Kindergarten Ready vs Gifted in Kindergarten

When I began as a Gifted Teacher, I was lucky enough to be a part time K-2 Gifted Teacher at 2 different schools. Though my passion had originally been with older students, my eyes opened to a few different important topics. One specifically that continually was discussed – is this kindergartener gifted, or did they come to kindergarten ready?

 

Different Experiences

 

Some children come to kindergarten with a lot of background knowledge. Other children come to kindergarten knowing how to read. Many children come to kindergarten hoping to make friends. Some children come to kindergarten just wanting to play.

 

Each family, culture, and environment is different for your children going into kindergarten. ALL of these situations are great and appropriate. Kindergarteners DO NOT have an expectation of being able to read, write, do math, or know how to creatively play. The experiences we build as a family before kindergarten will look different for each family.

 

BUT, if kids are coming in with such different experiences how do we know if a kid is gifted in Kindergarten?

 

Ask Important Questions

 

We can start to look for giftedness by asking questions. These questions may look like:

1. What was this child’s experience before kindergarten?
2. Has this child been TAUGHT early skills, or did they DISCOVER these skills independently?
3. What positive cultural differences may play a role in this child’s development?
4. What positive factors are impacting the background knowledge this child has?
5. What gifted characteristics does this child possess outside of academics? (See Below)

 

Young Gifted Characteristics

 

A young gifted child will not only be able to perform academically, but they will also have many gifted characteristics that are beginning to develop. Some of these characteristics may look like:

 

• Retain information with little repetition
• Keenly observant
• Asks questions and uses critical thinking to solve problems
• Creative ideas and actions
• Asynchronous development of emotions compared to knowledge
• Strong sensitivities
• Very focused interests and passions – commits to tasks
• Expanded vocabulary and ability to understand words (i.e. similes, metaphors, analogies, idioms, sarcasm)
• Perfectionist tendencies
• Learns math or reading skills through exploration and discovery
• Understands multiple perspectives

 

Young Gifted Characteristics (Negatively Perceived)

 

Not all gifted characteristics are always perceived as positive. Here is a list of more “difficult” characteristics.

 

• Questioning attitude
• Fixates on negative situations – “doomsday” thinking
•  Struggles with executive functioning and day to day life
• Criticizes others and struggles with authority
• Difficulty with peer relationships – tends to gravitate toward older kids or adults
• Over-aware of worldly issues and can become sensitive
• Unable to move away from tasks when time is up
• Can be disruptive or off task
• Struggles to use flexible thinking – can be very critical of self
• Strong and intense emotions or moods

 

What can teachers do for academically advanced students?

 

It is equally important to challenge and support academically ready (or advanced) kindergarteners as it is to challenge gifted kindergarteners. The difference: HOW you challenge them.

 

If  a child comes to kindergarten with advanced skills (most likely due to previous exposure and home support), it is still important to challenge these students. The key here is to go DEEPER with the learning – not just jump to 1st grade skills. When a child knows how to add within 10, think to yourself ” how can I challenge his addition?” rather than just giving the student 11 + 13. Sure, the numbers are higher, but the thinking is not being developed (they are doing the same skill). Want to know more about digging deeper in learning? Check out these blog posts:

Differentiating Math for K-1

Gifted Back to School Planning: Depth of Knowledge

 

What can teachers do for kids GIFTED in kindergarten?

 

You have dug in deep to think about the reason you (or parents) think the child is gifted. You have identified this child has a lot of gifted characteristics and this child (wether they have a lot of background knowledge or not), can learn topics rapidly.

Its time to challenge them and support them. What might that look like?

 

1. Social Emotional Support

Most likely, this child may be having social and emotional difficulties. Maybe they have strong feelings and sensitivities. Or, possibly, they are noticing they are different than their peers. Are bored students acting out? Begin by supporting these difficulties – because without looking at the whole child and the difficulties giftedness brings, there is little purpose in supporting them academically.

 

2. Critical Thinking

Implement opportunities for the student to develop critical thinking skills. Yes, challenging them academically is important, but developing their thinking skills will support them even more as they move into older grades. Teaching divergent thinking, convergent thinking, analogies, evaluative thinking, and more will not only challenge this child, but help them apply deeper thinking into all academic areas. BONUS: teaching these thinking skills is great for all students in your class!!!!

 

Check out these critical thinking blog posts for implementation at young ages and resources:

Convergent vs Divergent Thinking

Gifted Back to School Planning: Critical Thinking

 

3. Differentiated Activities

If this child already knows how to read at a 2nd grade level, do not have them sit through the letter “t” phonics lesson. If you have given a phonics assessment and can prove they do not have any gaps in their learning, give this child opportunities to develop skills at their level. Check out my Phonics Blog Post on ideas for differentiating phonics.

 

If this child already knows how to solve math skills being taught, find ways for them to interact with the math skill at a deeper level. Maybe this is through puzzles, games, critical thinking activities or creation of some sort.

 

4. The Don’ts

Once we identify gifted children as needing something different, please DON’T:

• Have them teach other students for differentiation – they are not teachers or tutors! Help them continue to learn
• Give them independent projects and ignore them – Don’t get me wrong, I love a good project for developing skills! But, you need to check in, support, and teach during this project – even if it is only 2 or 3 times a week.
• Put behavior issues first – If your child is struggling behaviorally, do not use this as an excuse to not support them. Yes, the behavior issues need to be supported FIRST, but they can still be differentiated for – it just may take a little more creativity. You may even find that once you start to differentiate, the engagement may increase and the behavior difficulties may decrease.

 

In Conclusion…

Overall, both Kindergarten Ready and Gifted Kindergarteners need differentiation, support, and instruction at their level. They are incredible for different reasons and deserve a years growth no matter where they come into kindergarten.

 

BUT, lets begin to move away from calling Kindergarten students that know how to read “gifted”. Not all kindergarteners that know how to read when they enter school are gifted, and not all gifted kindergarteners know how to read! Let’s move past the academic stigma of giftedness and look at the whole child’s characteristics.

 

Thanks!

What do you think? Share your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, and more in the comments below! Join the conversation here or on Instagram!

 

Interested in more resources? Head to my TPT: Gifted With Goldens