drama, and music. Many talented children have a special sense of art. Talented children easily express themselves through art forms such as drawing and music. Besides, children also have a deeper perception of art. ^{[17] X Research Source}

Talented children love to draw or write. Children also often imitate others in humorous ways or sing songs they have heard somewhere.
Talented children tell vivid stories, both real and fictional. Children will enjoy extracurricular activities such as drama, music and art because of a natural need to express themselves artistically.

Assessment of Emotional Awareness

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Observe how children interact with people. You will recognize children’s talents based on social interaction. Talented children have a special ability to understand others and know how to empathize. ^{[18] X Research Sources}

Talented children are sensitive to the feelings of others. It’s easy for your baby to tell if someone is upset or angry and wants to know why. Talented children will rarely feel different in every situation and always worry about the comfort of those around them.
Talented children can communicate with people of all ages. Because of their superiority in knowledge, children are able to communicate with adults, adolescents and older children as comfortably as their peers.
However, some gifted children have difficulty communicating. A child’s special interests can cause communication difficulties and are sometimes diagnosed with autism. While positive social interaction is a sign of a child’s talent, it’s not the only one. If a child has difficulty communicating, this does not mean that a child is not talented and that a gifted child may also have autism.

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Note leadership qualities. Talented children tend to be natural leaders. They have the ability to inspire and motivate others and often naturally fall into leadership positions. You will find that your child is often the leader in a group of friends or he will quickly be nominated for the position of leader in extracurricular activities. ^{[19] X Research Source}

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Evaluate how your child spends time alone. Emotionally, gifted children need time to themselves. Children will still spend time with others, but if they are alone, they will not feel bored or confused. Children will do things alone like reading or writing and sometimes prefer to spend time alone rather than hanging out with a group of friends. Talented children are less likely to complain of boredom when there is no recreational activity. because curiosity stimulates the spirit of children. ^{[20] X Research Sources}

When bored, gifted children will need a little “push” to start a new activity (such as giving them a butterfly racket).

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See how children perceive art and natural beauty. Talented children often have high aesthetic sensibility. You will find that children often find the beauty of trees, clouds, water and other natural phenomena. Moreover, children also like anything related to art. Talented children love to look at pictures and are greatly influenced by music. ^{[21] X Research Source}

Talented children often point to things they see like the moon in the sky or a picture on the wall.

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Consider another situation. Autism and hyperactivity will have symptoms that coincide with the characteristics of gifted children. You should watch out for symptoms of certain disorders and not confuse them with signs of talent. If you think your child has autism or hyperactivity, you should seek further medical evaluation. However, these symptoms and talent do not exist separately, and children can have both at the same time.

Hyperactive as well as gifted children will have difficulty in school. However, hyperactive children do not pay attention to details. This group of children often find it difficult to follow directions from adults. Although hyperactive children talk as fast as gifted children, they will show additional signs of hyperactivity such as standing still and constantly moving. ^{[22] X Trusted Source HelpGuide Go to Source}
Like gifted children, children with autism have a passion for enjoyment and enjoy being alone. However, children with autism also have a number of other symptoms. Children with autism do not respond when their name is called, have trouble understanding other people’s feelings, address inappropriately, give irrelevant answers to questions, and overreact or fail to respond when asked. experiencing emotional impacts (such as loud noises, being hugged, etc.). ^{[23] X Research Sources}

Advice

If you believe your child is talented, seek professional evaluation to know more. You can ask your child to take special tests at school. Furthermore, it is important that gifted children need special attention in order to develop.

Warning

Talent can be difficult for children. Children will find it difficult to socialize with friends. Parents should help the child in this.
Don’t let your child think that he will become superhuman with natural talent. Let your child know that everyone has unique talents to admire and that everyone has knowledge that they need to learn more from.

Steps