Maybe I worded things wrong previously, as a number wouldn't make any difference for us other than knowing how to advocate appropriately, where she stands and whether I should seek out other options academically. She is not testing 99% on the normal school assessments, all but 3 areas came back in the 90+%. I personally would like more confidence as I feel when advocating for her, right now I'm kind of going in blind, if that makes sense. The under performance throws me off a lot and lowers my confidence in the whole thing.
I'm more so wondering if it is very clear for all kids. As they get older I see how it would be but when school age and below I'm not sure. Most of what DD was doing prior to school I assumed to be typical of her age and I guess when you look at a child individually and not in comparison it was typical-for her.
A PP mentioned Five Levels of Gifted so I looked into it and found an article written by Dr. Ruf on the levels. I don't recall everything DD was doing at certain ages but have a good idea. I know from the levels in the article she is at minimum level 2 and DS1 exhibits all characteristics of level 3 so far. That helped me feel as though I am on the right path.
Fwiw, I think that many of us posting here are not mental midgets so there is a danger that we can think our kids are 'normal' in terms of mental ability. It's only once they hit school that it becomes apparent In my experience.
I'm fairly certain this is what has happened. We never blinked an eye at DD's abilities as a toddler or the fact that she read us a book for the first time at 5 (prior to school). We knew we didn't teach her but I just figured it's what kids do. You read, sing and interact with them and they pick things up as they get older. It wasn't until she went to K and I found out most children don't know how to read, all their ABC's, basic math, etc. With DS1 I'm more aware his abilities are not typical but as an infant I thought he was just really high needs and demanding. I've been researching GT for about 9m and it's all fairly new.
I will say that out of all friends and families children we have encountered since becoming parents this forum is the first time that I feel DD is "normal" and not "something is wrong" feeling. She can identify with many of what I read here.
