Child Prodigies
| Child Prodigies: A Blessing or a Curse? | Term Essay | | | Mona S. November/28/2012 |
Child Prodigy: A Blessing or a Curse?
A child prodigy is an individual, who at a very early age (mostly under the age of 10) is a master of one or a couple of skills or arts. These individuals or children display expert ability or a deep grasp of the fundamentals in a field usually only undertaken by adults. Using a specific term which expresses or defines a child prodigy can change attitudes portrayed towards such individuals such as gifted, talented, superior, rapid learner, able student, bright, exceptional, and even genius. Although there are many terms used to define a child prodigy, the most accepted and preferred terms used are gifted or exceptional (Laycock, 1957).
Barbara Clark (1997) identifies a child prodigy as an exceptionally gifted individual who seems to have different value structures, which usually allow them to cope with the conflict or difference they find between their perception of life and that of the average person. According to D. Feldman (1993), a child prodigy may have a reasonably high, but not necessarily exceptionally high, IQ. Prodigies tend to be unusually focused, determined, and highly motivated to reach the highest levels of their fields. They are often marked by great confidence in their abilities, along with a naive sense of these abilities. Thomas & Crescimbeni (1966) refer to the gifted or child prodigies as individuals that have an IQ of 115 and higher. However, that could only be implied to highly intellectual individuals as there are many different forms of child prodigies.
I am interested in child prodigies for many reasons as it plays a huge role on how they are raised and how they socialize with others. To others a child prodigy might be a blessing but to child prodigies it is a curse depending on how they are treated. Here are some reasons as to why it is perceived that way:
Most child prodigies are denied
Child Prodigy: A Blessing or a Curse?
A child prodigy is an individual, who at a very early age (mostly under the age of 10) is a master of one or a couple of skills or arts. These individuals or children display expert ability or a deep grasp of the fundamentals in a field usually only undertaken by adults. Using a specific term which expresses or defines a child prodigy can change attitudes portrayed towards such individuals such as gifted, talented, superior, rapid learner, able student, bright, exceptional, and even genius. Although there are many terms used to define a child prodigy, the most accepted and preferred terms used are gifted or exceptional (Laycock, 1957).
Barbara Clark (1997) identifies a child prodigy as an exceptionally gifted individual who seems to have different value structures, which usually allow them to cope with the conflict or difference they find between their perception of life and that of the average person. According to D. Feldman (1993), a child prodigy may have a reasonably high, but not necessarily exceptionally high, IQ. Prodigies tend to be unusually focused, determined, and highly motivated to reach the highest levels of their fields. They are often marked by great confidence in their abilities, along with a naive sense of these abilities. Thomas & Crescimbeni (1966) refer to the gifted or child prodigies as individuals that have an IQ of 115 and higher. However, that could only be implied to highly intellectual individuals as there are many different forms of child prodigies.
I am interested in child prodigies for many reasons as it plays a huge role on how they are raised and how they socialize with others. To others a child prodigy might be a blessing but to child prodigies it is a curse depending on how they are treated. Here are some reasons as to why it is perceived that way:
Most child prodigies are denied
References: Bernal, E. M. (1979). The education of the culturally different gifted. In A. H. Passow (Ed.), The gifted and the talented (pp. 395-400). Chicago: National Society for the Study of Education. Bruch, C. B., & Curry, J. A. (1978). Personal Learnings: A current synthesis on the culturally different gifted. Gifted Child Quarterly, 22, 33-32 Clark, B Cornell, D. G., & Grossberg, I. N. (1986). Siblings of children in gifted programs. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 9, 253-264. Coleman, L. J. & Cross, T. L. (2001). Being gifted in school: An introduction to development, guidance, and teaching. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press. Covington, M. V. & Beery, R. G. (1976). Self-worth and school learning. New York: Holt. Feldman, D. H. (1993). Child Prodigies: A Distinctive Form of Giftedness. Gifted Child Quarterly, 37, 4, 188-93. Laycock, S. R. (1957). Gifted children. Toronto: The Copp Clark Teacher 's Handbook Series. Reis, S. M., & Callahan, C. M. (1989). Gifted females: They’ve come a long way—or have they? Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 12, 99-117. Thomas, G. I., & Crescimbeni, J. (1966). Guiding the gifted child. New York: Random House. Von. Károlyi, C. and Winner, E. 2005. “Extreme giftedness”. In Conceptions of giftedness, Edited by: Sternberg, R. J and Davidson, J. E. 377–394. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (2nd edn) Yoga, S