I have a daughter who turned 4 last month. Many friends and family members have been nagging me to 'see someone' or to 'have her tested' because they think that she is way above "normal" for her age in areas that include language, reading, cognitive ability, etc.
She has been reading since age 2, getting progressively better at it the older she gets. Much to her Dad's and my surprise, she could identify the letters of the alphabet and their corresonding phonetic sounds at about 16 months. She's freakishly good at puzzles, and regularly works very successfully on 500 pc sets. She is very outgoing and EXTREMELY talkative (almost to a fault!) Her vocabulary seems very advanced for her age.
She is an only child, so I have nothing to which I can compare her progress. I do know that none of my friends' children could do the these things at the ages at which my daughter could do them...hence my questions and worry that I'm not doing enough to help her!
She's in her second year of a private Montessori preschool. The teacher has told me she thinks my daughter may have a photographic memory, is reading on a 2nd-3rd grade level and is doing 5-6 year old math...however the teacher has not indicated that these abilities are significantly above average or should be investigated further with testing, etc.
I guess I'm asking for advice from parents who have more experience with this sort of thing than I do...should I take her to a psychologist and request that she be tested? Is 4 years old too young for this type of testing? Are these accomplishments the norm for this age and am I nuts to think that she may be above average and therefore require special educational needs from this early on?
I'd greatly appreciate any input offered. If I'm just a proud parent who has a smart little girl, I'm more than happy with that. But if she could be gifted and there is something I can do that will help to foster her talents and abilities, I want to get to it!
Thanks again for any information!
