Activities to stretch gifted and talented children

Be it on an academic, musical, artistic or sporting level, bringing up a gifted or talented child can be a parenting challenge. If a child is ahead of their peers, it can be hard to accommodate their needs and, by not being stimulated, they risk never reaching their full potential. So, what activities will stretch gifted and talented children?

Musical
If your child has a gift for music, there are things you can do to nurture this talent. Encourage your child to play with older, more advanced musicians. This could be as part of a music group with older children, or as part of a youth orchestra. By playing with musicians of a high level, your child will push themselves more, allowing them to make the most of their talent and their outlook. 

Academic
If your child has shown an advanced level of academic ability for their age, there are many activities you can employ to stretch their abilities and their cognitive development. From using supplementary education programmes or attending various events and activities, there's plenty you can find, designed to pique their interest. Consider friends and neighbours that you know that might have a similar interest and who could help nurture their interest and development. 

Reading
Reading books and learning how to research subjects for themself can open a world of future learning possibilities to extend their interests. Your local library and its extensive online catalogue can be a wonderful resource. The Kumon Recommended reading list can provide a suitable starting place for books at every level and some great suggestions to stretch any child's reading ability. 
 
Hobbies
Seek out activities that offer a means of progressing through a range of levels in order to provide a challenge and sense of achievement to them. There's a range of educational games and activities available that will challenge your child differently to their written school work, such as model building to construction tasks. Whether it's a board game, an online game or a console, seeking out educational challenges will require your child to use their talent and interests in a different way than their usual academic work.

Clubs and groups
If your child has shown an aptitude for science, it is important to get them involved in activities that have a scientific base perhaps where they can collaborate with others. For younger ones, this could be clubs and groups at a local museum, planetarium or park, or look at science kits and subscriptions so they can try out experiments at home. For the under 16s and 18s check local universities for specialist summer camps and study clubs.   

As gifted children get older, their learning needs can become more complex. Talk to your school about information and inclusion in clubs, music and other specialist camps and competitions that they can help research for you. 

Kumon can certainly support students that desire to take on more challenging work and because our maths and English programmes aren't limited by the school curriculum, they can use their ability to progress through the levels to become an advanced learner. By encouraging children's own independent study and progression, the Kumon programmes are challenging and encourage advanced learning with suitable support from our Instructors. Speak to your local centre about joining Kumon today!