Why does it make sense to treat gifted children differently

Decades of research and several longitudinal studies have shown, quite conclusively, that gifted children (children who show excellent potential for learning and achievement relative to children of the same age) require significant amount of nurturing to live up to their potential. While gifted children have advanced abilities to understand and perform in a variety of areas, they also face some unique challenges - including but not limited to sustaining attention and interest in school settings and lower ability to form meaningful connections with peers in social settings.

Several types of programs have been shown to significantly increase the likelihood that a gifted child is able to fulfil his or her potential, but most of them are built on one core principle - Gifted children need stimulating environments and a curriculum that is both versatile and multi-dimensional in nature. Research has also shown that accelerated learning options, grouping with students that are similar in ability and offering specialized programs are all powerful ways to nurture the abilities of the gifted child and go a long way in the fulfilling the potential of a gifted child.

Gifted Child Identification

While definitions vary, on an average 5% of the school age children are estimated to be gifted. These advances students can have increased capabilities in verbal, spatial, mathematical or social abilities. The testing to identify gifted children is quite versatile in nature and tries to pick up on general and more domain specific abilities.

At Cognosia, Children are given a battery of Cognitive tests upfront. The tests measure a variety of different skills and the results are carefully analyzed and matched to our standard. As expected, the standards for admission in to the gifted child program are rigorous. This ensures that those admitted to the program are able to get the most out of it. Given the batches are small and consist of kids that are very similar in ability and age, children find it much easier to connect with their peer group.

Cognosia’s Programs

At Cognosia, our gifted child programs are after school programs that focus on creating an environment that fosters natural talents and exposes students to ideas and frameworks that are both challenging and engaging. Our multi-modal program combines classroom based Cognitive Skills curriculum with adaptive neuroscience based games, workshops and osocial cognitive activities allowing kids to develop in a more holistic way.

Our Cognitive Skills curriculum is versatile and introduces a variety of topics/ideas that students are not exposed in the school environment. The focus is to help the child build connections between the different forms of learning, developing his/her metacognitive skills and exposing them to ways of deepener their learning.