You’ve probably often heard to what is referred to ‘characteristics’ of gifted students. Gifted children often have specific traits or characteristics that identifies them as being gifted. Usually these characteristics are discovered early on by parents who may have noticed that their child has taught themselves to read at the age of two without any help or intervention (yes this is possible). Others tend to be found out about their giftedness once they start preschool or kindergarten by their educators who based on observation and assessment (general in class assessment) see that they are out performing their peers.

Below is a list of common characteristics of gifted students, keeping in mind that not all children will display all of these to be regarded as gifted and also need to be compared to students of their own age.

Cognitive
  • Good at abstraction
  • Strong problem-solving skills
  • Early reader
  • Large Vocabulary
  • Curious and ask a lot of questions
  • Critical thinker
  • Goal driven and persistant
  • Can work well independently
  • Has a range of interests and abilities
Creative
  • Creative and inventive
  • Sense of humour
  • Intuitive
Affective
  • Unusual emotional depth
  • Sensitive and empathetic towards others
  • Idealism and sense of judgement
Behavioural
  • Enthusiastic
  • Focused on passions or interests
  • Energetic
  • Inquisitive
  • Determined
  • Spirited
  • Perseverance
  • Chattery

These traits can sometimes be referred to positive traits or characteristics, others are seen as being negative as it can behavioural and emotionally impact the student and others around them. These are listed below,

  • Self-critical
  • Radical
  • High-expectations of self, which leads to frustration when needs not met
  • Heightened-self awareness of being different, which can lead to depression
  • Takes things to heart, can take time to get over things and need of constant emotional support
  • Spontaneous, which can be negative if risks are taken without any caution
  • On the go, needing less sleep which can lead to extreme tiredness, stress and lower academic achievements
  •  Can be very frustrated if they don’t understand something or achieve what they expected or compare themselves with others they believe are achieving higher than them
  • Volatile temper especially related to failure
  • Consistent talking/non-stop talking which can deter others to be friends with them
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