Performing monkey concept ... one I find myself repeating a lot. I have one of those kids that just does not perform on cue and I'm okay with that. I really think it has to do with emotional maturity. When she was a baby and doing off the chart things like learning the entire alphabet before she turned 9 months or talking in sentences before she was 6 months, etc ... it was a little frustrating because I would have loved to share that with her doctor but when we went to the appointment, DD looked like the typical baby. It was entertaining when we were given a checklist of what to expect in the coming months and DD had already mastered all that was on that list way. I remember my grandmother asking me if I was going to talk to the doctor about DD's abilities and I just laughed because A. the doctor would think me nuts and B. DD wasn't willing to share outside her immediate family. Now that she is older she is more open to communication with people she doesn't know and even though it isn't shocking that a 3 1/2 year old talks; it clearly is shocking to most how in depth their conversation gets with her and how advance her language is during that conversation.
There are days I ponder if maybe we were nuts to think DD not only gifted but HG+ and that she must be slowing down but when I step back from it I realize that I am so immersed in this world that I have grown accustom to it all and it is during those interactions she has with the strangers that I get my ah ha moments of yes she is different.
And yes, toddlers can be taught to the point of hothousing or whatever the term someone wants to use, but for lack of a better term (on my end), these highly gifted children that show signs from birth on just have a different wiring. Some might call it motivation and it is partly that but for my DD (anyway) her way of looking at the world is different then the typical kid her age. I don't see that changing or going away as she gets older... it is just who she is; part of her biological makeup.
