Qualifying for the Gifted Education Programme (GEP)
See MOE’s overview of the progamme here.
1st Round Screening Test (in August)
The conducted test’s format is similar to a Math exam paper, with a standard set higher than Primary 3.
2nd Round Selection Test (in October)
There are 2 components – Math Paper & Math General Ability Test
Gifted Education (or GEP) Math Resources
Children gifted in mathematical thinking and problem solving need greater depth and breadth of topics and open-ended opportunities for solving more complex problems (Sheffield, 1994). It is certainly possible to meet the needs of these gifted students simply by enriching and modifying the existing mathematics curriculum. Indeed, for many talented youngsters, some degree of acceleration is needed based on their demonstrated achievement and ability.
Characteristics of the Gifted Math Child
Whether math problems require computation skills, problem-solving strategies, inferential thinking skills, or deductive reasoning, mathematically talented children are often able to discern answers with unusual speed and accuracy. Mathematically gifted children are able to see relationships among topics, concepts, and ideas without the intervention of formal instruction specifically geared to that particular content (Heid, 1983). Due to their intuitive understanding of mathematical function and processes, they may skip over steps and be unable to explain how they arrived at the correct answer to a problem (Greenes, 1981).
Many of these children’s gifted characteristics emerge during the preschool years. Parents of preschoolers may report that their child demonstrates an unusual interest in mathematical concepts and particularly enjoys games involving numbers. At an early age, some gifted children note relationships between products and prices in the grocery store, the passage of time, changes in weather temperatures, and measurements of distances. Parents of these “number sense gurus” are fascinated by their children’s precociousness, but are often unaware of the significance or relevance of these early mathematical discoveries.
Formal instruction in primary school classrooms often lacks challenge for the gifted learner since courses in regular classrooms sometimes have a relatively narrow range of topics, minimal investigation of concepts, repeated drill and practice, and yearly repetition. The basic mathematical concepts that are presented in kindergarten and lower primary can be a particular problem for children who have already mastered number recognition, one-to-one correspondence, and counting.
Extracted from this article.