How Do You Know? And When?

[Walking-Iris]

I usually don't post in this sub-forum, but I have some questions I hope you parents could help me with.

 

First, I'm not entirely sure how I *feel* about terms like "gifted" or "accelerated." I'm not sure how much it would change what I do with the kids each day. And I don't think I would pursue official testing necessarily.

 

My main question is how you *knew* (without testing---just parent instinct?) that your child may be gifted? And at what age?

 

My dd, who just turned 2 this past July, is an enigma to me. My oldest ds is on the spectrum and very bright and my 5 year old is also bright, but I can't look back on their toddlerhood and remember any thing out of the ordinary. (Other than my oldest having some speech issues and showing signs of being on the spectrum). There wasn't anything that seemed different than other 2 year olds.

 

My dd on the other hand seems exceptionally bright for a young 2 year old. She recognized and could say the name and letter sounds of the alphabet when she was 1.5. She is still extremely interested in letters and will point them out to me and say "abcs" and then point to one specific letter and say it's sound. Unprompted. I bought a set of HWT wooden letters pieces and received them this week and the day they came I opened the package and set them on the table and I kid you not---without any word from me right away she made several letters. "Mommy a Q, a D, a H, a A, a X." I had to tell my 5 year old and even my 9 year old what the wooden pieces were for. She just knew after looking at them for a few seconds.

 

She's pretty bashful around others but at home she's a chatterbox. She sounds like a 2 year old, but she speaks in complete sentences. Long complex sentences. She didn't use baby signs for long. She remembers things that had happened days ago. She's highly observant. She can't be tricked. She's also pretty persistent.

 

She can play games with us properly-- Memory, Qwirkle, Candyland, Blokus, Operation---she actually sits with us and plays them. My boys would have upended the board and tossed the pieces and likely wouldn't have got the concept of there being a purpose to the game and taking turns. I'd expect most two year olds to play randomly with game pieces, right?

 

She can make a C-rod stair and correctly put pattern blocks on the right spaces to make a bee or some other animal. She loves to look at books. She asks us "What's that say?" She knows colors and basic shapes. She sort of counts--1 2 3 8.

 

The older boys are always irritated at her because she is always taking something apart or trying to do what they do. Basically she causes a bit of mayhem. She has little to no interest in toys made for babies or toddlers. I've actually started including her where I can and made some tot busy bag type activities for her because she is not content with toys. She seems happier if challenged.

 

My dh and I have had long talks at night about her lately. She just stops us in our tracks sometimes with what she remembers or observes. And she's not hard to discipline, she's sweet, but sort of hard to handle with her persistence. And sort of ornery. Plays tricks. Jokes.

 

I'm really familiar with sensory issues and spectrum signs because of my oldest. She doesn't show anything like that. Nothing concerns me there. She has a great sense of pretend play and imagination.

 

I'm just wondering if this is "homeschooling normal?" Could having older brothers around and listening to us talk with them during school stuff be making an impression? Is this a girl thing? I'm not the type to overly analyze what my kids do. I think all children are pretty brilliant. There's just something---something that causes me pause here.

 

Mainly how did you know? And did you know at 2? And what if anything do I *do* about it?

Edited September 15, 2012 by Walking-Iris

[dbmamaz]

No, this is not normal at all. Not even for homeschoolers. Only one of my kids was speaking in full sentences before age 2. But I also never made a big deal out of things, because to some extent, in my family, our abilities WERE normal.

 

What does it change?

 

well, for one thing, hopefully you wont expect her to do a full year of kindergarten curriculum when she is 5. Because that would be inappropriate. But you would probably figure that out.

 

If you want to get her in to some of the online gifted classes, eventually you would need to get her tested to get in to those schools.

 

IMO, if your parenting style is to meet your child where she is, then its not that big a deal, except that other parents of gifted kids might be able to steer you to useful materials, etc, when you are having trouble finding a good curriculum fit.

 

Oh, yeah, thats the reason I finally joined some gifted homeschool groups - because my youngest, in K, was asking to do problems with negative numbers . . I posted something about math problems we were doing together (i was asking for some advice, I forget what) and a parent responded that ANY 5 yo would be frustrated if you were trying to make him do math like THAT! so i knew i needed somewhere else to ask questions about his math work.

[Embassy]

I don't think that is homeschooling normal. I'd also guess that you may be dealing with giftedness. It is hard to know for sure. Either way just continue to follow her lead and feed her interests.

 

 

I suspected giftedness with two of my children at that age, but I wasn't sure. I know for sure that my older children are because I got them tested. Prior to that I had doubts. My "most gifted" child according to the testing did not show any signs of being gifted at age 2 though. It wasn't until he was about 3 that he did some things that made me pause.

[Crimson Wife]

I started having suspicions about my oldest at 15 mos. We were at my parents' house for dinner and were playing a game with her where we pointed to a family member and asked, "Who's that?" DD floored us when she identified my parents not as "Grammy" and "Grandpa" but by their first names. Then by 18 months she knew all the letters and their sounds, all the primary colors and a whole bunch of secondary ones, and could count in multiple languages. By 2 1/2 she was speaking as well as many adults except her articulation of certain sounds was still immature.

[boscopup]

My third child has done several things a LOT earlier than the other two, though there are a few things that my oldest did earlier. I'm not sure if it's just the fact that he has two older siblings that he learns from or not, though at the same time... chances are pretty high that all 3 kids will be "gifted" (between grandparents and siblings on both sides, I can name only one person, one of the grandparents, that is not gifted, and that person is married to someone who is PG).

 

What have I done different? Nothing. I just let my toddlers/preschoolers learn from living life for the most part. They do fun workbooks if they want to "do school" because DS1 is doing school, but otherwise, I'm not trying to teach them a lot. Actually, the exception is middle DS, who was not obviously gifted and had trouble learning colors and counting - I used R&S ABC series books to teach those, and then he finally picked them up. The other two did not require any instruction for such things, so they learned on their own, including typical K level materials (reading, math, etc.).

 

I agree with the PP - don't expect to do a full year of K curriculum in K. :D My oldest went to school for K, and the only thing he wasn't beyond K level in was handwriting. He learned that in K. He was well beyond K level in reading and math the first day of school, having never touched a lick of curriculum. Second child, despite having issues learning some basics to begin with, is probably about average for a homeschooled K reader, and is doing first grade math this year at normal pace of a first grader (we *could* even go faster, as he's more than ready, but since reading it still "hard" for him, I want to keep math easy while he's not bored). I know DS3 will not need K curriculum at all at age 5. He'll probably even be writing before then, as his fine motor skills are way above those of his brothers at this age (he does things his brothers didn't do until age 5, like buttoning a shirt or buckling his own carseat harness).

 

I have not done testing on anyone, though we may get DS2 tested at some point due to possible 2E issues. Academically, he's fine, and I have no problem meeting his needs at the moment. DS1 is pretty straightforward, so testing has not been needed for him. I give him the right level material and skip stuff he doesn't need to practice and practice and practice, and we're good to go. We started accelerating through curriculum halfway through first grade.

 

I see a lot of folks freak out when their 2-3 year old is noticably advanced, and they're thinking, "What curriculum do I need to use?!?!?", but really, a kid that smart at that age will probably teach themselves more than any curriculum, and they probably don't need any curriculum at all in order to learn - that's why they are "gifted" - they learn without being explicitly taught! So I typically recommend for that age group the same as I recommend for non-gifted students... Read to them a LOT. Talk to them a LOT. Include them in housework, cooking, etc. The non-gifted kids (and the non-early-starter-type-gifted kids) will learn the preschool basics that way and be prepared for K and learning to read. The early-starter-type-gifted kids will come out reading and doing 1st+ grade math. ;)

[mommymilkies]

 

I see a lot of folks freak out when their 2-3 year old is noticably advanced, and they're thinking, "What curriculum do I need to use?!?!?", but really, a kid that smart at that age will probably teach themselves more than any curriculum, and they probably don't need any curriculum at all in order to learn - that's why they are "gifted" - they learn without being explicitly taught! So I typically recommend for that age group the same as I recommend for non-gifted students... Read to them a LOT. Talk to them a LOT. Include them in housework, cooking, etc. The non-gifted kids (and the non-early-starter-type-gifted kids) will learn the preschool basics that way and be prepared for K and learning to read. The early-starter-type-gifted kids will come out reading and doing 1st+ grade math. ;)

 

:iagree: Molly does most of those things, too, if you exchange numbers for letters. So I think to a degree, it is homeschool culture. I remember your second son being pretty darn gifted with numbers, too. More than anything, being in a loving environment surrounded by smart people in an education loving atmosphere helps, IMHO. And well, you know my oldest. She topped out the CogAT and ITBS. She was much the same as you described your dd as a toddler. The only things I can think of are some warnings.

 

1. Gifted kids, like most kids, do not always develop linearly. Do not be worried if she slacks off or jumps enormous cognitive bounds occasionally. Unless of course there are symptoms that point to a LD. 2E kids are pretty common among the gifted, IME.

 

2. Gifted kids are not always gifted at everything. It's not too uncommon to have a kid who can read at 4 but still not grasp multiplication at 10.

 

3. Just because she *can* do something doesn't mean she should be pushed further at that age. I would be careful not to burn her out by pushing too hard if she shows ability. There are so many cases of gifted kids who are emotionally damaged by being pushed too hard when they were not ready. My 4 yo can read, but I try to be careful not to push her. We stop when she shows she is done. Play and fun should take precedence at this age.

 

4. Don't talk about her in front of the other kids or even in front of her about being gifted or better. The rivalry can be very bad. My oldest two had VERY close testing scores, and they have such different strengths. I have to be very careful not to compare. Plus it can give her the idea that she is smart, so she doesn't need to try. Praise what she does, not simply her being smart. You've read UP, so I know you know this. It's just easy to forget!

 

Since I know you, I know that none of this really applies to you. You are well versed at meeting your kids where they are and encouraging them! Eventually it may be worth testing simply to get her into special programs-like online gifted courses, summer programs, Duke TIP, etc. But that is way down the line. Right now I would just work with her at her ability level while taking into consideration her emotional maturity.

[SunshineMom]

I don't think what your describing is in the normal range but time will tell what kind of education you will need to give her. I am also shy about the "gifted label" as well. My dd9 would do the strangest things as a young child. When she was 2yrs she wrote her name (legibly)without me ever teaching or helping her. She had a towel with her name on it which hung in our upstairs bathroom. One day (shortly after her 2nd bday) she came downstairs, got a pencil, wrote her name out and said "Mom, look I wrote my name." I was shocked and suddenly very nervous. Another time, she was about 4yrs, she put together a 60 piece puzzle with the pictured puzzle pieces turned upside down (just blank pieces). Now as a 9yr, we have accelerated all her studies. I don't know if she is gifted per se but we just keep moving forward. My biggest concern is keeping up with all her interests and the "need to know" curious questions/discussions. For instance,yesterday in the car we overheard a race for the cure announcement which prompted this kind of conversation. She wanted to know about breast cancer rates in females vs males, colon cancer in males, tumors/cell structures, treatments current/past, gender expectations, and then she began theorizing how cancer was obtained; wondering if cancer cells are genetic, or if cancer cells were passed along to nursing children, or due to environmental factors. She also noted that cancers affected reproductive organs (she's currently interested in reproduction/mating behaviors of animals). I guess it is time for another biology class:) How far these kids decide to simmer upon or pursue topics/interests/become caught up in life's current mysteries is up to them and as parents, we have to be ready to find or create those resources, places, experts, etc.to meet their unique needs/thirst/passion. Homeschooling allows for accommodations, filling in gaps, pursuing interests, accelerating studies, volunteer opportunities, and field trips, all within a safe and loving environment.

[NittanyJen]

It's good to know what you have on your hands with a gifted kid. Not for the sake of a label or bragging rights, but for 1) the sake of understanding, 2) glimpses into potential planning as you get to know her better as she grows and 3) if any life upheavals happen that result in school placement, documentation that can assist with placement in the gifted program with as little delay as possible is a good thing.

 

1) understanding. Gifted kids are not just regular kids who learn things earlier. They generally learn and process information differently, so particularly as an experienced parent, you may find that you might, or might not, get to recycle all of the curriculum you have used. Don't toss it yet, just be ready to have an open mind and really pay attention to her cues. Also, gifted intellectually can sometimes lead to faster maturity, but does not mean "all grown up," even when they talk like it. They can still sometimes enjoy the little kid cartoons, the fun little kid board games and the little kid rides at the amusement park. It can be easy to get sucked into forgetting how little they are if they are discussing Kirkegaard at age 5 or programming C++ games on the PC, but they are still little and like Elmo bandaids, sometimes. Keep your ears open. It's double jeopardy for you since it's a youngest, who will already want to keep up with what the older ones are doing.

 

2) Planning. Kind of doubles up with one a little. But there are other opportunities to consider. If you don't have passports, you might consider a passport or the card ID you can get instead. There are programs like the John's Hopkins CTY and the Davidson program, and many of these require kids to take bizarre tests like the SAT at an unusually young age-- and you then need some type of ID. Great if they're in public school and you can produce a class photo with names printed on it; more difficult if you homeschool. Passports are convenient. Many states will also issue a state ID card. Be flexible when planning curriculum. She may sail through math at the speed of light, then suddenly plateau out. This is pretty normal for a young kid working well above grade level. Think carefully about a young reader reading well above grade level-- content matters, though again, some gifted kids are also mentally more mature than their years-- but you should still choose carefully. If you try to hold back by providing unsatisfying reading material, she will find her own, which may be more eye-opening than you intended. Trust me, I was that kid.

 

3) There are good reasons why in some states, gifted kids qualify for an IEP, as special needs kids. They don't thrive in a normal classroom. What worked for your first two may not work for her. Or, as a homeschooler, and an experienced one, you may have the routine of figuring out how to meet her where she is down pretty well. But document everything and keep some records and samples, even if porfolios are not required in your state. If something unthinkable should happen and you were forced or chose to put her in school for any reason, you want backup for any academic choices you wish to make for her, whether that be grade skipping, entrance to advanced classes, or the gifted program, without any undue delay. A bored kid is a frustrated kid is a kid who really dislikes school and gets turned off to learning, even though she might have tremendous potential. At two, just about all kids crave learning; we are wired for it. Put a kid in a stultifying environment, and a kid as young as 9 or 10 will start to dislike learning and tune out. It sounds romantic and enlightened to eschew the label, but the label is there for a good reason. I have a son who is 2E-- he has learning disabilities AND he is gifted. If I did not respect both aspects of who he is and how he learns, he'd be frustrated even in a homeschool environment, guaranteed.

 

Good luck :D. All of your kids have the potential to wow you. This one will just have her own unique way of keeping you on your toes!

[Tanikit]

Everything that you listed does sound like you are dealing with a gifted child however all gifted children do differ and probably more so in toddlerhood.

 

My eldest DD was ahead with every milestone so I was suspicious from very early on - she rolled over at 6 weeks, sat by 4 months, crawled correctly the day she turned 6 months and too early steps at 8.5 months. Her language was slightly slower than her physical development but she said her first words at 8 months and sentences before 15 months though she didn't always speak in full sentences til after 2. She knew all her letters, colours and most shapes by 18 months and was trying to sound out the word "Opposites" on one of her books by age 2. At 2.5 she drew a person with head and body, feet and hands and told us it was her uncle. She also drew what she said was a calf lying down and while it is part scribble it is also very clearly a cow lying down. She did go to a nursery school from 2.3 years til just beyond 3 and this is where we saw the differences most markedly - her teacher told us she could read all the names of the children in her class because when writing a list the teacher had left one of the children off the list and DD had corrected her and told her which was missing and then pointed out the missing name on another list when asked (she was 2.5 at the time). She also said that DD knew all shapes (including hexagon etc) that she had showed the children and all fruit and vegetables etc - I think she picked most of this up with us just talking to her and she was doing 48 piece puzzles at age 2.

 

My second DD is only 19 months old and it is hard not to compare - she has also been ahead on most milestones though not to the same extent as my elder DD. Her speech is much slower than her elder DD which makes me want to compare them - she understands everything and has her own way of communicating, but the reason I suspect she may turn out gifted is that she will point to pictures in books of anything I ask her even if I phrase the question to make it more difficult (not just: "where is the dog" but "where is the pig with the hoof in its mouth" when there are 5 other similar pigs on the page) Her fine motor skills are more advanced than her sisters were at the same age and she was building towers (of about 4 blocks) well before a year of age and also seems to want to count everything even though her pronunciation of the numbers is such that you are not sure whether she is getting it correct or not.

 

Homeschooling is great because you can just work at their level - my eldest DD is due to start K in January next year, but she is beyond K work so we just do whatever works for her adjusting the amount of seatwork to her age, but the work level to her ability.

Edited September 16, 2012 by Tanikit

[Crimson Wife]

My second DD is only 19 months old and it is hard not to compare - she has also been ahead on most milestones though not to the same extent as my elder DD. Her speech is much slower than her elder DD which makes me want to compare them - she understands everything and has her own way of communicating, but the reason I suspect she may turn out gifted is that she will point to pictures in books of anything I ask her even if I phrase the question to make it more difficult (not just: "where is the dog" but "where is the pig with the hoof in its mouth" when there are 5 other similar pigs on the page) Her fine motor skills are more advanced than her sisters were at the same age and she was building towers with blocks well before a year of age and also seems to want to count everything even though her pronunciation of the numbers is such that you are not sure whether she is getting it correct or not.

 

FWIW, full siblings are generally within 5 IQ pts. +/- each other under normal circumstances.

 

Now if one sibling has a LD, that could bring down the overall score, but in that case the highest sub-tests are likely to represent what the 2E child would score in the absence of the LD.

[Tanikit]

FWIW, full siblings are generally within 5 IQ pts. +/- each other under normal circumstances.

 

Now if one sibling has a LD, that could bring down the overall score, but in that case the highest sub-tests are likely to represent what the 2E child would score in the absence of the LD.

 

That is good to hear. I have not had my eldest tested so have no idea what her IQ would be but it would be easier to deal with two children closer in intelligence than with vast differences I would imagine.

[The Governess]

.

[Irene Lynn]

My dd was very similar. I suspected at 15 months and was pretty sure by 2.5 years. We never tested, but I have no doubts. Her learning was quick and deep, but more importantly, it was plainly different. She was not like any of the kids we were around in real life. She was more like the kids I found out about online. Eventually, I learned online of someone who was local and the girls hit it off immediately and have been friends almost 10 years now. The other girl had been tested and scored very high and was 2 years older than our dd, but they had more in common than not. When we went out and about I would hear many comments about how smart she was. They also commented on her hair color. LOL I think the main difference is that gifted kids might need different things. Dare to know your own child and do what your gut tells you to do, even if that way is a road much less traveled. Some kids get irritable and their parents realize that they need to go outside to run it out of them or have a friend over. A gifted child may need a complex subject to research instead. Movie choices may be very different. Some of our friends let their kids watch all sorts of things, because certain parts flew right over their heads. I didn't have that luxury. NOTHING flew over dd's head in movies. If she didn't understand something, she would ask. Sometimes if you feel like you are all alone, then knowing that your child is gifted and running to a gifted board to relax or get some new ideas is great. Other than that, it is no different. Just meet needs and keep them learning as parents do. Your choices just might be different.

[MissKNG]

I had no idea about my big girl and knew nothing about giftness until she was about 3. Then I had two teacher friends ask me if she was gifted. I was like :001_huh: until I started researching giftedness. Boy, that explained A LOT (especially the whole overexcitability thing). I thought all of her "quirks" were just regular, normal behavior.

 

My small girl is also bright (object counting at 17 months, self taught on the computer, etc).

 

In regards to the family IQ range, we are strange. My dad is identified as profoundly gifted and my mom is average. I am more on the average end. We are very confident that my big girl is somewhere between my dad and myself and she excels in the same areas that he does (math and science).

[SKL]

With my dd, it's hard to articulate exactly how I knew early on. There was something about the way she looked at things. The way she did very little "trial and error." She just knew what went where etc. When she was 21mo I was assembling a mini trampoline and she came by, picked up a piece of rod, and instantly put it exactly where & how it was supposed to go, without any words being exchanged. She was good at puzzles and such. At just under 2, she could count up into the teens (e.g., counting the steps as she walked up) without mistakes. At the same age, she was "drawing" on a piece of paper and showed me that she'd written the letter "M." (Might have been accidental, but she recognized and named it as "M.") She knew both letters and sounds at that point - probably not all of them, but at least a handful.

 

My dd was not an early bloomer when it came to talking or large muscle stuff (the usual things you watch for in a tot). This may have been related to the fact that she was adopted internationally at 9mos. But she understood everything, as could be ascertained by her actions.

 

ETA: Also agree about nothing flying over these kids' heads in movies. We didn't do much screen time, but I took my kids to see Marley & Me just before my dd was 2. She understood the fact that the dog was going to die. She was crying (softly, so as not to disturb the other moviegoers!). After that we began to watch movies that were pretty deep for a 2-3yo and she really understood and would have feelings appropriate to a much older audience. In fact, she was a little obsessed with death at age 2 and Nazis at age 3.

Edited September 16, 2012 by SKL

[lewelma]

Honestly, until I got my oldest tested at age 6, I just thought all the other kids we hung out with were stupid. :001_huh: Not a very wonderful thing to admit, but it never occurred to me that mine was HG.

 

Ruth in NZ

Edited September 16, 2012 by lewelma

[Walking-Iris]

Thanks everybody for all the replies. I wish I knew how to multi-quote. :001_smile:

 

Mainly I agree with pp that have said to meet her where she is. Maybe just think of it as a different type of learning style.

 

I've really honestly wondered if homeschooling and parenting philosophy play a big part. I'm not big on pushing academics early or forcing workbook seat work etc, but I am really big on unit study type approaches and following rabbit trails.

 

I bought Mudpies to Magnets mainly for my dd as well as my 5 year old science lover. I'm planning on starting some Private Eye with the kiddos and will certainly add my dd into this as well. It just never occurred to me to separate the little ones from what the big ones were doing. If we're doing a art/science/history project I give my younger ones, even the toddler, something to do related as well. I try not to use "baby talk." Other than baby signs, my dh has committed on how I talk to the babies and little kids in full sentences expecting them to understand.

 

They're free even as little ones to look and touch nearly everything in the house with safety in mind. My dd prefers regular Legos and so I just supervise her building time with them.

 

This is in sharp contrast to other parents I know and my in-laws. Other than my homeschooling friends, most parents I know keep toddlers away from nearly everything so they don't "mess it up" and usually redirect them to the battery operated Fisher Price. I had one friend who kept her toddler in a playroom with baby gates and the room was full of typical Toys R Us plastic stuff made for 1 year olds. My MIL bought a Discovery Toy "laptop" (really crappy toy) to keep at her house because they want to be on her laptop. It didn't take her long to realize they were completely capable of using a real laptop without any mishaps.

 

My SIL keeps "nice" picture books out of my 5 and 6 year old niece and nephew's reach. My niece once "tattled" to me about something my 5 year old was touching and when I asked why he couldn't touch it she said "it might be expensive." Pretty much broke my heart. There just seems to be a trend among mainstream parents with keeping little kids separated from real world objects and out of adults way that I don't see in most homeschool families that I have been able to observe irl. Someone recently mentioned to me how "advanced" it was that my 9 year old recognized classical music and had an interest in art, but I felt that it was pretty normal, considering how proactive homeschooling parents are at providing the means to learn that stuff. It never occurred to me that what my kids do are outside the norm. I guess I've been using homeschoolers as my norm for so long.

 

Non-homeschoolers I know are always commenting on how smart my kids are and recently I've begun to wonder if all kids wouldn't do more if provided with more and restricted less, kwim?

 

I feel as though I'm rambling. I think I pretty much agree with boscopup that I'm more likely to allow free discovery and exploration rather than adding any sort of curriculum etc. Especially since she can't write and until she starts having the motor skills to form letters and numbers I'm not stressing anything. I let her play with movable letter tiles etc.

 

Mainly I'm curious about lifestyle differences. Already I have noticed how exhausted I feel at the end of the day. She wants nearly constant interaction and talking and questioning and movement. Calls to "look" and "play" and "read" and "what" and "where" etc can drain after a full day of other needs and responsibilities as well. There's also the persistence. If she puts her mind to it she can get pretty darn frustrated when her thinking is way ahead of her physical abilities. I know that this is pretty run of the mill with 2 year olds. But it's not about typical 2 year old situations.

 

I've heard about the different behavior issues etc that can come about and that's mainly what I'm interested in at this point. I feel confident I can figure out the "schooling" part.

[Mélie]

Honestly, until I got my oldest tested at age 6, I just thought all the other kids we hung out with were stupid. :001_huh: Not a very wonderful thing to admit, but it never occurred to me that mine was HG.

I kind of thought the same thing. Because both of my boys were so verbal, I had no idea how advanced they were until my older son started kindergarten (a year early, so they wouldn't be in the same grade). Within a few weeks, his teacher had given him a 2nd grade math workbook to keep him busy while she taught the other kids how to count.

 

It sounds like you're doing a great job already. :)

[mommymilkies]

I kind of thought the same thing. Because both of my boys were so verbal, I had no idea how advanced they were until my older son started kindergarten (a year early, so they wouldn't be in the same grade). Within a few weeks, his teacher had given him a 2nd grade math workbook to keep him busy while she taught the other kids how to count.

 

It sounds like you're doing a great job already. :)

 

:lol: my oldest was sent home from kindy with notes asking us to slow her down because she was reading novels and finished all of the kindy work. The other kids were feeling bad because she was ahead of them. :001_huh: I do think sometimes we don't even notice our kids being ahead unless they are constantly around others of the same age. I try not to compare my kids to others, but one can't help but make comparisons sometimes (especially if we're usually isolated!).

[FairProspects]

Yeah, I suspected around 2, when ds visited the doctor after 6 months and remembered and asked about the dog that had been in the office at his 18 month check-up (b/c the doc was shocked). Then shortly after 2 when he started comparing/contrasting various architectural structures around town to those on Sodor and talking about their features, I was pretty sure, so I definitely think you can tell very early in a child's life. I do think the verbally gifted kids tend to be more obviously identified though because for ds there was never a clear application of early academics (ie he didn't add numbers on his own or spontaneously read). It was more of a completely different information processing style than most kids and what he could do with that info.

Edited September 16, 2012 by FairProspects

[crazyforlatin]

I'm still not sure given that we have a nurturing home environment. I often wonder if every parent reads aloud, speaks a foreign language, and provides a stimulating environment, could a child turn out seemingly gifted? The problem is that DD seems to be advanced in certain areas, but then obviously behind in others, so whether she is gifted or not, I still provide an educational environment that is just right for her.

[boscopup]

They're free even as little ones to look and touch nearly everything in the house with safety in mind. My dd prefers regular Legos and so I just supervise her building time with them.

 

Oh yeah, I had to get rid of baby toys much earlier this time around. Youngest wanted to play with the big boy toys, and I can't imagine separating them out, especially since the kids all share a room! So he's been playing with little Legos for a LONG time. I just taught him not to eat them (and that really was never a problem with him - he wasn't a put-everything-in-the-mouth baby). Frankly, it was his older brother (DS2) that I had to watch more with smaller stuff, because he still puts things in his mouth. :tongue_smilie:

 

The toy laptop story makes me laugh. Yeah, my kids would be going, "That's not real!" :) They learn how to use a real computer pretty early on. We set up a computer for the kids when DS1 was maybe 3 years old? That was to help keep him off my computer, since he kept doing some keyboard combination that would turn off my wireless network. :glare: Having his own Windoze 2000 computer worked well until the day he deleted the fonts folder. Windoze doesn't boot without that folder. :lol: He then got to use Linux for a while, and now he's back on Windows 7 and doing fine, as are his brothers. My 3 year old can open a program that he wants, no problem. He still needs me to get him to the right website though, as I haven't set up a shortcut yet.

 

Mainly I'm curious about lifestyle differences. Already I have noticed how exhausted I feel at the end of the day. She wants nearly constant interaction and talking and questioning and movement. Calls to "look" and "play" and "read" and "what" and "where" etc can drain after a full day of other needs and responsibilities as well. There's also the persistence. If she puts her mind to it she can get pretty darn frustrated when her thinking is way ahead of her physical abilities. I know that this is pretty run of the mill with 2 year olds. But it's not about typical 2 year old situations.

I'm exhausted by my 5 year old. He asks "why" and "what happens if" and all sorts of very difficult questions that make my brain work too hard. :lol: My 3 year old isn't quite as exhausting, though he does ask more questions because of the example the 5 year old has set.

 

I've heard about the different behavior issues etc that can come about and that's mainly what I'm interested in at this point. I feel confident I can figure out the "schooling" part.

FWIW, I haven't seen the behavior issues in my oldest (who is clearly academically gifted). I have seen them more in DS2, who isn't as clearly academically gifted. DS3 is a bit of a handful, but because of his better language development, he ends up being easier than the other two were at this age. One day, I had been telling him he needed to smile and be happy, turning his attitude around. A few minutes later, he came to me and said, "I'm happy now. I told my mind." I hadn't given him that phrase at that point. I was pretty impressed that he took control of his emotions so well in that moment! He really did tell his mind to be happy, and he changed his attitude right there! That's hard for my older boys to do, but the 3 year old can do it and understood exactly what he'd done. It was pretty cool to watch. Overall, he tends to be a lot more mature than his brothers, because of that verbal ability. He didn't really talk until age 2, just like DS1 did (DS2 talked at age 3, but he has speech issues overall), but DS3 was different from DS1 in that he was trying to speak in sentences much, much earlier. They just weren't English. He'd sit there and have a full conversation with you in baby gibberish. So once he figured out English, it was almost immediately full sentences, and fairly complex ones at that. And academically, I see that reading is coming sooner than math, whereas it was the other way around for DS1. So fun to watch things happen at these young ages. :D

[Arcadia]

I'm still not sure given that we have a nurturing home environment. I often wonder if every parent reads aloud, speaks a foreign language, and provides a stimulating environment, could a child turn out seemingly gifted? The problem is that DD seems to be advanced in certain areas, but then obviously behind in others, so whether she is gifted or not, I still provide an educational environment that is just right for her.

 

:iagree:

My boys are asynchronous with mild sensory issues. We didn't have them tested since we have no need for any test results yet. I would "classify" my boys as bright rather than gifted.

DS7 was in B&M for K- gr1 and just daydream through class. Once we switch to a virtual academy, he was flying through his Language Arts and Math because he does not have to wait anymore. We are also bilingual and kids just catch out to languages probably because they hear us speaking fluently in more than three languages.

I just feel that any bright kid given a home enviroment where parents/caregivers are able to nurture their interest is going to appear slightly gifted.

[Dmmetler]

:iagree:

My boys are asynchronous with mild sensory issues. We didn't have them tested since we have no need for any test results yet. I would "classify" my boys as bright rather than gifted.

DS7 was in B&M for K- gr1 and just daydream through class. Once we switch to a virtual academy, he was flying through his Language Arts and Math because he does not have to wait anymore. We are also bilingual and kids just catch out to languages probably because they hear us speaking fluently in more than three languages.

I just feel that any bright kid given a home enviroment where parents/caregivers are able to nurture their interest is going to appear slightly gifted.

 

 

I thought this way until my DD entered pre-K at a private school where ALL the kids were from supportive home environments that provided a lot of educational opportunities (and who had already been screened coming in so there were no kids who were substantially behind developmentally), and....well, it soon became obvious that she was well out of the norm, not just in early reading (where I knew she was advanced), but just that she generally thought differently. She'd been assessed as probably gifted at age 2, and a few months after that, was identified as being at the extreme end of the GT spectrum.

 

I admit I sometimes have those same feelings among HSers now, though-it seems like every single homeschooler I know has a child who is an exceptional learner in some way-everyone is either gifted, special needs, or both! It ends up making programming hard, when it seems like half the kids are K-2 age and functioning more like 5th grade and up academically, and the other half are 5th grade and up and functioning more like 2nd-3rd graders academically!