Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school Share your preschoolers passions!

My son has been into gauges since he was three. Oh, and clocks. (He's busted at least six of those.)

He loves compasses (could read them at 3.5)and any other gauge (like compression gauges, etc.) He has been into temperature gauges for at least a year and loves to compare Celsius and Fahrenheit.

He "bee-lines" to any fire extinguishers to check out their "status".

He has a pedometer that he wears occasionally, too.

I was telling him today to put away his collection of stuff. He has such a wide range of "odds and ends": Dominoes, Marbles, Broken Gauges, Clocks, Mexican Jumping Beans, Mardigras Beads, Thermometers, Watches, Etch-A-Sketch, Gears (from a toy), Blocks, a Stopwatch, Calculators, Magic 8-Ball, Rubiks Cube....

Does your child's stash of collectables look similar?

Although my son does not have a 'stash', he has a very strong interest in things like yours. I was told that G&T kids love things used for measurement e.g. calendars, clocks, compasses, and others like gears, blocks, rubik cube, etc. He is 7 now and has moved on to more abstract thinking and calculating. I read your posts here and I was in the same place although I sent my son to a Montessori school at age 2 for 1/2 day. He went for full day at age 3. I still had to keep him stimulated or have toys available that interested him when he was home. It is exhausting work. Is he reading yet? I wonder how far out you are 'in a rural area' and how far are you from the nearest city. How much time does your son get to spend with kids like himself? This is very important. I look forward to hearing back from you!

Aiden, now 4.5 is big into astronomy (has been since age 2) and anatomy (also since age 2.5). We have a lunar eclipse tonight and said that he can stay up to watch it. he is besides himself with excitement. His latest big thing is volcanoes and anything with massive destructive force.

Nathan, now 2.5 is big into computers - anything with a screen is his passion and anything round that can be kicked, hit, thrown is a favourite too. He uses old squash rackets and different sized balls to create different games with complex rules.

This is not just for pre-schoolers. My 16 year old is pinning insects for her collection right now, and I am online helping her try to figure out what they are. I have shared many passions with my kids over the years (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, politics, birds, insects, tennis, cross country skiing). D is going places now that I can't easily follow (she was talking about protein folding today...). But it has been a blast.

We got up early here to watch the eclipse as the moon set. DS (also 4.5) was so excited to watch the moon slowly disappear. Unfortunately it set from our point of view just before the eclipse was total, but it was still great to watch. We've just finished our "warming up" breakfast of porridge and hot chocolates, and DS has gone off to read some more about the eclipse.

Passions - letters and numbers at about 18 months, then space / astronomy at about 2 - 2.5. From about three he got really interested in maps / flags and geography in general. The human body was next and is still a little bit of an interest but at the moment it's weather that's his main interest.

hehe Aiden is fast asleep now but I expect he will wake full of questions about the eclipse. He is just now hitting on world geography and the fact that the map actually curves and touches on the other side is the current source of amazement - he asked tonight as he was falling asleep how many seconds are in a minute and how many minutes in an hour... then mumbld something about the moon going over states side to visit a friend for their eclipse and promptly fell asleep. I look forward to the morning's questions.

he also has a secret thinking spot in his room behind the bed with his stash of papers, odds and ends and things rescued from the trash and recycle bags.

DS2 keeps his secret stash of trash under his pillow!

Well, he knew his letters and their sounds at 18 months and we knew he could read Dr. Seuss at 3. I say "knew" because we just didn't think to ask him to read before that.

We live in a town of about 700 and the nearest large city (200K) is a half hour away. The next largest is over an hour.

He doesn't have any time with kids like him and very little time with kids his own age. He does the usual thing of going to the park and discovery museum and he's in swimming lessons, but he hasn't had much "quality time" with any other four year old. In August, he starts preschool (he was a late potty trainer), so I hope he will make some new friends.

I'd be interested to hear from you why this all makes a difference in his passions.

When I read this I recalled an episode of Brady Bunch when Marcia was learning the word, "Cicada" and was in love with Harvey Klinger.

I could relate to Marcia. Even though I was of a later generation, I was in love with Brian who wanted to be a botanist when he grew up (he was 13), so I was totally into any plant I could find...just to have something in common with the "man" of my dreams.

DS5 loves comics, but they're all ones I gave to him, so I wouldn't say he's collecting them. But he does collect trash, for use in projects. Right now he's collecting empty small Gatorade bottles, for use in creating a model of a floating city.

Lol... definitely not a boy chasing activity for D, she just likes all things bio. She does find mounting the bugs a little "squicky" sometimes, but likes the identification process. And is very proud of them once they are mounted! Today she was musing, though, that she can identify things in the microscope without having to stick them with pins. And she was also saying that she is getting tired of working on bio things that others have discovered, and is ready to make her own discoveries. I think this is a good sign