I have a child that I am sure is gifted, although he has never been assessed. He reads Kindergarten and 1st grade level books, can count to a billion, knows the names of dinosaurs I can't even pronounce, etc... The thing is, I'm not gifted. I'm just wandering through this not really sure about what I'm doing. Another hard thing about this are others including my own mother who say, don't encourage it. He's 2 and he is a child. People think I'm sitting there with flash cards quizzing him all day and I'm not doing that at all. If he's interested in something, he really gets into it. He's a little sponge and absorbs every experience. I was amazed Easter when he pulled out "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" and started reading it to me. I thought he was memorizing books before then. Can you fault me for buying books after that and asking him to read them to me? My mother says he will be bored in school and that I'm making him into a "Doogie Houser" type freak. It makes me sad that my mother isn't as excited and happy about his abilities as I am. Am I doing something wrong? He plays for hours outside and in every day. In his play he counts, sings, reads, pretends with his dinosaurs, etc... He has friends and play dates too. He actually wears me out and I will be happy to get some time without questions like "Why is the moon in the sky?" for a few hours 2 days a week when he starts a Mother's Day Out program in the fall. He is a a happy kid and is such a comedian! Any helpful hints for raising a kid that is smarter than me?
