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Caring for children who are ahead in their development can be a challenge. They can be very easily bored or frustrated. So how can you help them to flourish?

Elaine Baker, PACEY’s Childminding Support and Development

Officer, says the term “gifted and talented” is outmoded.

“You get a child who excels in a particular area, but sometimes when they get to school they may not excel.” Other children may catch up and the label can become a burden. Instead, she would say they are “very capable”.

Elaine says you’ll pick up an advanced child with your observations. “But a child may develop really quickly in one area, and not develop so fast in another. So we’ll plan a curriculum to pick up on the areas that they are not developing well in, while also supporting the area where the child is more able.”

In England, there is no national definition since the gifted and talented schools programme closed in 2010, when 820,000 children qualified. Wales introduced a new curriculum this year, which instructs schools to

“provide stretch and challenge for more able and talented learners”.

However you refer to them, some children are clearly exceeding their developmental goals long before they get to school.

Chloe Webster of Pebbles

Childcare, Worthing, West Sussex, says some are early talkers or grasp ideas very quickly: “From 15 to 18 months, you could start to see areas of development where they are ahead of their peers.”

Consultant psychologist

Emma Citron says it can be apparent in childcare or early years settings that some are developing a year or two ahead of their chronological age. But, she stresses, “many youngsters have areas in which they shine and areas in which they struggle”.

So how can you support curious, quick-thinking children? Childminder

Priya Kanabar of north London says: “If you notice a child is interested in

Elaine Baker says resources you use should be guided by the child’s needs: “It depends on what skills you are looking to develop.” It’s about using your imagination. Chloe Webster recommends pencil grips for children who are keen on mark-making and writing, but aren’t old enough to have yet developed good fine motor control.

She uses the PicCollage app to collate images the children have created. They make up a story, such as the tale of their day, and record a voiceover.

Priya Kanabar says professional magazines are a great source of ideas, as well as resources aimed at schools.

asking questions about particular subjects, encourage them. Let them read and focus on that topic.”

Chloe recommends spending time one-to-one, sitting with the child when

Top tips

1 Plan your curriculum to offer opportunities to develop

2 Tune into children’s learning style; offer kinetic learners practical tasks

3 Activities should extend, not leave them bored when they start school they are engrossed in an activity, and asking lots of questions and finding out the answers together.

4 Don’t forget to address areas where bright children are less advanced – for example, a keen reader may not be advanced in painting.

In group activities, you can give different children opportunities based on their abilities. Children at Pebbles were learning about Remembrance Day and drew pictures of poppies to take to the local war memorial. A 4-year-old girl wrote “Pebbles remembers” freehand. Chloe says: “She could easily paint the poppy and it was a clear representation, but we needed to stretch her that little bit more – giving her an opportunity to practise something we know she enjoys.

“I’ve seen it in some settings where you constantly ask that child to do the writing or labelling, because they can. But it’s important that it’s not put onto them, so they don’t feel academic pressure so early on.” CP