In young children who have a high intelligence pedagogues and psychologists use the term "development lead" and don't mention yet giftedness. The reason is that it is not yet possible to measure the child's intelligence reliably in the early years.
who have an high intelligence, the term development lead is used and formally not yet talked about giftedness. We speak about developmental lead becausyet e it is not possible to measure the child's intelligence reliably in the early years. The limited predictive value of intelligence research in young children is due to the way young children develop. This development is very rapid. Periods of relative stagnation and great progress alternate, so that large differences can arise in the outcomes of intelligence research
It is very important to recognize and identify a child with a development lead at an early stage. This should be a combination of recognizing the characteristics of developmental lead, observation of the teacher and listening carefully to what the parents tell about the child. In observation both cognitive and personality characteristics play a role. Children with a developmental lead will exhibit several of these characteristics, but normally not all of them. Every child has its own palette of talents and personality traits and therefore has different needs. By recognizing the characteristics and observing the child well, education can be tailored to the needs of the child.
By good observation and listening carefully to what parents report, a teacher can determine a developmental lead with a reasonable degree of reliability.
For this purpose, signaling instruments are available in the Netherlands, such as the Signaling and Diagnosis Protocol for Giftedness (SIDI) or the Digital Action Protocol for Giftedness. For more information see Downloads on this website. These instruments help teachers and school counselors to expose the developmental lead of all pupils in the group. In addition, the results of the inquiry by this signaling instrument also provide the teacher with guidelines to decide whether or where is a need for adapted support or challenging tasks.
Furthermore, in the Talent Education project a number of "observation tools" have been developed through international cooperation from a basic protocol based on the multiple intelligences of Gardner. Pedagogical staff and teachers can observe the development in practice (for instance in play) and stimulate it at the same time.
To go deeper to the basics of observation and identification of development lead consult the manual presented by Maruška Željeznov Seničar.
This is an example of an observation tool to gain insight into the logical - mathematical thinking of toddlers and preschoolers.
Because in personal development not only cognitive talent is important, we also present observation instruments for various intelligences like musical, bodily/kynestic, inter- and intra-personal intelligence as well as verbal intelligence and so further.
There are several examples available for each intelligence.