Observation Guidelines: Seeing Intelligence in Children's Daily Behavior

Problem-solving, cognitive skills, and curiosity are just a few of the many signs of intelligence that your child exhibits everyday.  Observe intelligence in your child by looking for these characteristics and more.

Oral Language Skills

Look For:

• Sophisticated vocabulary
• Colorful speech
• Creative storytelling
• Clever jokes and puns

Example:

LaMarr entertains his friends with clever “Your momma’s so fat . . . ” jokes.

Implication:

Look for unusual creativity or advanced language development in children’s everyday speech.

Learning Ability

Look For:

• Ability to learn new information quickly
• Exceptional knowledge about a variety of topics
• Ability to find relationships among diverse ideas
• Excellent memory

Example:

Four-year-old Gina teaches herself to read using several reading primers she finds at home. Initially, her mother identifies a few words for her. From these words she deduces many letter-sound correspondences that enable her to decipher additional words.

Implication:

Make note of situations in which children learn and comprehend new material more quickly than their peers. Look for creative analogies and interconnections.

Problem-Solving Skills

Look For:

• Ability to solve challenging problems
• Flexibility in applying previously learned strategies to new kinds of problems
• Ability to improvise with commonplace objects and materials

Example:

A fourth-grade class plans to perform a skit during an upcoming open house. When the children puzzle about how to hang a sheet from the ceiling (to serve as a stage curtain), Jeff suggests that they turn their desks to face the side of the classroom rather than the front. This way, the sheet can be hung from a light fixture that runs the length of the room.

Implication:

Present unusual tasks and problems for which children have no ready-made strategies.

Cognitive and Metacognitive Strategies

Look For:

• Use of sophisticated learning strategies
• Desire to understand rather than memorize
• Effective comprehension monitoring