The "PPVT (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test)" post reminded me of a humorous anecdote showing DD's vocabulary was way ahead of reading ability.

Long before she was reading, we were going through letter flashcards - the type that have a letter and a picture of an animal that starts with that letter. So the "M" card will have a monkey on it. Since DD(now 14, so this was a long time ago) was just learning her letters, she would look at the picture and to figure out the letter on the card, she'd name the letter making the sound that started the animal's name. So, using the "M" card, she'd say, "Monkey...(pause)...M."

When we got to the "B" card, she said, "Rabbit...R."

I replied, "Not rabbit, what's another word for rabbit?"

"Hare...H."

Chuckling, I then ask, "OK, what's yet another word for rabbit?"

Can't name her letters yet, but already has synonyms (and the definition of the word synonym) down. Yep, we should have suspected things about her much earlier than kindergarten...

--S.F.

For gifted children, doing nothing is the wrong choice.