Now I have been working on flash cards with him so he will know all his letters and sounds before he goes next year and he knows 20/26 but its a chore to get him to work. Some days he spouts off all 26 other days he just refuses to participate and shrugs his shoulders like he has no clue what he is looking at. All he does is cry and say I just want to go play. According to the psychologist his "cognitive abilities are significantly advanced for his age" but he doesn't want to work!
Honestly, he's just turned 5 years old - of course he wants to play and doesn't want to work! I wouldn't worry for one minute about trying to drill knowledge into him at this point - gifted kids *seek* knowledge, but not necessarily in the traditional places we as parents think they should look. It's that natural curiosity that's the gift to nurture (jmo), rather than worrying about the nuts and bolts of letter sounds etc. When he's ready to learn to read, he'll learn to read. If he's not starting kindergarten until next year, there's a good chance he'll hit that spot where his natural curiosity takes him there before school starts. If not, he's still going to be ok.
If you are still worried about learning sounds etc I'd recommend something online like starfall (I don't know if they're still around, and I'm sure there are better apps out there too - it's been awhile since we had a beginning reader at our house!)... but something like that is going to be much more interesting than flashcards. But again - I'd skip it all together and just follow your ds' interest wherever it leads
I agree with DeeDee's reply - at this point, it's not a gifted/non-gifted issue that you need to focus on, it's filling in the missing skills surrounding separating, socialization etc.
Best wishes,
polarbear
