I know some people start doing Montessori type stuff when their kids are around 18 months to 2 years, so I want to know where she is so we can start when she is ready. But there is that asynchronous thing, too. She might be ready to learn something, but not be ready to do the activities I have for her.. or she might learn stuff and then not care about my activity when I finally show it to her and I'm afraid I won't be able to tell if she doesn't like it because she is bored or because it is too advanced for her (like when I was "testing" to see if she got object permanence yet. She played my little "find the toy" game once or twice then crawled up to me and attempted to pull my shirt down to get at the hidden boobs. DUH, MOM. I know things are there even when I can't see them.)
I am checking out the learning store site you referenced in the other thread right now.
That's the crux of it! Congratulate yourself that you know your opponent so clearly so soon! I tried to borrow that sort of material and have lots of playdates so we could try games and toys at other kid's houses.
Trial and error is the only way. When she can talk it will be a little easier, but in a way you'll need this period of doing it mostly by body language to know her mind - sometimes words just confuse things and you need to KNOW your individual child.
If there are Daycare centers or nursery schools, and you can hire a babysitter ( a big IF) try 'pretending' that you are a prospective client and touring around. Look at the materials in the rooms, Look at the behavior of the children. Your school district may have a 'birth to 3' program - half the kids will have special needs, and the other half on a more typical developmental path. Just don't make any faux pas, ok? And if the kids all look strange to you - just imagine how strange they look to your DD.
What about a playground - at least there the kids are a variety of ages. Printing up some business cards, carrying a little black book, and trying to close the deal on some playdates isn't typically comfortable behavior for moms of unusually gifted kids, but it can all be learned. Think of yourself as training for the role of your child's 'manager.' You try to figure which gigs will be the most advantageous and then trying to book those gigs.
At the playground if you don't see any likely 'peers' try looking for some 5 - 7 year old gentle kids who could be developed into 'mother's helpers' as a way to provide social interaction for your DD. It's just like a playdate, you invite the child or child plus parent over to hang out for an hour, or meet at a park, and try to make sure that everyone has fun.
As you can see, Montessori manipulatives were the last thing on my mind when DS was a baby/toddler. I was much more interested in his social development - I just assumed that he's be smart. To me it seems like those funny tools are good for kids who won't figure it out on their own any time soon. Or course many kids are gifted in some areas and behind in others, so I don't judge other moms for playing with those kinds of games, but looking at my own child, it seems to me like if kids learned those basic things through 'cooking' and washing and sliding down the slide that there didn't need to be bridges for him.
Remember all those ideas about what children need to learn next were based on a very few people's observation of a smallish group of children - and that group of children surely didn't include anyone who was anything like your dd or my ds. Some Montessori programs are wonderful for gifted kids - but the principles have to be used to meet the needs of the individual child, who is being closely observed by an intuitive adult. That's a tall order. The whole point of any 'system' is that it simplifies reality into a bunch of easily followable steps - and this is dangerous when applied mindlessly for our families. We need as much unsimplified contact with reality as possible.
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Hope that helps,
Grinity
