Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Competitions. How young is too young?

DD started doing 4-H in 1st when she was 6 and participated in "competitions" but they don't really truly complete until 3rd grade. She did her first real competition (a math contest) at 8 but didn't realize it was a competition rather than just a fun math challenge until I took her to the award ceremony. That went pretty well because then she could just be surprised and excited when she got an award, instead of disappointed that she didn't get first place. She was crushed to get "only" 2nd place in the 2nd grade spelling bee even though she lost on "millennium" which (as she complained) definitely wasn't on the 2nd grade spelling list.

I lean toward thinking 4 is really too young for a competition in which someone wins and someone loses. My DS is about a year older than yours and I think he's even a couple years too young.