My 3 y/o daughter was alert at birth and put her fingers in her mouth just before 1 month. First word at 9 months, combined words at 13 months, sentences at 15-17 months (hard to tell because she vocalized constantly). She had a repetoire of songs at 18 months and could hit the notes.
She started writing letters at 2 1/4 yrs. When she was 3 1/4, she told me she wanted to read. So I wrote CAT and she sounded it out. They do sounds at day care, but no one talked about tracking from left to right or combining sounds as far as I know. She wanted me to give her a spelling test in May and wrote "I see a dog," "feet," and "fast" correctly, including separating the words.
She begs the day care provider for homework. It's mostly kindergarten level stuff and has been very easy for her for months.
She took steps quite late (14.5 months) and didn't really walk for a month or so after that.
My 6 y/o wanted to learn about dinosaurs when he was just 2. He probably would have started learning their names before that if Mom and Dad had understood what was going on. He could distinguish similar dinosaurs (ex. different dromeosaurs) before 3 by looking at drawings of their heads, even when they weren't drawn to scale. I didn't teach him this. He could learn from documentaries about dinosaurs before he was 3. He could identify a skull as amphibian when he was 5 ("What kind of skull is that?"), and I didn't teach him this. He's EXTREMELY observant.
He could sound out words before 4 but wasn't interested in learning to read until 5 1/2.
My eldest asked us to teach him to read when he was 3 1/2. He thrives on instruction and soaks it up like a sponge (when he's in the mood). He wanted to learn how to play chess when he was 4 or 5 and was playing games in kindergarten. He wasn't very good, but he was playing properly.
They've never been tested so I have no IQ info.
Val
