Top signs that your child is a prodigy
Young children are immensely creative and curious. They have a spark in their eyes to explore new and new things. Some rare kids are born geniuses. Their obsession with learning something helps them in creating a positive impact on the world. In the age of playing with toys and watching cartoons, some extraordinarily talented kids have achieved far beyond that many normal adults would not be able to make in their lifetime.
First of all, who is a child prodigy? According to psychology, a prodigy is a child under ten years old with skills in some field to the level of an adult expert. There have been many geniuses in the world who turned the world in awe of themselves. By the time Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart turned four, he was composing music; Pablo Picasso painted about everything around him from toddlerhood; Drew Peterson played a piano concert in Carnegie Hall at 6. There have been many who have completed their graduation in teenage. Many have established themselves as successful child entrepreneurs.
Every kid is special. Your little champ can be one among those gifted prodigies. What are the qualities that these extraordinary minds possess? How to identify if your kid has one such hidden talent? Here, we have made a list of the top signs to decide the barrier between the ordinary and extraordinary.
- High Creativity
Prodigies dazzle us with their exceptional skills. They have a rage to learn. Creativity is hard to nurture but easy to dismantle. The signs of creative genius in children are usually visible at a young age. While everyone wants their child to possess more significant than average intelligence, only 6–10% of children are intelligent enough to be called “gifted.” The parents of these children encourage them to think for themselves. They tend to focus more on moral values rather than on a specific set of rules. Only one in about five to ten million children fits into the criteria of being considered as a prodigy.
Is your child a creative genius? Which traits do these super creative children possess? According to several researchers, the following qualities makes a kid different from the crowd:
- They vividly imagine how their dream world would look like in reality.
- They develop a love for reading at an early age and have a high reading level from other kids.
- They have a high working memory power.
- They have a high reading level as compared to other children of their age.
- They can recall and assess information quickly and easily.
- They get bored with routine tasks and try to come up with something new.
- They ask a lot of questions about things around them.
- They set targets for themselves.
- They are well aware of the events around them and love to spend time alone or with people above their age.
Creative kids have fantabulous imagination power. They like to use their imaginations to draw, act, or maybe even create an imaginary friend to spend time with when they are alone. They have a clear definition of how their world would look based on stories they have read or shows they have seen. They find joy in their imagination even while being alone.
Creativity and intelligence go hand in hand. Studies show that creative people are likely to discover unique and innovative ways of solving a problem while smart people go the logical route in conjuring up solutions. They love to brainstorm and suggest new ways to solve any problem. Naturally, all kids are curious in enquiring about their surroundings. But the gifted ones usually ask more questions than the other children. They want to know what, why, and how of every process happening around them. They may leave you speechless with their intellectual queries.
You can give wings to their creativity by guiding them to research the topics and interests they feel curious about while reading. You can seek the help of some fantastic educational sites such as Britannica Kids so they can continue learning about what sparks their creativity. Or, you can find educational shows such as those on National Geographic to help them widen their knowledge. Gifted children show interest in some specific topics. If you observe your child is engrossed in reading about volcanoes, space, or dinosaurs exclusively for a long time, they might be creative genius.
- Business-minded Kids
Is your child gifted with the qualities of an entrepreneur? Is he inclined towards business from a young age? Does he understand the value of money? Is he keen on making money at an early age?
The answers to all the above questions can be a big yes. Looking and reading about the achievements of kid entrepreneurs, you might wonder if they were born for business. Every kid is unique, no matter where he is born. All you need is to identify and unfold the talents of these young clay minds. Children spend most of their valuable time with their parents. So, it’s them who can assess the potential of their kid.
Whether starting a lemonade stand in the locality or selling candies from door to door, entrepreneurs usually show interest in making money from their childhood. Most kids of their age don’t know what they want to be when they grow up. However, many business owners will confess that they’ve always been an entrepreneur since childhood either directly or indirectly.
How to encourage a budding entrepreneur?
If your kid is a business enthusiast, you must teach appropriate values to enlighten them in the right direction. As a parent, you must teach them:
- About the value of money
Teaching financial literacy to your kids has become an indispensable need of the hour. Teach them how to earn, save, manage, and invest.
- Future planning
Teach your kids to be patient. Grow them to be ambitious and let them follow their passion.
- Creative thinking
Don’t limit them with a set of the same routine rules. Tell them it’s alright not to follow the same routine. Encourage them and be enthusiastic in listening to their out-of-the-box ideas.
- To build their perspective.
Entrepreneurship is a lifelong journey. Starting your own business is a roller-coaster ride. No one is perfect at getting everything right on the first try. Therefore, it is essential to teach your kids how to face failure. Teach them to learn and work upon their mistakes. Try to instill a sense of passion and grit in their young minds.
Entrepreneurs are different from others. They have an underlying force driving them from within their hearts. When parents decide to encourage rather than discourage divergent thinking and creativity, they help raise our future thought leaders, inventors, and creatives.
Are child prodigies born or made?
There is no clear answer to this question. People with exceptional skills at such a young age make us believe that they were born with those skills. Child prodigies like Mozart and Blaise Pascal are extremely rare. There’s no simple answer to the question of whether a child prodigy is born with his talent or has developed it later on. Hereditary factors and genes play a significant role in determining the capabilities of a child. With the right environment, one can cultivate and nurture their talent. Let’s go through some of the significant factors that determine a child being a prodigy:
- High Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
Even though IQ is not the sole factor in determining the capabilities of a child, it is the marker of a child prodigy. According to several pieces of research, most of these “gifted” kids have a remarkably high IQ compared to other children of the same age. The learning and grasping power of children is far more than that of adults. So, it’s indeed possible to increase their IQ with the aid of the right tools and guidance. Letting children pursue their hobbies have a positive effect on this process.
- Environment
The environment is the most crucial factor in deciding the fate of a child. The capabilities of your child can diminish if not given a proper environment and direction. Keep the atmosphere of your home healthy and conflict-free. Help your children in developing their hobbies and skills. Inculcating good habits in childhood shapes their personality as they grow up.
- Role Of Parents
Parents are the most valuable people in the life of a child. From transferring their genes to raising them, parents play the most crucial part in their life journey. With the correct parenting and values, your child can become a prodigy too. Make them comfortable enough to talk to you freely. Encourage and support them in following their interests and passion. After all, geniuses are humans too. They don’t belong to some other world. They work hard to reach that position.
