So, is that the distinction between 1/2 level and 3/4/5 level- that the kids in the upper levels did everything super early or is it that once they picked them up they zoomed ahead?
This is an non-professional opinion of course
, but as someone who didn't think their child was truly GT before kindergarten because he didn't willingly read, I think the 2nd is at least an option. I can't tell you what level he reads at 7 because he reads whatever he wants - the newspaper, encyclopedias, comics, jr. high chapter books, back to 3rd grade chapter books.
I think LOG is a combination of speed of learning vs. exposure to a concept. Parents tend to expose their young kids to stuff they enjoy (or value). My son was more math and science precocious as a preschooler, but we just tended to do that kind of stuff at home. Not that we didn't read with him. We did, but we went from board books to chapter books. I never thought of exposing him to books he could try to read. By the time I got around to that, he was reading chapter books within months.
I was actually at a GT related meeting last night and they offer classes for HG+ kids. They were willing to use a definition of operating 3 or more grade levels above their age as a definition for HG if you didn't have test scores. I'm thinking that would correspond to levels 3,4,5.
