How old was your child when you suspected that might be gifted?

We were pretty much clueless; DS 6 seemed bright but nothing different. One early clue may have been when he was 3. My wife and I were doing a slider picture puzzle on the computer, it took me wife about 20min (She�s more verbal) and it took me about 5 min (I�m more visual). DS3 played and did it in less than 30 seconds. We thought to be just luck, he never repeated it, but was able to solve in less than 5 minutes a few more times. We thought he was just good at puzzles, no big deal. It�s funny how your idea of what is average is.

How old was your child when you knew for sure, and what tipped you off?

DS6 had a speech issue, at around 4 we had the local school evaluate him on this, (We thought he would out grow it) they evaluated him and pointed out that he had a lateral lisp, and that he was hg. They suggested a private school that was a bit of a way from us. We called the school and asked if there was a closer school. They recommended the one he is attending now.

How old was your child when, and if, you had them tested?

In order to go to the private school they required testing, one requires an evaluation company to test using a wide array of testing (fine, and gross motor skills, speech, logic, etc...) The other needed a stanford-binet LM. Both done around when ds was 4.4. From that point on we investigated this new world. We where actually not teaching him about reading or math, we had a fear that if he went to school he would not have anything to learn. The psychologist that did the SB-LM, suggested that we start teaching him now, because he is teaching himself, and if he learns something wrong it would be more difficult to correct it latter. She also suggested that we push effort over product with him.

I think the reason it was hard to see at fist was the lisp, and the lack of references. Also DS6 tends to go with the flow. We also did a lot of enrichment at home while he was it Pre-K and public K. It wasn�t until he had friends in K that we could see the contrast.

Great question, it's nice to see how others discoverd their child was gifted.