One thing you asked is for kids who looked PG early what then happened?
At around 18 mo to 3 I thought DS5 might be PG in a mathy way, and now I think he seems more "regular gifted" in that regard. He could count very early, for example spontaneously counting 11 objects and pronouncing there were 11, right around 2. He loved counting things, it was a big social activity for him and DH.
Also around 18 mo to 2.5 he had memorized all his favorite CDs of kids songs by the numbers rather than the names. It was clear he knew which ones he was asking for, because if I would say the name he'd confirm yes. I had to make a chart because I couldn't remember the numbers myself. The other way I could be sure he knew exactly which was which because sometimes he'd ask to listen to several different versions of the same song, all in a row. "Want song 32 on red CD" "Now 19 on the new one". But this is more memory than math, the number could as easily be any other name, although he did usually seem to understand what number would be before or after.
And then nothing. Well not nothing, but the pace of his math learning slowed way down. He's 5 and can do addition to 100, subtraction to 20, understands paying for something in coins (this year we slowly taught him that last one, he didn't just pick it up). Multiplies with 5 or 10 to 100. No division. Easy adding a few easy fractions. Still likes numbers and uses a lot of numbers in everyday activities, but doesn't seem PG at it to me. Or at least not yet. He doesn't intuitively "get" things like volume or division, and he doesn't seem to like complicated things in general.
At around 2 he also had PG looking reading skills, ie that he knew all the letters and could sound out short words. That has continued so that now at 5 he can read and understand everyday adult level stuff although he still only likes things with pictures and is impatient with too much text. He plays with words nonstop, making up puns and poems and stories as he goes, repeats himself a lot trying to get it to sound like he wants both the word choice and intonation. Barely can use a pencil though so output has waited years solely on that, has turned the corner on that just the last month.
I think he'll get more attention over the next few years for reading/composition skills than math.
Overall I think what made DS stand out as advanced early on was a combination of his memory and drive. I read a baby book where they said a typical 6 month old can remember something for 1 or 2 days, and that seemed to be a ridiculously low estimate. DS seemed to remember whatever the adults could remember. Also he slept way less than other kids and he needed constant stimulation. I really I think a huge part of him looking bizarre at 1 or 2 was that in those years he'd likely had and remembered hundreds of times more "life" than most kids.
He's not been tested yet but my guess is while he "looks" PG because he has a ton of drive and a fantastic memory and a good imagination, that he's not PG across the board due to either a lesser ability or lack of interest in mental analysis.
You asked about teaching letters. Now having been through one kid I think I could do it more logically the next time, we didn't really do it at all with DS other than playing around with letters on the fridge and providing a fridge magnet thing that says the letters. If I were to do it over I'd start with a handful of commonly used letters that can be easily combined to make highly relevant 3 letter words. Such as M O D A and maybe C or T. Only ever refer to them by the sounds they make in the words you are later going to make with them, such as mom, dad, cat. So O would always be "aw". I still remember at some point showing DS how a few letters went together and he got all quiet in a stunned sort of way, and I realized I should have shown him that earlier. I've read that its better to do lowercase first because they are more commonly used.
If you haven't checked out starfall.com DS loved it just before 2 (and your DS sounds a bit ahead of him so perhaps would like it now).
Last thing -- On Geopuzzles, does it irk anyone else's child that you can't put them together? Wouldn't it be great if you could take some edge pieces off one and attach another continent?
Last edited by Polly; 01/03/13 08:32 PM.
