Hi. I have a 2 1/2 year old son who is very smart. I hope I can meet some other parents of gifted children.

I realize that "smart" is a subjective term so for a little perspective..... my older daughter is smart. She has a significant hearing impairment and still ranks in the 90-99% nationally in testing. (without any adjustments) She is in an accelerated program in school & has skipped ahead 2 years in math. My son is doing at 2 1/2 what she was doing at 4-5 years old.

I have been reading up on gifted (or not gifted), testing, & schools. Basically, I am trying to figure out my next step and every "expert" has a different opinion. I would really love some advice from other parents who are going through this.

Hi! I still consider myself a newbie, although I just checked, and I have been here a year! Welcome. I have found this to be a wonderful forum. I am sure you have come to the right place.

My second is ahead of the first too. Some of it may be having an older sibling but time will tell. To be fair he is not ahead in everything but he has a lower frustration level.

My second is very ahead of the first... the difference is extreme, to say the least. (Both of my girls are adopted, so the "sibling IQs are typically similar" doesn't apply here.) My oldest is in a gifted program within an excellent public school. This program meets her needs very well. My youngest is so different, I often fight off worry - I am not sure if this school, as wonderful as it is, can meet the needs of my youngest when she's old enough to attend. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

She's still preschool age, so I try to just take it one day at a time and help her appreciate "being a kid." At almost three, she is nowhere near ready for testing, and there isn't a need for it yet, so I just try to parent her as I would any child while still accommodating her unique needs. We do lots of "experiences" such as gardening, visiting the zoo, hiking, heading into the city, cooking together, etc to help bridge the gap between her intellectual and real life knowledge. I also take her to playgrounds often, and we do lots of messy arts and crafts.

I think my biggest challenge is to follow her lead on a daily basis. Some days that means learning more than I ever wanted to know about the dwarf planets... and sometimes that means playing with Mr. Potato Head for two hours.

My name is Carrie and I am new to this board this is my first post to this board and I want to make some interesting discussions for this . I hope that it would be really good for me to be on this board and I can enhance my knowledge. Thank you and regards.