Hi flower,

Just want to clarify, of course early learning of the alphabet etc. can be a sign of giftedness, especially if the child is leading the way. I went back and looked at your very first post, where you said "19 month old dd who suddenly showed us two months ago that she knew the alphabet" -- now THAT's gifted!!!

Also, I would never label a specific child "pseudo-gifted." Because, what do I know? I have no way of knowing if that child is eagerly soaking up knowledge, or if instead it's the parents pushing a narrow agenda.

BUT . . .

1) Pushy parents do exist. 2) Most young children, once they've started talking, can be taught to memorize some stuff, if it's important enough to the parents. 3) Our culture doesn't have a clue what giftedness really looks like. Hence, the phenomenon that Min originally posted about. I think the phenomenon is real, and I think "pseudo-gifted" is not a bad term for it.

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I am sad to think that any child's abilities whether seeming advanced or not could be labeled by another's in comparison with their own child.
I'm not sure you really meant this the way it sounds. Taken at face value, this amounts to a call to do away with the the entire concept of "gifted," because it involves comparison. We are all here on this board because we can't escape the fact that our kids are different.