I have been following the thread titled, "Is my 2 year old gifted?" It has turned into a discussion about milestones and has sparked a few questions for me.
Are gifted children born or made? I know there are so many of you that have brilliant kids and they are just born with their incredible ability to learn, but are all gifted kids like that?
I teach my daughter. For example: I don't do flashcards with her or anything like that, but I certainly answer her questions in great detail when she asks me what something is or what it does. I am sure she learned a lot from the books we read. She learned her colours very early from a book about colours that she made me read to her at least 30 times a day. She learned her letters and sounds very early, from a Leap Frog toy that was given to us. She speaks in very complex sentences, and I think that is because she is an only child and we talk with he a lot and have the time to listen to her. She is starting to add and subtract, because I taught her.
I am not at all saying that I am a great teacher (!) I think what i am saying is that I think most kids can be taught.
So I guess I am wondering...if dd was not exposed to all of that she would fall somewhere else on the milestone checklists (i.e. not gifted?).
What about the kids that learn to read from programs like "Your Baby Can Read". Or the IAHP. Are they gifted? Smart kids? Or simply kids that were exposed to certain teaching methods?
What do you think?
