Teaching Gifted Children in Primary
We usually think of gifted children needing special learning environments in school, but gifted children in church classes also need to be challenged. If they get bored, they often choose to occupy their minds plotting mischief, and because they are bright, they can come up with mischief so original you are not prepared.
The challenge to teaching the gifted child in Primary is to stimulate his mind without overwhelming the other children. When my younger children were in preschool, their wise teacher said she found it easy enough to toss in a little advanced information for the brightest students, and that it could be done quickly so that the others didn't get bored. She even found herself demonstrating the concept of carrying in addition one day in response to an argument between my daughter and her friend. The others watched curiously, and she had moved back to the counting lesson before they lost interest.
Most gifted children have a good grasp on the basic principles taught in a Primary lesson, and they often, if they come from good LDS homes, have a strong background in the scripture stories as well. However, all children love to hear a well-told story. No matter how many times a child hears the story of Noah and his ark, he will listen with enthusiasm if the storyteller is prepared. All children love to play games, sing songs and do finger-plays. These activities will interest both the gifted learner and the slower one.
When my friend Laura visited my class, she added in bits of information on the lesson topic that were not in the lesson. The children were captivated by these new facts and stories. When you prepare a lesson, look at all the listed resources at the start of the lesson. It is likely that you will find tidbits of knowledge that will interest a young gifted child.
Suppose you are teaching a group of four-year-olds. Four of the children are average, one is less knowledgeable and mature than the others and two are bright. One of the two is especially gifted and knows a great deal about the gospel. How do you reach the brightest child without losing the others?
First read the lesson, noting which materials will interest each group of children. Under the preparation section of the lesson, you will see a link to a section of Gospel Principles. Click on it and read the section. If you were preparing a lesson for a real class, you would want to print out this section and highlight any material you think would interest and challenge your student. Keep in mind that you must stay with the stated purpose of this lesson, you must not spend more than a brief time away from the material in the lesson book, and you must not bore the others. The lesson talks about the basics of the topic. Gospel Principles adds to this information. You may want to pull out a few details to sprinkle into the lesson, in hopes of finding information your little scholar does not already have.
Another way to challenge bright children is to ask hard questions. Follow up the obvious answers with more challenging ones. Brighter children might also be called on to read scriptures and to explain concepts to the others. You may be pleasantly surprised by what your youngest scriptorian can teach you. When a preschooler who can already read is chosen to read scriptures, he models good behavior for the others. If children who can't read beg for a turn too, bring them beside you and point to each word as you tell them what to say.
Finally, keep the pace moving. Gifted children often have a short attention span for what they already know, and an excessively long one for what they are interested in. Don't let them hold up the class too long, but don't linger on easy points. Put action, variety and enthusiasm into your lesson so you don't find your student studying how to make origami from your visual aids.
Having an especially bright child in your class will benefit all the students, but you may be the biggest winner of all as you study the gospel in order to challenge your student.
By Terrie Lynn Bittner