Do Schools For Gifted Children Value Critical Thinking?

We tend to associate the terminology “critical thinking” with some form of skepticism or a question of validity.  The question “Is this the truth?” is oftentimes perceived as some sort of challenge.  Yet, we should spend our time evaluating or judging a belief, idea, solution, or statement.  The term “critical” is derived from the Greek “krinein” and means to evaluate or judge.  Therefore, when you combine this with the term “thinking”, the use of reasoning becomes part of the evaluation process.  Hence the question “Do schools for gifted children value critical thinking?”

Teachers provide students with the opportunity for critical thinking as a part of a gifted school program in Chicago; and in the regular classroom as well.  Furthermore, critical thinking skills are associated with the analysis, comparison, evaluation, or synthesis of information that is available in books and lectures.  Basically, this boils down to creating and developing strategies that nurture critical thinking abilities in gifted learners.  These strategies are broken down in the following content.

•    In-depth classroom discussions – Teachers encourage these skills so that they can be developed via in-depth classroom discussions within the gifted school programs in Chicago.  Students can ask their own questions, while teachers can pose questions that require more than simply quoting text and recalling facts.  After analyzing information that is presented in the classroom, students are encouraged to share their opinions with one another.

•    Real-life problem solving – One of the areas where teachers can play a significant role in helping gifted students develop their critical thinking skills is in solving the problems of everyday life.  For instance, the use of paper in the classroom is oftentimes excessive and even wasteful.  Students may use an entire sheet of notebook paper just to solve four or five math problems.  In some cases, students may exhaust an entire supply of math scratch paper just by solving one problem at time, and then throwing that paper into the classroom recycling bin.

•    Self-evaluation – Students enrolled in gifted school programs in Chicago can improve their critical thinking abilities through the process of self-evaluation.  This is not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination.  It takes a considerable amount of insight for the student to identify their strengths and weaknesses.  For example, you can ask them to evaluate their performance after giving a class presentation.  Thus, they would highlight the strong points of their performance and the areas that need the most improvement.

As a portion of the classroom curriculum, teachers target gifted students by challenging them to develop their critical thinking abilities and skills.  However, all students in gifted school programs in Chicago can better themselves, while improving their critical thinking skills through the utilization of these three strategies. Visit Here: Science & Arts Academy

Common Practices of Gifted Education Programs

Gifted Education of Chicago is also referred to as 'Gifted and Talented Education' (GATE), 'G/T' or 'Talented and Gifted' (TAG).  In the simplest of terms, it is the procedures, special practices, and theories that are applied in a child’s education when they have been classified as “gifted” or “talented” students.  There are two primary approaches where gifted education is concerned, namely acceleration and enrichment.  These programs are broken down as follows:

•    Acceleration programs – this gifted education Chicago enables students to progress through the standard classroom curriculum at a much quicker pace than their classmates.  When the normal workload has been completed, they tackle the next subject while the other students are still working on the first one.

•    Enrichment programs – students are taught additional related subject matter but keep their progress rates at the same as the other students are adhering to.  Once the initial workload is finished, they may be provided with additional information about some other curriculum subject.

Unfortunately, the term “gifted student” has not been defined on a global basis although multiple definitions of the term “giftedness” do exist among different groups or schools of thought.  Most gifted education in Chicago definitions that exist today are those that are based on individuals who were the most intelligent, knowledgeable, and talented in a specific subject.  For instance, these are students who are the most skilled in language, logical reasoning, mathematics, or music.

There is considerable variance in the percentage of students who are chosen for these types of educational programs.  In most cases, these schools select 10% or less for enrollment in gifted education programs.  However, students typically vary in their achievements and aptitudes.  For example, if your son or daughter is not gifted in one specific subject, they may be gifted in another.  The reality is that the bar has been set as the top 5% of all students, even though more than that could be classified as gifted.

Gifted Education Chicago are tailored to those students who are classified as being gifted and talented.  These individuals are highly intelligent and have considerably more abilities than the average student.  Consequently, they require an educational program that challenges them to succeed in a standard classroom environment.  When acceleration and enrichment programs are utilized to accommodate their educational needs, it enables the student to progress at their pace.  More information regarding these programs is available online.