I think some kids are just wired differently - partly due to genetics. Some kids just suck everything in and are more intuitive, perceptive than others. Some of it does stem from exposure and environment. Here, I mean my child was exposed to different vocabulary, transportation systems, different lifestyles and housing, etc. - from just living in NYC that my VT niece is simply not exposed to.

I was thinking about this recently. My 2e pg son was nearly 4 years old when he decided and insisted he wanted to be a curtain wall tester for Halloween. We had gone to the NJ Science Ctr and experienced a curtain wall test himself. He was so fascinated by the curtain wall test at the NJ Science Ctr that he wanted to be a tester again for Halloween.

My VT niece is now the same age and she is showing eg/pg signs. Still, she's got no clue what a curtain wall test is. She lives fairly close and been to Montreal so may have seen skyscrapers there, but it's not NYC.

IF my son had not been to the NJ Science Center would have been a curtain wall tester?? No. I don't think so. IF I had been oppositional to him being a curtain wall tester for Halloween would have still been one? Perhaps. My son is very independent. But IF my son had a different personality and temperament, then he may have not been a curtain wall tester IF I had discouraged him.