Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school gifted or just a smart-a**? :)

ok, I've mentioned my 2-year old who's most likely gifted but now I wonder about my older one who just turned 4 last week. He's pretty smart overall though wasn't as advanced at 2.5 as my younger is. DS4 knew all shapes, letters, colors and other basics well before he turned 3 and while I think he'll have a problem reading (dysgraphic or something in that area) he's always been pretty sharp with numbers but has trouble concentrating. (just had his first eval by a Pediatric psychiatrist today regarding possible ADHD, ADD or maybe even Asperger's) ... he sometimes does basic addition, I've even seen him do things like 9 + 3 = 12 and such ... will do it in video games but won't do it for me ...

anyways ... on the way back from the doctor today, he was getting bored so I asked him "6 + 2 equals what?" ... and he said "equals 4 + 4"!!! ... so, tell, me ... that's not "normal" for a kid that just turned 4 a week ago, is it?
He's one of those kids constantly asking questions, never stops talking ... my ears are ringing from all the questions (today on the way down to Chicago he was asking me about how the GPS works ... we got all the way into satellites, weak signal, etc) ... so I'm wondering if he could be more than just smart too? Or am I one of those parents who see a sign of giftedness in everything their kids do? lol

No, he sounds gifted, but that doesn't mean he can't be gifted and a smarta** too. My DS6 certainly is. I love the number sense there.

As my friends are fond of telling me, "Have fun with that one..."

Sounds gifted to me....but I'm biased as my ds sounds similar to yours.

Even though my ds was an early reader, it really was his early math that caught my attention . Maybe it's because I'm not mathy in the same way. I remember my ds doing the same mental math figuring when he was about 3.5 as your ds (his first epiphany: that there were many ways to get to 4…2+2, 1+1+1+1, 2+1+1 and so on).

I love to hear my ds5 reason out equations...and he loves to be challenged with new ones. He likes things like "find a way to get to 120 adding 4 numbers including 18" (random example). He doesn't know most math facts by memory, so he'll calculate according to the ones he knows.

My ds also asks questions until I run out of answers or make something up . We have spent hours of car time on math talk..sounds like you will, too.

thank you for chiming in! ... if he turns out to be anything like me, his idea of "fun" in 2nd grade will be writing numbers in binary system! lol ... back then, I couldn't think of anything better than playing with sets of 0s and 1s!

I've done a lot of reading lately on gifted kids being labeled as having Asperger's because of many similar traits so really makes me wonder if his issues may be related to being gifted in certain areas rather than being on the spectrum! He's one of those kids who's brain just can't stop. He can go for months with only 4-5hrs of sleep a night and no naps when even sleep meds aren't working. You take one look at him and you can tell his brain is in overdrive! I am so glad to have found this website so I don't have to feel like I'm raising two little aliens anymore!

I remember my son, who is 14 now, doing that with the math problems I asked him. I know he did this before he started kindergarten at 5. He has always liked to give me answers that were correct but either different than what I expected or he solved the problem in a way I had never heard of. He has dysgraphia and learned to do a lot of mental math so that he can get by with the least amount of writing and still get the correct answer. He can usually solve problems faster than I can since I was taught to write everything out and it slows me down.

He could do math but he liked reading and science more than he liked math. He asked a lot of questions until he realized he could find better answers on the internet. Now instead of asking me questions that I can't answer he tells me about the interesting things he read about and he wants to discuss them. I don't have to have all the answers now, just an opinion.

He always had trouble sleeping because he couldn't turn off his mind. He read for hours every day when he couldn't sleep.

I do think that the early signs of giftedness and spectrumy (new word btw) issues look similar. And then there is the overlap. I think the difference between quirky giftedness and ASD traits can be so similar that you may not be able to tease it out at 4.

It's nice that you can relate to his early math potential. I was the kid constantly lost in my imagination and creativity who had no need for science or math unless it served to further the plot of my current play/story/poem. My ds' obsession with the fact -based world totally freaked me out.

I realized that there are different ways to be kid.

Just responding to the question posed by the thread title--

YES. Both, I mean. At least that has been our experience with our quirky, PG DD. Who also never seemed to sleep and developed a--

well.

Let's just say that she's a prodigy. Of snark, primarily. LOL.

We should have known when she was mischieviously tweaking DH by refusing to use "real" words at a year old, instead relying on a single, gibberish phrase to answer ALL of her dad's inquiries. Oh, she talked all right. Just not on command. For him. It was far more entertaining to watch Dad turn purple while she chuckled to herself. So yes, I think my DD is a natural smart-alec.

While on paper, she seemed to have a lot of overlap with ASD characteristics, a single meeting with her for an hour or two quickly dispelled any notion that she's on the spectrum. She's like an anti- Aspie, though her empathy and gregariousness leads her to be highly compatible with ASD friends even now. She still has a lot in common with them-- probably more than she does with NT kids.

Could be! I think it's hard to determine giftedness from such things, since milestones vary between children so much to start with, plus kids these days get such a barrage of stimulation unlike when we were children, and some children simply exist in a more educationally enriched environment early on. I think recognizing different number bonds is a good foundational instinct, certainly. And another giftie in the family increases the probability that your older child is gifted too.

I probably shouldn't be admitting to this ... but pretty much all he knows is from his video games or tv. Anytime I had the need to "teach him" something, I found out he already knows it. So I gave up and figured there's plenty of time for real learning when school comes. But it does make me wonder sometimes how much more (or not?) would these two kids know if I actually did try to teach them things above and beyond of what they pick up on their own?

I think a lot of real learning can be done from TV, video games (at least certain types of them), toys, and books. I remember learning a fair bit from comic books at a young age. I wouldn't worry about actively teaching him anything at that age unless he asks for it. I might consider limiting his screen time if you're worried about it, especially with the possibility of ADHD. This might also encourage him to play with his toys more.