12 Lessons About Gifted Kids from Matilda

The lovable title character in Roald Dahl’s Matilda is a precocious young girl who can teach the world a lot about gifted kids. Here are 12 lessons from the novel:

1. Signs of giftedness can often be seen early in a child’s life. Matilda is depicted as an extremely precocious and advanced child, speaking perfectly by 18 months, reading by age 3, and multiplying double-digit numbers in her head by age 5.

2. Giftedness is innate, not taught. One myth about gifted children is that they are the product of pushy parents. This may be true with some high-achieving children, but it is not generally true of gifted kids, whose intellectual ability comes naturally, sometimes even without any parental support. By giving Matilda parents who have absolutely no interest in her abilities or education, Dahl illustrates that some children just have natural intellectual ability.

3. Gifted children love to learn…