Welcome!
This is THE place for parents learn from other parents who've BTDT. You will get a full 360-degree view of almost any situation... lots of differing viewpoints.
You've received excellent advice above.
hot-housed kids are going to know colors, numbers, and alphabet - anything that's on a "is my child ready for Kindergarten" checklist, while bright children from an enriched environment are going to know a much wider range of material.
This rings true to my observation and experience.
sanne's tips on reading State laws... and relating a child's reading to real life experiences... excellent!
I suspect that I may have been a moderately gifted child.
Many parents learn about themselves while researching to help their children.
You are not alone. There is an
adult forum, but admittedly there are fewer posts about adults, than there are on the forums focused on our children's education.
all a's and 1 b per report card--again no studying and doing homework during school. My best graded papers tended to be the ones I totally forgot about and rushed through a period before it was due...and then I failed out of college...couldn't do my homework in other classes and no study skills. I don't know how relevant my own past is.
This post may be of interest:
What kids don't learn.
Ruff Estimates were developed based on a relatively small sample, simply because there are relatively few gifted kids. While indicative of LOG, they are a rather blunt instrument. In other words, don't place too much emphasis on them, don't rely on them too much.
Here is a brief roundup of lists of common behavioral characteristics of gifted kids (often called gifted checklists)...
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Characteristics of intellectually advanced young people- NAGC's
list borrowed from the book
A Parent's Guide to Gifted Children -
Characteristics and Behaviors of the Gifted-
Characteristics checklist for gifted children-
Tips for Parents: Helping Parents Understand Their Profoundly Gifted Children-
Profiles of the gifted and talented which lists 6 different types, categorized by personality/temperament and achievement
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Bertie Kingore, Ph.D.: High Achieving, Gifted Learner, Creative Thinker?- ages at which gifted children may reach developmental
milestonesThen I start wondering maybe she is average intelligence but developed quickly because I try to keep an enriched environment and DO things with her. Like buying science kits and mixing colors or doing asl with her as a baby or having educational TV available or playing games with her.
What is now called an "enriched environment" is simply good parenting... especially the interaction with the child, simply talking with the child so they learn vocabulary, the give-and-take of conversation, etc.
Then she will make these crazy connections or see a pattern and I'm like: WHERE did you learn that?
... I have no resources that would explain that to her and I didn't teach her that? And no daycare involved
Then I wonder if I'm going to be accused of hot housing her because she seems to know a lot.
Yes, you will. This puts in you in good company. Don't internalize it; Don't take it to heart. Let it roll off, like water off a duck's back.
She asks a lot of questions and I don't talk down to her and I actually make a point of trying to use words she wouldn't have heard before to explain stuff so she can hear new words in context.
Good parenting.
So what's hot housing vs enriched environment?
In general...
Enriched = child-led.
Hot-housing or tiger-parenting = parent pushed.
This
old post may be of interest.
What's the difference between a gifted kid and one who just has a good home environment?
In general...
gifted = internal; will apply those innate traits and native intelligence to whatever environment child is in.
good home environment ("enriched") = depends upon external stimulation; child may rather quickly cease learning when environment changes (rather than applying extreme curiosity, etc, to new environment).
How do you know if you are going to have to advocate for your child in school to get them challenged appropriately
By keeping lines of communication open with your child and noticing when there are unmet needs which are negatively impacting your child.
do schools even bother if the child has met benchmarks?
In this era of common core, which is focused on equal outcomes among all students in the classroom, no, a US public school will generally not attend to children's needs beyond those which are required to be met, in order to reach standards.
If she IS gifted, then is her experience going to be on parents with mine where she can coast through without ever having to work? Or have they fixed that by now?
In my observation and experience, this is something which parents may need to attend to.
Any advice on what I should be doing to prepare in case the situation ends up being she is gifted?
Advice: stay on this forum.
