How to Tell If Your Child Is Gifted

• Signs of Gifted Children
  
• Achievement Tests
  
• NNAT and OLSAT Preparation
  
• Analyzing Your Child’s Score
  

Knowing how to tell if your child is gifted can be a very difficult task, as every child thinks and behaves differently. The definition of the word “gifted” can also be very vague, making the task of labeling a child as gifted very difficult. However, there are some signs that gifted children exhibit which can help you assess whether or not you have a gifted child.

Learning to recognize the characteristics of gifted children is often dependent on noticing whether s/he exhibits specific signs of gifted children. Typically, gifted children will show exceptional talent at a very young age—be it verbally, artistically, musically, or in other areas. For instance, a gifted four-year-old may exhibit the vocabulary of a 4th grader, or a seven-year-old may be able to sit down at the piano and perform without any musical training. Clearly, giftedness can manifest itself in many different ways in children. Below is a list of some characteristics of gifted children.

• Heightened attentiveness, focus, and attention span
• Extreme curiosity and enjoyment in learning new things
• Outstanding memory
• Excellent ability to reason and find relationships between ideas
• Ability to convey original, coherent, and complex thoughts
• Exceptional problem-solving ability
• Ability to learn quickly and with less practice
• Active, unusual imagination; heightened creativity
• Expansive vocabulary
• Learning to read at an early age; passionate interest in books
• Interest in social issues
• High energy levels
• A perfectionist attitude; self-motivated
• Relating well to adults

Are you still curious about how to tell if your child is gifted? If your child displays some of the common signs of gifted children listed above, have your child tested at his/her school or with a psychologist. Two of the most prominent assessments used to identify gifted children are the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT) and the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT). TestPrep-Online provides the best resources available to help your child succeed on these tests, including a variety of sample questions, explanations, and practice tests.

The more familiar your child is with the NNAT and OLSAT, the better they will do on the exam. Start your NNAT or OLSAT test prep now.

Our practice packs include detailed solutions and strategies for every type of question in every topic of the OLSAT and NNAT. Start by reading the study guides included in the pack. Once your child understands the types of questions that will appear and how they need to approach each question, they can start one of the full-length simulations in the pack to test their understanding.

You can also choose to read the explanations for the first two questions of each topic, go over them and try to understand the key elements that can be applied to every question (this depends on the subjects themselves, but a lesson can be drawn from every question). After that, try applying the same type of logic to the rest of the questions. If the questions remain difficult, try using the explanation again to learn more strategies or go over the study guides.

If your pack includes more than one simulation, try leaving one of the simulations for the last day before the test. Go over the extra practice questions or enrichment questions (if included) after trying the simulation. Even if you get the question correctly, you can still learn either a new strategy or a different approach to the question, so it is very important to read every explanation. 

Remember to be organized before taking the test and allow enough time to have a proper preparation. Take a day or two to absorb as much information as possible, starting with the study guides and notes from things your child has learned at school. Then, you can choose to cover all the topics simultaneously or simply examine each topic separately. Allow your child time to fully grasp the concepts surrounding the test. Generate a fun, learning environment by adding small breaks between sections even if the test does not allow it. A positive environment during study preparation can lead to your child being more confident and comfortable the day of the test and as a result, a better, more rewarding result.

Often, tests will provide more than one type of score for the same test. Naturally, there are differences in these numbers and knowing how to decipher them and understanding what each mean is important and can sometimes be difficult. If you have trouble interpreting your child's scores upon receiving them, check out TestPrep-Online's NNAT score and OLSAT score pages to gain a better understanding of what your child's score means.