I have a gifted 3.5 year old. I finally admitted to myself that he was most likely gifted when he started reading at the age of 2.
I joined the board because of my older one and I must admit that my younger one is on the back burner. Most of the worries, finding a good school placement, gifted classes and such are about my 5 year old. It's probably not fair but it's exactly what's happening here. On the other hand having older gifted brother sure helps as he gets exposed to much more than his brother at his age.
DS3 is in Montessori too as is my DS5, but it's quite likely that next year DS3 will attend the same play based pre-K my older one did. It just worked better and DS5 was very happy there and that's all that matters at this age. He can get all the academics he desires at home and go there and just have fun.
IMHO, it's all about following the child's lead. Sometimes a gifted child will want more, more, more, and then go into a period of apparent dormancy when they process all that they have taken in or work on a different (maybe physical or social) sort of skill.
This is so true. We have been through this many times. The interest changes but if they get their mind set on something they usually become remarkable good at it.
Good luck. I am envious of the options NYC offers for gifted education.
