Gifted Kids & Preschool Anxiety
According to a 2010 article on Parents.com titled, "Gifted Kids," gifted children comprise between five to seven percent of the United States school population. With the extra pressure of attending a special school and constant repetition of academics, young children often experience stress and anxiety.
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Definition of Gifted
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According to the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, giftedness is no longer based just on a child's intelligence score. Doctors and teachers will also test their academic skills, their leadership skills, and their creativity and performing arts capabilities.
Gifted Children and Stress
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Even young children feel anxious and stressed at the prospect of entering of a new school, but gifted children feel the added pressure of performing well at all times, otherwise they will be seen as mediocre.
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Unrealistic Expectations
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According to Parents.com, parents may feel excitement about their child's giftedness and push them further, constantly drilling them with their alphabet and math to enroll their child in a special school for kindergarten. The child often feels apathetic toward learning and start acting out in class.
Specific Schools
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Gifted students may learn better in certain preschools that teach with a certain curriculum, especially in a mixed-aged classroom, where a gifted younger child can do the same work as the older children. Certain curriculums, such as Rudolph Steiner's Waldorf approach, focuses on both structured activities and play-centered time, and your child will remain with the same instructor for all of the early childhood education.
Relaxing Techniques
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Duke's Gifted Letter at Duke University discusses tips that children can utilize to lessen their anxiety by using deep breathing and by clenching their fists and relaxing them to release stress.
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