Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Is this something I should pursue?

Hi. Okay. I'm brand new.

Really I created a registration on here so that I could find out if I should start pursuing testing or just ways to be an advocate for my kids.

My daughter is 2 1/2. She is starting to read short phonetic words. She has always been ahead physically (fine and gross moter skills like: She walked at 8 months and could take a pen cap on and off at like... 9-10 months?? hard to remember). She has also been advanced in her speech and the concepts she understands. She had about 20 words she used regularly at 12 months and a whole list of other's she used at some points. Her first sentance at 14 months and now she asks totally complicated questions, has complete discussions with us about some pretty complex stuff. She wants to know how things work and whats going on in many situations. She almost ALWAYS speaks in the proper tense and ALWAYS has. She's really good at adult conversation and she prefers friends at LEAST a year older than her.

My son is only 7 months. He said his first word at 5 1/2 months(Momma), he uses it very intentionally. And, though we are trying to remain sceptical and not be expecting much we THINK he may be saying two other words (Hi and Batman). These are more recent. He is also advanced physically. Everything else is a little early to tell but he is crawling, standing, and picking up cheerios. ???

My question is: What do I do?

I'm a stay at home mom and I have time to stimulate my kids and help them meet their full potential. I want to do my best to create opportunities for them to thrive. I don't want to expect too much or be pushy though. I know my kids are not like some of the SUPER gifted kids that like.... talk at 2 weeks old or whatever. But they obviously are bright. I really don't know HOW bright though... should I look into testing for my 2 1/2 year old? Is it helpful to know where you stand? How do I do that? Can I administer anything myself that is an informal sort of thing that will help me decide where to go from here?
How helpful is pre-school? She is already beyond what they teach in pre-school... even to most 4-5 year olds in MOST aspects. But the social opportunity and the chance to work in groups and develop classroom etiquette is important to my husband and I because we intend to homeschool later down the road and we don't want her to be deprived totally of those social and classroom experiences. We want to establish them now. Most pre-schools wont let her in until she's 3 and by then I'm afraid she'll be totally bored. Any advice?
For anything we do at home to help keep their little minds growing is there a place I can find good curriculum for advanced toddler/preschoolers? Should I just use stuff that's meant for older kids early? Any advice on activities that are intellectually stimulating? This young brains are so malleable I don't want to waste these years!

Sorry this was so long. Any help would be really appreciated!