Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school Gifted 22 month old?

Hi
I am new (obviously.) I googled gifted forum, and this came up first.

I am so intimidated by the number of posts some of you have. Holy cow!

So, I have a ton of questions.

First, My daughter is 22 months old. She is sometimes a stinker, but always a joy.

She has blown away any milestone chart I can get my hands on.

Gross motor:
-Sat unassisted at 4.5 months.
-Stood unassisted and crawled at 6 months.
-Walked at 10.5 months.

Language:
-first word (gorilla) at 8 months. (I am sure I discounted many small words before this, but nobody could ignore that one.)
-Speaking in short grammatically correct 3-10 words sentences by 18 months. She has always spoken with every part of speech. She never just combined words.

She has always been different. I remember talking to a girlfriend about attention spans and I was actually took me a couple of minutes to realize not every baby was born with an endless attention span.

She could sit and read books with us forever. Which is why she learned her colors, shapes, letters, numbers, and whole bunch of other stuff before she was 18 months old. It would be easy to know when she actually knew these if I actually had taught her, but that was not the case.

For example, she just came up to me showing me a seashell and said, "This reminds me of a cone." Cone? Where did she even get that? Ice cream cone? It indeed looks like a cone.

She also was fully potty trained by 18 months.

Now, at 22 months (on the 23rd) she is completely diaper free (even at nights), speaks like a mini-adult, and has a better memory than I do.

She also has imaginary friends and is constantly seeing things we do not see. She talks non-stop, is sometimes lost in the world of make-believe, but, does not like talking to strangers.

My husband was in the gifted programs. His dad is an uber-genius. There are extremely smart people in my family ie an engineers, a judge, doctors, but no one I would peg as a genius. I was not in any programs, but there were none as far as I know. I grew up on a farm. But, according to the military my IQ is 137 or 139. I can't remember, but it was enough to get me into some programs which required a top-secret clearance and intense training. But, I do not consider myself as smart as my husband.

Now, my questions:

-Does she sound gifted?

-What did your kids act like when they were almost 2/2?

-Do I need to get her evaluated. I can't see any reason to, but I am worried she might miss out on things without the proper ID.

-Is IQ hereditary?

-Her language is what really sets her apart. At 22 months, she talks nonstop in complete and complex sentences. I have counted over 20 words. Let's see, today she said, "I want to go to Jason's deli because I know I am going to get a lollipop after I eat my vegetables there." She also can say 4 and 5 syllable words near perfect. My question is" She is obviously ahead in the verbal area. Does that ever even out?

-I am a stay at home mom and devoted to her. We go to museums as she demands. We go to the playground. She loves playing in the backyard. But, that is it. No school. Do I need to get her signed up?

-Should I be teaching her how to read? She knows letters but I have not told her what sounds they make. (I wish I had way back when when she asked the names. I should have just told her the sounds, right?)



Thank you in advance for giving it to me straight. I am not on the internet often, so I am hoping I can get everything I need right here. That would be great. Obviously, I will still think she is awesome no matter what you say.

Welcome! Sounds as though you've found the right place. You may be surprised how fast the posts rack up :-) Let me have a shot at answering your questions with them in italics rather than boxes for compactness.

-Does she sound gifted?

In short, yes. Loads of caveats about not being able to be sure so young, and also about "gifted" not being a once-for-all attribute in the way the word suggests (see my recent book recommendation for Carol Dweck's Self-theories!), but she has all the signs.

-What did your kids act like when they were almost 2/2?


Glaring difference: mine was only just starting to talk! You'll get more out of comparisons with other highly verbal pre-twos: some parents of those will be along shortly, I'm sure. (He was always different, though. Endless attention span from birth, check.)

-Do I need to get her evaluated. I can't see any reason to, but I am worried she might miss out on things without the proper ID.


Don't worry about it until you have a reason to do it. It's very unreliable until 6 or so anyway - you'd probably only want to do it if you needed testing for early school entry or entry to a specialist school. It wouldn't do any harm to start thinking about educational options.

-Is IQ hereditary?
Statistically yes, quite largely.

-Her language is what really sets her apart. At 22 months, she talks nonstop in complete and complex sentences. I have counted over 20 words. Let's see, today she said, "I want to go to Jason's deli because I know I am going to get a lollipop after I eat my vegetables there." She also can say 4 and 5 syllable words near perfect. My question is" She is obviously ahead in the verbal area. Does that ever even out?

Depends what you mean. My DS, who had fewer than 5 words at age 22 months, "got" speech extremely fast once he got going, and by, say, 3, had language that was obviously far in advance of most children his age, as he still has. In that sense, your DD may even out with some children her age who don't talk yet. It is probable that she will stay unusual, though.

-I am a stay at home mom and devoted to her. We go to museums as she demands. We go to the playground. She loves playing in the backyard. But, that is it. No school. Do I need to get her signed up?

Not necessarily. As with any child, you might want to find her opportunities for being around other children and adults without you, but you might choose not to. You may find it easier to enjoy her if you have a break from her sometimes, too! I'd suggest that if you do look for such an opportunity, you're more likely to have a good experience if you go for something purely play-based.

-Should I be teaching her how to read? She knows letters but I have not told her what sounds they make. (I wish I had way back when when she asked the names. I should have just told her the sounds, right?)


I'd say, don't set out to teach her, but if she wants your help in "breaking the code" feel free to help her. You might for example want to introduce her to starfall.com and see if she likes it. If not, no hurry.

Have fun!

Welcome.


She could be. But she's still so young that I think it's really too early to draw any conclusions.


Like a crazy little monkey. Things haven't changed.


No. What do you think she needs at this point that she isn't already getting?


At least partially.


Well, kids do develop at different rates. So, sure, it is possible that an early talker might not end up being verbally gifted. But your DD's language skills seem more than just a bit advanced.


No. What is she going to get out of school at this age, really?


No. Just because she is very verbal, that does not mean that she is ready to learn to read. Even if she is ready to learn to read, that does not mean that she needs you to teach her. If she likes listening to you read, I suggest you keep doing that.

The testing is expensive and really not recommended until you need one to get her into a gifted program. If it's done in school, it's free to you. Paid private testing before that is more for big-city folks who need a score to get into a prestigous pre-school.
About systemacially teaching her, you'll get folks on both sides of the fence. I'd guess 1/3 says yes, 2/3 say no on the few boards I've looked at. And half of the ones who adamantly say "no" approve of offering her self-correcting educational software such as www.starfall.com. Even the 1/3 who say yes say don't make it a chore for her.
Pre-school, well. That's so individual. I read somebody once say that she was very happy to have her baby at home with her, until he turned three! Then he needed something more than she had for him and found a preschool.
I'm a stay-at-home mom. I like pre-school education. So, if you chose that you want to teach her something ask me about resources. Oh, you're so lucky to have such a fun-sounding girl who obviously makes you very happy.

Welcome to the board. Your DD sounds wonderful. I loved her logic about lunch location. haha

Is she gifted?

JMO but she definitely sounds like she is. My DD will be 4 this next month and she was very much like your DD as a baby. First word right before she turned 3 months: elephant but very verbal before that and technically said 'hi' at 2 weeks but I still don't count that one as her first word. Talked in complete sentences by 6 months and crazy long complicated sentences by 15 months. She always understood pronouns and used them correctly from the start. She also always had an amazing attention span and such imagination. She, too, was all about someone reading to her and took it to the extreme. If given the choice of a toy or a book she always wanted a book.

Do I absolutely know if my DD is gifted? No and when I first started to figure it all out I quickly jumped to we need to have her tested but came to realize that it was unnecessary because who was the test for? It was more as documentation to prove it was true when I don't really need that. I know she is in the highly gifted range just as I know she is a blond hair, blue eyed little girl. When and only when I need to test her for school or because she might be having emotional issues or whatever will we test her. But until then I will just accept her for who she is and enjoy her.

Enrolling her in school:

I was in the same boat as you are now. Shouldn't she be in a preschool to help socialize her was my question and I raced to find one but all of the preschools in our area had a waiting list so DD didn't go to school while she was 2. I don't think it hurt her one bit. We did other activities such as dance and she got to know some little girls that way. When she finally did go to school she was standoffish but with time she came around and gets along with her classmates.

If you feel that she isn't getting enough socializing then maybe you consider it but you might just find some hour activities through the week that works for you too.

As for teaching her to read; just be careful with this one. She might be like my DD and resist any attempt. My DD started reading right before age 2 which made me think, okay she is ready to learn to read. (And by started to read, I mean word recognition in books and signs) But the minute I sat down with her to 'teach' her, we hit a big wall and she out and out refused and we spent the next year pretending like we didn't notice that she just read something. Then a few months back she came to me showing me she could read and asking me to sit down with her and teach her some more. I still wonder if we didn't make such a big deal about her abilities back when she was 2 if she would have been reading a long time ago. She had all of the tools since before 18 months.

Mine was referred for formal speech testing, having "flunked" the quick screeners both at 18mo (for insufficient words) and 24mo (no 2-word phrases). Nothing else particularly interesting, at least not in my recollection. There were one or two weird things that made me wonder where they came from, but no clear indication of anything other than "normal bright kid."


In the absence of something specific she might miss out on, I vote no. We contemplated sending DD to the preschool program for the local gifted school, which would have required an IQ test (at around 34mos), but it was not a good personality fit for her, so we didn't test.


More or less. I've seen some research saying that hereditary influences have more effect, and environmental influences have less, as we age. So a kid in a highly-enriched environment might have a higher IQ as a kid than you'd expect from heredity, but would lose that advantage as he moved through adulthood. Alternatively, a kid in a very deprived environment might score lower as a kid than as an adult.


As a 16yo, she's unlikely to be as obviously as ahead of her peers as she is now. So in that sense, it does even out. She's unlikely to ever have below-average language skills, barring some illness / accident.


If both of you want her to be. Mine was desperate to go to preschool, so went at 3.


Based on my sample size of one, I, at least, have no ability to teach anyone to read. My kid read when she was ready to read, and no amount of teaching got her to read before then. Your kid may vary - mine is exceptionally stubborn (both about not doing things she's not ready to do, and in learning things she feels the need to know).

10Apples - (I love that book by the way) Welcome!

When DD7 was 1 she was speaking full sentences with multi-syllable words and perfect pronounciation and amazing everyone (us included ) However, since she is our first, we didn't know how unusual this was. She has never stopped talking since! She too would sit for hours and loved to be read to and had an amazing attention span. We did not have her tested until we needed accomodations at school. She went to preschool to have playtime and give DH a day free from being a stay at home dad

DD2.5 is another story. She talks as much as her sister, however her pronounciation is nowhere near as good. Her attention span is also not nearly as long, but, when she has something to say, she blows everyone away too and talks to everyone who will listen. She is a mover and a shaker - she is on the go from the time she gets up in the morning to the time we throw her in bed at night, and is already wanting to give up her naps.

As far as teaching her specific stuff - follow her lead. If she asks about the words, help her sound them out, otherwise don't stress about it and continue having a great time with her - these are fun and exciting years.

Taking into consideration everything you wrote, my bet would be on her being gifted. Don't worry about school for awhile. Just let her be a little one and have fun playing and learning as she plays. My DD4 was very challenging at 2.5: highly intense, opinionated, restless, etc. but also funny, enthusiastic, and charming. At that age she was beginning to read and to draw pictures that looked like what they were suppose to be.

-Does she sound gifted?

Certainly could be. You have genetics on your side and a lot of early milestones. I still have yet to meet a kid that was WAY advanced (I'm not talking about walking early but massive sentences like you said, super early, untaught reading etc.) at an early age and then evened out. Every now and then on these boards you hear a rumor about such a kid but I've never met one in real life or read any articles/research about such kids.

-What did your kids act like when they were almost 2?

DD is 18 months. I would say she's not obscenely verbal but certainly has over 300 words between signing and speaking (her speaking is slowly catching up to her signing) and can sign up to 4 word sentences. She also is exposed to 3 languages daily so I wonder if that affects her speaking, though, to some extent...

-Do I need to get her evaluated. I can't see any reason to, but I am worried she might miss out on things without the proper ID.

No, or at least not yet. Like others said, I think 5 is the absolute earliest for a semi-accurate result and something like 7 or 8 is better? But I'm certainly not an expert here.

-Is IQ hereditary?

Yeah, and my *guess* since women are more likely to study now and getting higher degrees it will probably become more so in the future (because in principle smarter people can meet and reproduce and aren't forced to marry someone more locally). But that's totally my assumption there.

From my own personal experience both DH and my families are filled with gifted adults and we live scattered across the globe so it's not just in the water.

-Her language is what really sets her apart. At 22 months, she talks nonstop in complete and complex sentences. I have counted over 20 words. Let's see, today she said, "I want to go to Jason's deli because I know I am going to get a lollipop after I eat my vegetables there." She also can say 4 and 5 syllable words near perfect. My question is" She is obviously ahead in the verbal area. Does that ever even out?

I'd doubt it. I work with a number of gifted adults and basically I've seen two camps the early talkers (sounds like your DD) and the late talkers (one that didn't talk until 4). The early talkers never seemed to slow down.

-I am a stay at home mom and devoted to her. We go to museums as she demands. We go to the playground. She loves playing in the backyard. But, that is it. No school. Do I need to get her signed up?

Not unless you want to or she desires it. DD has recently started daycare, it's been interesting... BUT it seems like FINALLY she's gotten the stimulation that she needs and has been sleeping way more (14 hours a day when before it would be somewhere between 10-12 hours). It's a multi-age daycare where most of the kids are quite a bit older AND in a new language so she's had quite the mental input there along with tons of free time to play.

-Should I be teaching her how to read? She knows letters but I have not told her what sounds they make. (I wish I had way back when when she asked the names. I should have just told her the sounds, right?)

I'm definitely in the no camp and tend to think actively teaching a young child does more harm than good. That being said, I see nothing wrong with introducing DD to activities that she likes that are reading related and also answering her questions. So, for instance, DD loves starfall and I let her play on there. She also has some sight words and points at other words to learn them and I always tell her what they are. I just don't actively sit down and teach her phonics/grammar.

You described my two as well. DS6 was like your oldest. And DD4 is STILL like your youngest.