Yes, self-taught other than occasional exposure to Starfall (like, I sometimes let him play on the site for half an hour here and there, for probably less than 20 sessions in total) and Word World. I should have specified.
Other indicators exist, most obviously encylopedic knowledge of the ocean and learning to play chess (correctly and maybe at the level of the average 5 or 6yo?) at 3. He can also add and subtract numbers to about 12 in his head, but I don't find that terribly impressive myself. Before he could read, he memorized extremely long books. Other stuff as well, but as a toddler he was less flashy than his sister. Oh, he can do Lego sets labeled 5-7 and 100-piece puzzles, but that doesn't seem too advanced.
So we don't feel certain that reading at a 3rd grade level at 4 is indicative of giftedness? I was feeling kinda ready to stop worrying about this issue (not whether he is gifted--but where we should send him to K next year), but wasn't sure. We could consider paying for private testing to put the worry to bed, but I'd rather not. At the same time, we would feel like we had made quite an error if he eventually turned out not to be eligible for the magnet.
Last edited by ultramarina; 09/11/12 12:05 PM.
