Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Identifying A Gifted Preschooler

My son is 3 years old (just turned 3). He is reading, writing, counting to 100 (by 2s and 10s too), is working on learning how to count money, and is basically a little sponge. He has been doing all those things for more than a year now. He has an insatiable thirst for learning, and my husband and I are finding it difficult to quench his thirst ourselves.

We have asked our pediatrician what to do. Our pediatrician has told us numerous times that he is profoundly gifted but that kids his age are not tested, and that we have to wait until he's 5 or 6.

We are first time parents. We have no idea where to go with all of this. Some of the preschools we've visited want to put him in with 5 year olds. Some have flat out told us that they won't be able to meet his education needs because he's too far ahead.

I guess what I'm asking is for any tips, help, or advice you can give or if you know any types of programs that are designed for gifted preschoolers.

Thanks in advance for your help. It is very much appreciated.

Welcome, I'm pretty new here myself.

Your DS sounds like he's doing fantastic! I completely understand the exhaustion that comes from feeding a learning-hungry kid. I'm just grateful we have the internet. I think we would have had to live at the library back in the day.

We knew our DS was ahead at 3 (with reading, math, science), but we really didn't think it was that unusual (as first time parents also). Our goal with preschool at 3 was to give him a place to socialize and have fun (he only went 2 days a week). He has a late-late summer birthday, so he was always with kids up to a year older than him and did well with this.

I never found another kid in his school that was doing the things he was - but he did get a lot of benefit socially and creatively. He learned to be more independent at school and how to sit still to listen to a book (he REALLY struggled with this), how to walk quietly in line, raise his hand, etc. Those things may sound trivial, but I could see that these successes fed my DS' self-esteem.

We just continued at home to provide him hands-on learning experiences and play time. We figured he would have years and years of academic opportunities ahead of him.

I have been encouraged (on here) to wait until my DS is 6 for more accurate testing.

I'd like to echo Evermomma's comments. My dd is now 12yo, and just as much a standout academically as she was at 2yo. I remember freaking out when she started reading at 2yo - it was very hard to be patient then, but in hindsight, everything worked out okay. We put her in an arts focussed preschool (following the Emilio Reggio model) - it fostered creativity and social skills, and the academic mismatch was a non-issue. We have worked within a public school system for K-6, and now have a thriving, happy almost-teenager entering the 7th grade at the local middle school.

Waiting to test until he's a little older will not only give you more accurate results. If you wait until the nature of your educational challenges are clearer, you'll be in a better position to pick appropriate tests and you'll have current results. Both can be an advantage in advocating for your child.

I remember feeling a mixture of panic and pride when my oldest daughter was that age. Here she was not yet three, but able to read, count high, use an amazing vocabulary, and so on. She was way ahead of her fellow three year olds at preschool. Eventually I just decided that there was no need to worry and that providing her social experiences, giving her opportunities to channel all that energy, and providing learning experiences at home would get us through. Now she is going into first grade and I wish I had been more relaxed about preschool the way I am with my younger daughter who is very bright, but does not stand out as much with academics or behavior, so it was easier to be relaxed.

There really aren't any programs designed for PG preschoolers. The best you can hope for is a program that is flexible and welcoming. My DS went to Kindercare at that age. We had some trouble with a few people there, but one thing they offered which worked for him was a pullout for reading and math instruction (offered to any kids who were ready for it.) They also placed him in the K class shortly after he turned 4. Anyway, they were willing to be flexible, but some teachers there were not happy about the arrangements and made things unpleasant for DS. I would look for a situation where the people who will work with him every day are willing and enthusiastic about doing it.

Re testing: yes, there is WPPSI, but it is a very abbreviated test and results can vary a lot depending on the child's willingness to participate. At age 6, the WISC-IV can give you good information about strengths and weaknesses and a ballpark idea of level of giftedness.

Welcome! You've come to the right place, and if you browse the forum you'll find that there are many of us here who've been where you are. Don't panic! For now, don't expect to find a group academic setting that will teach your son; you are almost certainly better off finding a very flexible preschool that will let him play, create, read, as he wishes, while spending time in a group with other children. Unless he's very unusual socially and emotionally as well as academically, putting him with children learning what he needs to learn now, at just turned 3, is unlikely to work even if you could find somewhere that would do it.

Do you have a good children's library nearby, and is your DS's reading good enough already that he can teach himself by reading non-fiction books? That was a lifesaver for us. That and google!

Hi and welcome. For us preschool was all about play with no academics (would never have found a good fit anyway). Last year was good when DS did 2 mornings a week at a Montessori preschool with children 6-18 months older. He out grew most of the 3-6 year old equipment before he started but socially he became more confident and learnt to be with other adults and children. We play and do experiments, read+++ at home. This year has been trickier as he is with age peers 5 days a fortnight. We chose not to start school early but he will go into gr 1 next year ( and still need more). We plan to test around 6. DS at that age loved documentaries about space and building eg subways/sewer systems which provided a little downtime. Enjoy the journey, exhausting it may be, challenging as it may be, but you are bound to have fun along the way as well!

Welcome! I remember that I was looking for preschools for my DS at that age to give myself a break! Those younger years can be exhausting. As others have said, it will probably be difficult to find a preschool program aimed at PG kids, and you probably won't find a place outside your own home that can feed your child's specific interests at his level at this point.

What are you looking to get out of preschool? For us, it was a break for mom, getting used to listening to an adult outside the family, and learning to get along with other kids. We ended up sending to our kiddo to a part-time preschool based on recommendations from friends. It turned out to be not the greatest fit, and in retrospect, we would have only gone one year instead of two (the 3yo year).

As for testing, there is also the SB-V, but most testers familiar with GT kids say to wait until you have a need for a test for a particular reason. In our case, we had our son tested at age 4 to see if the tester recommended early kindergarten. We decided to send our son to kindy with agemates and then skip first grade, but we were happy to have the testing and results before school to help with advocacy.

We sent our early reader to a 1/2 day, progressive, non-academic preschool that focused on creativity and social skills too, and it worked out great. DD was a very easy going kid with a long attention span, so I also managed to get her into a class with kids one year older. The preschool seemed to attract a lot of high IQ parents, so she was not as obviously out of place as she would become in elementary school. At home, I provided plenty of books, trips to the science museum, art supplies, maps, globes, puzzles and whatever else caught her interest. It worked out really well. Don't stress too much. Many PG kids do fine in regular programs if the parents are sensitive to their needs.

I have read about this option on here, and feel that this may benefit my DS, who is starting K this fall and is much ahead academically compared to his classmates.

He just missed birthday cut-offs, so he will also be one of the older ones this year (which makes him seem even MORE ahead). So if he skipped first grade, he really wouldn't be that much younger next year than the other 2nd graders.

What criterian did you use to determine this route? Have you found there were basics your kiddo missed that were learned in first grade? Would you do it again?

We will be supplementing at home this year no matter what, but if we think we might try to skip 1st grade, then I would like to consider going along with the parallel first grade curriculum this year (have lots of friends with first graders in same school, so would not be hard to do).

...sorry for hijacking.