Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Is my 2 year old gifted?

I'm new to this site and I'm still trying to decide if my dd2 is gifted. Here is my list of her recent milestones/accomplishments. Can anyone give me any insight on any of this? She just seems so smart - I amazed all the time by what she is learning but I am her mother so I know I am biased.

1 year, 5 months: Talking in short sentences � able to communicate her thoughts and needs verbally.

1 year, 8 months: Dresses herself completely, choosing what to wear and putting everything on herself including socks and shoes.

1 year, 10 months: Insists on wearing ds5�s clothes. She knows what clothes are his based on color and style because they are boy clothes � not whether she�s seen him wear them before. If it�s pink or purple or it�s a dress, she doesn�t want to wear it.

2 years:

*Sings: Twinkle, Twinkle; Row, Row, Row your Boat; Rock a Bye Baby getting most words correct but sometimes repeats lines
*Makes up her own songs and sings them again at a later time (Row your boat, row your boat, be nice to your brother!)
*Talks in grammatically correct complete sentences almost all the time
*If she says something incorrectly, I repeat it back to her using the correct word and she repeats it back correctly and seems to understand and take note of what she just learned.
*Is able to locate objects using multiple descriptions (for example, your baby is in the living room on the floor on the other side of the couch)
*Insists on rocking herself and singing at bedtime. She sits in rocking chair and rocks while she sings the songs I used to sing to her. I have to sit on the floor but she does take song requests. She then must climb into the crib herself or she throws a fit.
*Insists on doing virtually everything herself: climbing into mini-van, climbing into car seat, getting into booster chair (these take a lot of strength and determination on her part because she has to pull herself up using her upper body without getting her knee up because of her size), taking off and putting on toothpaste lid, taking off and putting on juice lid, turning off the TV, turning off the light, buckles her booster seat. If someone does it for her, we have to un-do it so she can re-do it or she throws a fit.
*Can find toys, etc. that are in the house because she remembers where she last saw them.

2 years, 2 months:

*Able to carry on conversations with adults and older children.
*Knows most of her colors
*Counts to 9 easily
*Has counted to 13 in the past, occasionally skipping a number
*Sings ABCs easily (first time singing ABCs was at 1 year, 8 months)
*Stopped wanting to sing the songs she sang every night 2 months ago (we stopped the singing and rocking when she moved out of the crib since it was such an ordeal � now I miss having her sing to me!)
*Helps me unload the dishwasher without being asked � hands me dishes to put away.
*Has very mild interest in dolls/babies � more interested in exploring environment and playing with Sam and his toys.
*Has started asking me to identify some letters for her. Up until this time, she has not had much interest in letters.
*Draws in circular motion and says �look, I drew a circle!�
*Draws an oval and tells me it's an oval.
*Not much interest in actually using the potty anymore however she changes her pull-up on her own, without me asking her, when it�s wet (who needs a potty when you�re wearing a portable toilet and can change it on your own?)

And if she is gifted, how should I parent any differently? Has anyone read "Parent's guide to raising a gifted toddler: Recognizing and developing the potential of your child from birth to five years?" Is that a good place to start? Thanks!

I almost forgot my favorite thing she does... at age 2, we got all the Bill Martin/Eric Carle books like Brown Bear, Brown Bear. I would do the answer part like "I see a Blue Heron looking at me." She would then do the question part on the next page... "Blue Heron, Blue Heron, what do you see?" - we did all 4 books like this and she could name all the animals on the final page (like macaroni penguin, water buffalo, blue sea turtle, etc. - not your basic animals like cow and pig). Then I realized we could make a game out of it and I could name anything in the room - "I see a table looking at me." and she answered with "Table, table, what do you see?" She thought that was hilarious. Sorry for the long post - I just had to share that since no one else I know with small children would believe me.

Welcome!

I have not read that particular book so I can't recommend it one way or the other.
Your dd sounds pretty tremendous, however from experience I can say it can be pretty hard to tell 'for sure' if your child is gifted when they are a toddler unless they are doing something utterly off the charts like reading at 2 or 3, or doing simple math at 3.
I think those things are pretty darn rare - that would make things too easy!
(It can be hard to tell even after they've tested 'gt'! Lol!)

I am no expert but I think all the things you describe certainly should have you reading up on giftedness and offering her plenty of play oriented learning opportunities.
(verbally/physically precocious, counting well already, and highly independent)

I have read on this forum "follow their lead"; that seems to sum up a lot of what a gt toddler needs us to do.

Thanks, Chris! Yes, we do a lot of the "follow their lead" around here. She is at this moment taking apart and putting back together our kitchen chair with a screwdriver.

I like parenting books by Sylvia Rimm for advice specific to the particular challenges of gifted kids.

Have you seen 'Losing our minds: Gifted children left behind' by Deb Ruf. I reccomend reading that one for seeing your daughter 'in context.'

BTW - I think you answered your own question 'is she gifted' with your last line: no one else I know with small children would believe me.

When you can't talk to your local peer group, that's a fairly reliable sign.

I reccomend joining your state gifted association and to strongly consider getting your 5 year old son tested for giftedness. He is quite likely to be gifted also, although perhaps more in line with other family members, and you want to start learning how to be a gifted advocate with him, if needed. If you think I'm just being silly, spend some time with him in school looking at the other children, not just his friends, but all the other kids in the room.

I'm so glad you found us. I do know what it's like to not be able to 'share' locally.

Love and More Love,
Grinity

Thanks, Grinity. I do think my ds5 is gifted. He was too young to start Kindergarten this year because of his birthdate and he wasn't socially ready anyway (in hindsight, he would have probably been fine in a half-day program but we only have full-days here). He has recently started reading though - he has been learning to read at home since they don't teach reading at preschool. So... he'll be going to Kindergarten next year probably already reading fairly well. I'll definitely be checking into our options on how to best accommodate that.

Thanks for book recommendations and the support!

Hi there

I'm also relativetly new to this site, however have found it to be a great resource and sounding board. I agree with what grinity has to say but also wanted to add, at our school they run a gifted program (it is there but by no means is perfect, but better than nothing) anyway my point is that the few parents who have approached us thinking their children are gifted have eventually taken the plunge into getting them tested and have indeed been correct. Our peer group believed us but the bad behaviour we often expressed about our children at a young age was never experienced by other children, we used to think our peer group just kept that to themselves. Oh also need to add in the things we thought were normal for children of that age in hindsight were apparently NOT. It was our first child and I went back to work so not alot of parent get togethers were experieced for comparison.

Hi Ladybugmom,

I am so glad you started your own thread. I know it has been mentioned but look up Ruf and her 5 levels of giftedness. I have recently read the book b/c I too have a 26 month old that was blowing our minds and had we had the same issues of friends with small children in disbelief and us basically hiding or downplaying her accomplishments.

Just my opinion and please take it as that, but since Ruf is fresh on my mind ... I believe you have a gifted child, probably both are gifted. I would say since your DS is starting to read at 5 he is most likely level 1. As for your DD chris is right about how hard it would be trying to figure exactly what level she is at unless she is completely off the charts and even then she would be at least a level 3 but until tested not sure if she is 3,4 or 5. By what you described you DD sounds to be level 1 or 2. Again this is from a new participant who is just coming to terms with the giftedness and my own kiddo, so I could be way off in my assessment.

Either way, gifted or not ... I fully believe and following the lead of your child and allow them to learn through play.

Don't over think it. Whatever you are doing is going well. no need for labbels today. ignore products age suggestions unless for safety. follow their lead. don't make many decisions based on age - don't make all decisions based on intellect. We lost a lot of time having fun when we realized the kids had labbels and scary numbers. Read up on educational options - especially if there is any chance you will move - because a good school district and great gt aren't the same. But enjoy!

Welcome to the site.

I have had many of the same questions as you with my DD-almost-3. I didn't realize what she did was different until a friend of mine told me it was weird that a 20-month-old knew her colors. My DD sounds a lot like yours -- has to do everything by herself: getting dressed, putting toothpaste on the toothbrush, getting into the car, turning on/off the TV, starting the movie by herself, putting in a DVD, operating the computer, etc. The list goes on and on -- quite exhausting.

My DD really blossomed a lot between 2 and 3 (she'll be 3 in January). She started to read at 2.5, does simple adding and subtracting in her head, speaks in even more complex sentences and understands us more than I even think she does. Sound familiar???

It's nice to meet another mom of a toddler going through the same thing I am. I can't talk about this to most people which can be pretty isolating.

Hopefully we'll talk again!

Amber

HoosierMommy,

I have been pondering the colors comment a lot lately, but for different reasons. When are they suppose to know colors? In my circle of friends it is the opposite of what you described. In fact, if the toddlers don't know their colors by 2 people are shocked and have this look of there must be something wrong. All my friend's kids and mine knew their colors early so there is the assumption that that is normal. So reading your comment I am starting to realize that it isn't normal, so when should they understand colors?