Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school Using exact vocabulary

My almost 2 year old son exceeded what I know about dinosaurs in less than 30 seconds.

He got an early birthday present of a dinosaur puzzle and the set of Hape wooden dinosaurs. Knowing they are "dinosaurs" are not enough and knowing what some of them are called is not enough.

I had to go check out several dinosaur books but I think I've finally got them all figured out. My son seems so tiny to be exclaiming: Parasaurolophus standing on the Ankylosaurus!

The bigger picture of this post is my son seems to have a very high need to use very precise vocabulary to describe his world. I admit I struggle to keep up. He loves construction, trucks, farm equipment, trains, and now dinosaurs and his vocabulary in these areas and requests for new vocab often sends me to the library because I'm pretty sure he knows more than me already in these areas.

Is this typical? Is it a toddler thing or does it keep going? What really makes my jaw hit the floor is his fast he picks up these huge and very technical words. He can add up to 6 technical dinosaur names in a day! I can't remember this much about dinosaurs. Ha!

I'm happy to give my son all the new vocabulary he wants but once again I feel pretty alone on this parenting journey. My kid is really starting to stick out at this point.

I don't feel qualified to say what's typical, but I went into parenting with some vague understanding that toddlers would do things like call all four-legged animals 'dog' or 'horse' and not be able to differentiate all the animals for quite some time, but mine were way ahead on that (as well as things like naming colors and counting). My DS was also very particular about using the specific name for a species of dinosaur or other animal, insect, critter, etc. Enjoy learning all the stuff you never knew! :-)

I had this same notion about toddlers and language. At the least I thought I had more time with my son as a cute little baby/toddler. His language makes him seem so much older.

It's typical for here, but not for the world in general.

Do keep that "his language makes him seem older" thing in mind as he goes on. It becomes quite a disconnect when you start thinking, "how can you read everything in the house but can't tie your shoes?" or "how can you know your multiplication tables but not ride a bicycle?" You have to stop and realize he's only 2, or 4 or 5, and just because he sounds like an adult, that doesn't mean he won't throw a hissy fit if he gets a drop of water on his shirt, or his blocks are out of order, or he doesn't want the ketchup touching anything else.

However, a child who sounds like this and keeps sounding like this in front of other people is much more likely to get accommodations in school than one who keeps it to himself. It makes it hard not to notice that he's quite different.

It is not that typical for a 2 year old but dinosaur names seem to be a 'thing' for. 4 year olds.

His almost obsession with exact vocabulary extends into anything he likes, dinosaurs just happen to be the newest topic with the biggest words. He is never satisfied knowing something like "train engine." He wants to know if it's a steam engine or a Diesel engine. It's the same with anything construction related. Do you know how many types of excavators there are? Lots! I had no idea. Same with tractors, he knows about all kinds of attachments for tractors. Once he gets on a topic and starts asking I'm usually out of answers fairly quickly because I'm not precise enough.

I'm hoping this eventually lets up. Or maybe he will learn to read in a few years and then he can find out himself.

The other big one is naming all the muppets. He has never even seen an episode of Sesame Street or the Muppets but we see books and toys everywhere and I let him watch some you tube clips when he showed an interest. He wants to know every name, even the really obscure puppets. Google is my friend.

DS9 was/is very much like this. Parasaurolophus was his favorite for years and he was always mad that it wasn't one of the popular ones for shirts and toys.

Google saved me. Once he started reading that also helped a LOT. His need for precision and knowing EVERYTHING is pretty much endless. The most memorable one for me was his absolute NEED to know EVERYTHING about where babies come from. We managed to keep it sort of vague until 4 or 5 and then gave in to the relentless questioning and covered pretty much everything. Even then he still wasn't completely satisfied when we refused to "show me!" lol

Meant to add some favorite shows
- Dinosaur Train
- Jurassic Fight Club (History Channel) - I'm not a huge fan of this but DH introduced it and it was a huge hit with DS (he still watches this). I would wait until he's older though.
- Dino Dan

There is a youtube video of the Dinosaur Train song "Dinosaurs A to Z". It is a fun one to do together as kind of a call and response:
"A!"
"Apatosaurus!"
"B!"
"Brachiosaurus"

etc. etc. all the way to Z.

Unfortunately, I don't think the need for precision goes away. With DS7, when I am saying something I have to stop and think if I am using he exact correct names for things - otherwise my point will be derailed into a side discussion of whether I used the correct word or not.

The subject doesn't matter either - could be dinosaurs, astronomy, politics, ...