Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Interesting article: How to raise a creative child

...The gifted learn to play magnificent Mozart melodies, but rarely compose their own original scores. They focus their energy on consuming existing scientific knowledge, not producing new insights. They conform to codified rules, rather than inventing their own. Research suggests that the most creative children are the least likely to become the teacher’s pet, and in response, many learn to keep their original ideas to themselves. In the language of the critic William Deresiewicz, they become the excellent sheep.

In adulthood, many prodigies become experts in their fields and leaders in their organizations. Yet “only a fraction of gifted children eventually become revolutionary adult creators,” laments the psychologist Ellen Winner. “Those who do must make a painful transition” to an adult who “ultimately remakes a domain.”

Most prodigies never make that leap. They apply their extraordinary abilities by shining in their jobs without making waves. They become doctors who heal their patients without fighting to fix the broken medical system or lawyers who defend clients on unfair charges but do not try to transform the laws themselves.

So what does it take to raise a creative child? One study compared the families of children who were rated among the most creative 5 percent in their school system with those who were not unusually creative. The parents of ordinary children had an average of six rules, like specific schedules for homework and bedtime. Parents of highly creative children had an average of fewer than one rule.....

Creativity: Asset or Burden in the Classroom?
Erik L. Westby & V.L. Dawson

Two studies were conducted to examine teachers' perceptions of creative students... Judgments for the favorite student were negatively correlated with creativity; judgments for the least favorite student were positively correlated with creativity. Students displaying creative characteristics appear to be unappealing to teachers.

. That doesn't mean curiosity. That means paying attention to the activities, being willing to produce whatever the group is producing-- like cutting, gluing, etc. And it means following along with whatever the group is doing and whatever the teacher is teaching. A lot of time is spent in preschool developing learning behaviors. If you are wandering off to do your own thing, that's a problem. You need to learn to transition. If you want to be at free play past your group's time, that's a problem.