Instructions

• Getting to know your gifted child’s ways and emotional range is important. Since you have already discovered that your child is gifted, perhaps through his or her remarkable capacity for reading or advanced verbal skills, etc. you already know and understand some behavioral aspects of your gifted child. Try to get to know the child better, and monitor his/her behavior in all social situations, this will help you discipline the child more easily.
• It is important to accept that though gifted children might be very intelligent in certain spheres, they often share the same emotional range as others of their age group. Hence, you must always keep in mind that the child is still young and immature in some respects.
• A Gifted child can comprehend much more than an average child. They may be able to find ways of evading punishment. Often their verbal capacity is so extensive, that they can effectively confuse and distract their parents into letting them off. Therefore, it is important that from an early stage, you begin clearly stating, explaining rules and enforcing them, while also warning the child of the consequences of behavioral lapses.
• Never excuse a gifted child when he or she behaves in an unacceptable way, or breaks rules, just because the child is exceptionally bright. Proper behavior, good manners, etc. are important for the social development of any child. Letting the child off at this stage may lead to more serious behavioral problems later on.
• In order to discipline a gifted child more effectively, parents must always remain consistent when it comes to rules and punishments. A gifted child, who is inconsistently punished, will realise that you are being lenient, take advantage of your leniency and weakness, and repeat the unwanted behavior.
• While disciplining a gifted child when he or she misbehaves is important, reinforcing good behavior and manners by praising and rewards will encourage the child to behave in a more appropriate manner.
• Gifted children often get bored, because their mental processes are much faster than those of an average child, so it would be a good idea to provide the child with enough stimuli to satisfy his or her intellectual needs. For instance, if your child can read really well, and loves books, you can sign up for a library membership and borrow various interesting books suited to the intellectual level of the child.