At her age, an "enriched environment" can make a difference. The effect wears off around 2nd grade, which is why many districts don't start gifted/talented until 2nd grade or later. (Which is way too late for the actually advanced children).
Hot-housing versus enriched environment, in my opinion, is all about who is taking the lead. Is the child intiating? Is the child showing interest or asking for more? My 22 month old LOVES flashcards. Flashcards are stereotypical hot-housing, but I'm over it. He adores flashcards, asks to play and asks for "more" until he is over it.
I am of the opinion that hot-housed kids are going to know colors, numbers, and alphabet - anything that's on a "is my child ready for Kindergarten" checklist, while bright children from an enriched environment are going to know a much wider range of material. My 22 month old doesn't know the banal alphabet song (thank god!) but he can identify a South American Gray Fox versus a Peruvian Dessert Fox on his Nat Geo flashcards. LOL!
I think you'll benefit from reading your state's educational statutes, looking for loopholes. Look at early Kindergarten enrollment (some states don't allow it). Look at homeschooling requirements. Look for any language related to gifted and talented programming. Check for open enrollment and virtual charter schools. Look at partial enrollment options too.
Request documents from the district too. Ask for their written acceleration policy, for example. It's not too early to start talking to building principals if early Kindergarten enrollment is an option in your state.
You can also stay in touch by attending school board meetings or even joining the school board! This is awesome experience so you see how all the loopholes work and what funding is (or is not) available!
A great think you can do for her is to build her "life experience" so she can relate to stories in books. If she is gifted, she may end up reading books she can't quite grasp for lack of life experiences when she is 4 - 6 years old. If she's not gifted, it's still an amazing life learning experience!!! For example, if she likes animals, take her to zoos, petting zoos, farms, animal shelters, etc. Then you can relate animal stories to her real experiences. This is quite powerful way of teaching children how books relate to life. If she doesn't have any particularly strong interests, think about the types of stories you'd enjoy reading to her. Laura Ingalls Wilder stories? Then find places to play in tall grass, watch farm animals, or even explore a log cabin.
If you are interested in letting her develop her focus and independence already (early study skills, you could say) you might find Montessori interesting. I just read Montessori From the Start - birth to age three, and Montessori At Home Guide (very thin book, doesn't stand alone very well) I learned so much about things that my youngest could do if only I'd let him. I adopted some things from the method yesterday and he is already responding. It's quite amazing!
