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6.25.2012

He's a Small Wonder.

A few days ago, I heard my son singing this out of the blue, "Naega jeil jal naga... naega jeil jal naga!" This means "I am the best", which is the chorus of 2NE1's hit song, I Am the BestI was astonished, of course, because as far as I could remember, he heard this song no less than five times before. 


And then the other day, while we were at Bench shopping for my Super Junior shirt, the little man began belting out, "I love you, Baby I'm not a monster, Neon al janha ireoke kajima!
That's from the chorus of Big Bang's Monster, with the Hangul part meaning "You know me so don't leave like this." While he hears this song quite often - from the MYX Daily Top 10, at Arirang's Pops in Seoul, and from my 'Still Alive' CD - I never thought he'd be able to decipher the lyrics considering it's a Big Bang song.


My son has a pretty good memory - something I discovered even before he turned two. But I never expected his memory to be THIS amazing. 


He could already be working on his undergraduate thesis for all I know, lol.
Today, I came across an article from Austega, which gave me a better understanding of giftedness in my child. Looking at it from a broader spectrum, a gifted child exhibits exceptional ability in terms of the following:
  • general intellect
  • specific academic aptitude
  • creative thinking and production
  • leadership
  • psychomotor
  • visual and performing arts
A detailed list of characteristics can be found in this article.

The Circle of Moms simplifies this with an easy-to-understand checklist. The '20 Signs of Giftedness' are listed below:
  1. Has early interest in words and reading
  2. Has exceptionally large vocabulary for their age
  3. Learns rapidly, easily and efficiently
  4. Is curious about objects or situations, asks provocative questions; enjoys exploratory activities
  5. Has an unusually strong memory, but is bored with memorization and recitation
  6. Is flexible in thinking patterns; makes unusual associations between remote ideas 
  7. Is independent
  8. Has a wide range of interests
  9. Demonstrates unusual reasoning power
  10. Likes structure, order and consistency
  11. Show unusual degrees of originality, concentration and persistent hard work on projects that capture their interest and imagination
  12. Is perceptually open to his or her environment
  13. Has an advanced sense of humor
  14. Is sensitive to the feelings of others
  15. Shows more interest in creative effort and new activities than in routine and repetitive tasks
  16. Shows an intense interest and aptitude in an artistic activity, such as drawing, singing, dancing, writing, or playing a musical instrument
  17. Is intellectually playful, interested in fantasy, imagination 
  18. Acts as a leader among children of their own age
  19. Tries to excel in almost everything she does
  20. Senses when problems exist; always trying to adapt or improve things
*Note that no one gifted child exhibits all of these characteristics.

Highlighted in bold are the traits which we have observed in my son so far. And by 'we' that means I, my siblings, Yue's kindergarten teacher, and even the school directress.

Feel free to refer to this list as you discover and nourish the giftedness of your own child. As for me, I'm looking forward to being further amazed and astounded by my little progeny. :)


16 comments:

  1. My sister just wrote a piece on this giftedness thing, and I am out of it as an empty nester. But, seeing this list proves that there really is a focus on it. Funny timing:)

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  2. It's wonderful to see these different areas develop in our children! I also like that this list is fairly broad - I truly believe that everyone is gifted in something:)
    Thanks for sharing this list,
    Kristina

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  3. Kanino pa ba magmamana sistur??

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  4. hahaha he is soooo cute!!!! naega jeil jal naga...

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  5. Real amazing! continue to guide him and may he stay as a blessing to your family.

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  6. so cute!! kids pick up things so fast

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  7. That is wonderful! Kids can learn on son many levels.

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  8. a great list--its amazing how well children retain information!!!

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  9. It is so cool to see the gifts are children have! I love when I see something special in my kids, it stirs my heart! Your son sounds so precious!!

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  10. That is so interesting.. In reading that I think I missed a lot of it in my oldest daughter (now 16) she fit so many of those characteristics when she was young and now. Kids are amazing enjoy watching yours grow. :)

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  11. galing naman your child! so bright :) Keep on improving and honing his skills, you'll never know what he can achieve in the future :)


    Rovie,
    OASAP and FIRMOO giveaways on The Bargain Doll! :)

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  12. Czjai... love the list! Thank you for sharing it with us. It's such a wonderful feeling when we see our children excel or do things we never thought of witnessing. I am constantly learning from my baby.

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  13. I love that this list is so diverse--kids have so many ways they can be gifted. We just need to learn to see it. Thanks for sharing!

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  14. Kids' minds are like sponges, they soak up stuff so fast! Galing naman niya nakakakanta pa in Korean haha! :D

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  15. This is such a good information for me. We have some kids in school that parents failed to notice their being gifted.I hope they would be like you so their kids will develop their talents and excel on it.

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A good writer possesses not only his own spirit but also the spirit of his friends.
~ Friedrich Nietzsche

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