How giftedness is evolving with the times

A few years ago, giftedness was much easier to define. They would be math whizzes, excellent painters – you know, the Shaira Lunas of their generation. But now that children are using digital tools more than they do paint brushes, how do we spot it then?

How is giftedness evolving with the times?

Kids are now experiencing and learning things differently – through alternative forms of communication, through screens with YouTube as their teachers, or online workshops that are sometimes even more thorough than traditional ones. 

So, talents and skills nowadays also appear in more ways than we were used to. Children can paint digitally, photograph with a mobile phone, even learn the piano using a tablet and without ever touching the actual instrument. It doesn’t make them any less gifted, though. They’ve just become the modern gifted children.

Understanding and nurturing modern giftedness

To understand modern giftedness, The Nerve, a data insights consultancy that specializes in business intelligence to guide its partners in business decisions and help them engage with their communities better, conducted an online survey among parents.

How they view giftedness depends on the kind of parenting style they have – uninvolved, permissive, authoritative, and authoritarian. You can read more about it in this infographic.

Most of us would view giftedness as “an extraordinary performance in a specific academic area or skill.” But classrooms aren’t going to look the same from here on out, especially since our education system is moving forward with e-learning.

More and more children are expressing themselves through graphic design and digital illustrations, showcasing their singing and musical skills through Youtube, and their dancing and acting skills through TikTok.

This is the kind of giftedness we’re seeing now – giftedness within a modern context.

The survey also showed that some parents are prone to worry about their children’s screentime. But that’s about to change now that most physical activities such as dancing and piano lessons have shifted online. 

Online classes are now a safer and more convenient way for our children to continue nurturing their gifts.

Where to find your tribe

As you go through this journey of spotting and nurturing your child’s modern giftedness, where should you look for advice? Many parents are part of online parenting groups on Facebook, but a lot of parents are also active on other platforms like Twitter. 

TheNerve found that the following topics are widely discussed by parents on Twitter: food and nutrition, positive parenting, fatherhood, “dadvocacy,” and solo parenting. 

But if you’re looking for expert advice, Wyeth Parenteam is a helpful resource for all your parenting needs – starting from marriage, pregnancy, and parenting a child.

For those who prefer to watch videos, Youtube channels such as Promil Four’s The Gifted Channel is filled with parenting tips from different experts on various topics.

The heart of nurturing

Parents choose to nurture their child’s gift for different reasons. One is because they see that their child has potential or the children themselves are showing genuine interest to pursue a certain skill. Some parents also just want their children to stand out while others think it’s simply the right thing to do.

But whatever their motivations are, they only want one thing: to help their children be the best they can be.

With the right guidance, you’ll be able to spot the gift and nurture it the best way you now know how. 

If you want to learn more about evolving parenting styles, check out this infographic that captures modern parents’ responses on spotting and nurturing the gift today. – Rappler.com