Since I think intelligence is largely beyond a person's control, I agree it rarely makes sense to praise a child for being intelligent. But parents should try give children an accurate view of themselves. Since a person's intelligence is relevant when deciding on educational and career options, a parent should try to make an informed estimate of his child's intellect and discuss that estimate at least occasionally. IQ tests and other standardized tests can help a parent estimate a child's intelligence and relative strengths and weaknesses. One reason to send a gifted child to academic gifted summer programs is to help him refine his own estimate of his abilities. He may be clearly be in the top 1%, but interacting with other one-percenters will let him know if he is in the top 0.1% or 0.01% .
