Another advantage of Germany is the wide range of support opportunities offered by its educational institutions. Highly gifted students also receive excellent support here. There are many programmes that cater precisely to their needs while they are still at school. From the Mercator Programme to scholarships to the Children’s University, the special talents and interests of these children are specifically catered for. Anyone who has a child with giftedness can thus offer him or her good entertainment that also makes use of the child’s special abilities. At the same time, care is taken to ensure that the children do not become lonely, but make friends with other children in a sociable setting. In the Children’s University, they are given the opportunity to be introduced to university research at an early age. Children also like to take advantage of this opportunity.
Highly gifted children in particular often have a wide range of interests and a special degree of curiosity. Qualified educators build on this curiosity and promote the child’s talents in a very targeted way. In some places, there is even the possibility for highly gifted children to take university courses at an early age. This allows them to graduate more quickly later on and set out on their own research projects. Especially in the natural sciences, there are many programmes that familiarise highly gifted children with complex subjects at such an early age. For many parents, these programmes are a great relief.
Not every highly gifted child comes from a home that can answer all their questions and support them in every way. The good support structures ensure that the children do not suffer any disadvantages and are not underchallenged. Otherwise, a permanent underchallenge could lead to the children switching off internally and dealing with other subjects. Then the child’s performance at school declines. In order to prevent this, the programmes specifically support the children according to their abilities. In addition, Germany offers the possibility here that school classes are skipped. This also increases the requirements. Many highly gifted children take advantage of this opportunity. However, care must be taken here that the child’s circle of friends does not decline.
With targeted support programmes, gifted children can in turn establish social contacts with other gifted children their age and are at the same time supported in establishing contacts in their school class. Thus, the children benefit from the programmes in several ways. In any case, one should be grateful to Germany for offering these very special opportunities. In this way, it makes life easier for highly gifted children as well as their families. The targeted support of highly gifted children also ensures that talents are recognised at an early stage and promoted in a very targeted manner. Only then can children develop them to the highest level and achieve top performance in their field at a later stage.
Whether it is science, artistic creation, musical production or another field – highly gifted children in Germany receive very targeted support. It is also ensured that they are provided with coaches, teachers and mentors. This opportunity also takes into account the special social situation of these children. In many other countries of the world, highly gifted children cannot develop as well as in Germany.
Last updated on 6. February 2023