Giftedness refers to a child’s intellectual or other abilities are significantly above that of other children their age. Typically, a child is considered to be gifted in a certain area if their ability in that are is in the top 10% of their age-matched peer group. A child can be gifted in any number of areas, such as intellectually (thinking and reasoning at a high level), creatively, artistically, mathematically, or physically, for example.
The Ministry of Education and Training for the province of Ontario has adopted a definition of “giftedness” which is as follows:
“An unusually advanced degree of general intellectual ability that requires differentiated learning experiences of a depth the breadth beyond those normally provided in the regular school program to satisfy the level of educational potential indicated.”
This means a child is deemed gifted if their overall level of intelligence is significantly higher than age-matched peers such that the child requires more challenging learning activities than is typically provided at their Grade level.