Olga S. Parc

The relevance of the topic under study is determined by the needs of educational practice to identify resources for the social development of gifted children, one of which is leisure activities. The author considers this problem on the basis of several significant aspects. Firstly, the focus is on the fact that the manifestation of giftedness has its own characteristics which are reflected in the behavior of children in society; so gifted children have difficulties with social interaction and they need the support of teachers and parents to acquire the necessary social experience. Secondly, the characteristics of leisure activities are considered from the perspective of enriching the social experience of gifted children, which is necessary to meet their developmental needs. Thirdly, both teachers and parents should be actively involved in the organization of leisure activities for gifted children; and coordination of their actions will contribute to the social development of gifted children. The aim of this article is to define the essence of the concept of «leisure activities for gifted children» in the context of their social development, and to actualize the use of this concept in the theory and practice of pedagogy of children's giftedness. The research is based on the principles of activity, phenomenological, and socio-cultural approaches. These approaches allow us to understand leisure activities as an essential resource for the social development of gifted children. This is necessary for the harmonious development of their social skills. The results formulate the concept of «leisure activities for gifted children» and its qualitative characteristics that contribute to the social development of gifted children; it is clarified that leisure activities and the interaction of social educational institutions and family in leisure activities are an important resource for the development of the social experience of gifted children. The results obtained contribute to the development of the theory of support for the development of gifted children, and also allow us to outline the prospects for research on the social development of gifted children. This study is aimed at a theoretical understanding of the resources of leisure activities in the social development of gifted children and updating the educational practice of leisure activities for gifted children.

This research topic is relevant for the following reasons. Firstly, parental support is a significant condition for the social development of gifted children, so modern schools are interested in expanding interaction with parents. Secondly, parents of gifted children need psychological and pedagogical assistance from the educational community, because special knowledge and understanding of the specifics of children's giftedness are needed for productive support of gifted children's development. Thirdly, there is a necessity to develop the theoretical aspects of the concept “parental support for the development of gifted children”. The aim of this article is to clarify the theoretical aspects of the concept “parental support for the development of gifted children” and the content of parental support for the development of gifted children. The study is based on the provisions of phenomenological and sociocultural approaches, which allows us to consider the relationship between the development of giftedness and parental support for gifted children in the context of their social development harmonization. The following theoretical methods were used to conduct this research – analysis, comparison and generalization of scientific works and literature on the problem. The results of study formulate the concept “parental support for the development of gifted children”, propose the principles of parental support, clarify the content and value of parents' activities to support the development of this category of children. The theoretical significance of the study lies in clarifying the essence of the concept and the content of parental support for the development of gifted children. The study highlights the fact that parents' knowledge of psychological and pedagogical features of children's giftedness development, understanding of gifted children's needs, readiness and ability to support affects the quality of parental support. In a practical aspect, the results of the study can be used by teachers to improve communication with parents, and also by curriculum developers to create effective courses focused on the preparation for accompanying the development of gifted children in education.