I'm replying without reading pp's, so if I ditto anyone, excuse me.

My thoughts on it are that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink.

There are shapes, colors, numbers and words everywhere in sight from the time a child's eyes fully focus.
If they aren't curious about these things, they may not be inclined to retain any knowledge passed on to them.

Gifted children are highly curious and also have awesome memories, so learn these things earlier than their age-peers.