Exceptionally passionate about giftedness

CEBU, Philippines - Teacher Ray Nobleza grew up listening to a particular fable - The Rabbit and the Turtle. We all know what happened to the slow but determined turtle. But nobody dared ask whatever happened to the rabbit.

"Eventually, when the fast is overtaken by the slow, they grew up to be alcoholics and ended up in rehab," Teacher Ray pointed this out as a funny but logical way of assessing situations that beset exceptionally bright young minds when treated otherwise as behavioral concerns.

"Let me cite the case of one student referred to us by his family's psychiatrist. He was tagged a mischievous boy for getting into trouble in school. His teachers gave up on him. He was labeled to have behavioral problems. But it turned out he was exceptionally brilliant in Math. He was just bored with repetitive classroom instructions and would want to channel his energy somewhere. That explains the rages," Teacher Ray stressed.

He further pointed out that children of the same wavelength are also considered special. "Ang akala kasi natin ang special education ay para lang sa mga visually impaired or hearing impaired or the intellectually disabled, but even exceptional and gifted kids should get a special education. They are future leaders. The potential can best be harnessed with individualized right learning and experiental methodology."

For example, when a preschooler asked him about weightlessness, he finds it impossible to explain thoroughly to a curious child inside a room that's controlled by gravity. So last December 2012, Ec2 students learned astronomy, weightlessness, magnetism, geophysics and other scientific concepts at the Macau Science Center - the nearest in Asia where the children could try what it's like to float on space.

"Wala ka nang dapat i-explain, kasi na-experience na nila. Mas madaling maintindihan bakit nag-fo-float ang mga astronauts," he added.