I hate to sound like I keep giving the Apple I pad free advertising, but it sounds like you need one. The IPad is by far the best "thing", for lack of a better word, that I ever bought my children. I have three children. All of which are probably gifted, at least two of them for sure. My first two did not have an ipad as toddlers, but my youngest one has had it since he was 2. He has learned more than both of his older simblings knew at his age. He may even know some more things than they know now. I know he knows his countries better than anyone in the family. He has been using it since Christmas of 2011. I cannot begin to tell you all the things that he has learned. From his states and capitals; all of the countries in the world; how to spell all of his states; how to spell most of the countries; his planets; how to write; I can go on and on. He was already reading by the time he got his IPad. So I think that he was probably pretty smart to begin with. However, his knowledge of the world has just exploded since he began using it. There are hundreds or maybe even thousands of educational apps. Apps that can teach writing, spelling, reading, math, anything you can think of. My son will be 3 in October and can write words that he spells on his own with upper and lower case letters. Some of these words are 13 letters long, like Massachusetts. The amazing thing is that he learns most of this from his IPad. My wife and I don't teach him much of anything. Not to sound like a bad parent, but any kind of acedemic knowledge that he wants to learn he can learn from the IPad. I too would feel guilty leaving my children in front of the television. The IPad solves this problem. In fact I don't allow my youngest one to watch videos on his iPad. Although, he sometimes tries to go on YouTube and type in his own movie titles. Like Blues Clues or The Fresh Beat Band. However, I never leave his IPad connected to the Internet. Which is another great feature of it. You can download any app you want and always have access to it without being connected to the Internet. I have a great protective case for it. My children have been using it since last December and have not damaged it one bit. It is still like brand new. It is the most versatile, educational tool that our family has ever experienced. I would reccommend it to every single child out there. If you get one, you will see what I mean. I am absolutely sure this will solve your problem.
Good luck.
