Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion visually competent

Hi there, at last my dh has started showing more than a passing interest in our daughters education so I am keen to give him some "real" info about the first question he's really ever asked (don't ask...) Our dd is above the 99.9th % in visual competence, which basically means she takes in everything she sees - read early, good at ball sports, seeing things you wish she wouldn't etc. Anyway although I am happy to use this as a learning tool and follow her interests organically, DH has asked what career paths would be best served with this skill so that we can make sure she has access to the right opportunities if her interest matches her skill set. I am trying to get more input from him so any ideas would be fab, we have only really come up with things in the sporting field. Bless her she is not terribly creative so while I am encouraging this a field that requires a great deal of creativity is not looking good.

Is this your two-year-old? I figure you have a good decade or more before you should really worry about career choices at all, and by that time your daughter will doubtless have many ideas of her own, which then may change over time.

You can't make any useful guesses at all about her long-term aptitudes for or interests in different fields, based on a visual test at or before the age of two. Well, I guess if she were functionally blind you could tell that she wasn't cut out to be a fighter pilot, but you know what I mean. You and your husband seem to be too focused on the results of this single visual perception or comprehension test, whatever it was. Did you know that children's test scores can change radically during the early years? You don't have close to a stable long-term picture of your daughter's intellectual or other aptitudes at this point, much less enough info to engage in career-oriented academic planning.

I think you should take a step back and re-assess your priorities. Your daughter should have plenty of time for free play and exploration at this stage, not a directed education. In addition an attitude such as a feeling that your daughter is not terribly creative might well be expressed in ways you won't even notice, and wind up giving your daughter a less positive self-concept. How the heck could you possibly draw a valid conclusion that your daughter isn't creative at two?

Get your daughter some paints, crayons and clay, and let her play. There'll be plenty of time for hothousing her later.

Hi Locounu, thanks for your input - I happen to agree 100% with you. My daughter does no educational activities except attend a parent led play group 2 a week instead of traditional kindy/daycare. She has access to all of that cool fun stuff, plus too much tv. I'm asking more so that if anyone had any ideas they could share so I could get her very un involved father more interested in looking at what options we have available for her early education. I want to keep her at home/ home school her for as long as possible, he wants a more traditional path. As he doesn't do any research whatsover I feel strongly that once he does he will come round to my thinking. Ergo if he has a an interest in potential career paths then to me that is a foot in the door toward discussion and then on to real research.

I reread my my op and yep it prob does look like I'm a pushy obsessed hothouse mom. Trust me nothing could be farther from the truth. The test score actually worries me and I don't like it but I have found on forums people will question your very young child's ability if you don't have any evidence. Perhaps I should point out that she has taught herself to read, know 15 colours, count objects (with cardinality) add/subtract, copy complex patterns, understand orbital rotations, can throw and kick better than the average 8 year old and generally makes people feel uncomfortable with her level of knowledge.She is not a genius, she only has shown above average aptitude in this one area - it simply helps her do well in other areas too. And yes she is 28 months old.
I don't want her put into some sausage factory where she'll have all this natural curiosty squashed so I am doing my best to convince my dh to consider alternatives.

Oooooh with her visual skills, she could be a, fashion critic. Imagine all the snarky tidbits one could log in a brief time as stars wend their way along the red carpet.

Sorry - couldn't help myself.

Probably what your spouse really want to know is why is this useful, how is this significant in any way to letting my kid be a 2-year old? And what it does is help you know better how to help your child learn as they progress and begin to want to learn new things.

If I remember correctly, my older son already has a career path in mind at 2. He wanted to be a fire truck. Not a fireman, but the truck. And I guess in some ways he never wavered - his passion is still motors and race cars. He's now studying mechanical engineering, but I doubt he'll ever be able to accomplish that original goal.

I think if your dilemma is convincing your dh to let you homeschool - then what you need to do is to give your dh information/research/etc showing the benefits of homeschooling. Introduce him to other parents you know with slightly older kids who've been homeschooling.

Another way to convince him to let you homeschool *might* be for you to give his ideas a try too.

I can't imagine making predictions about a child's career at 28 months old - no matter how profoundly gifted they might be (or how not profoundly gifted they might be!). I've always felt it's best to be open-minded, give children the opportunity to be exposed to a wide variety of things, and then let them find their own passions. Eventually they will find their own passions anyway, whether they're the career we as parents wanted them to find or not.

Best wishes,

polarbear

I'm not sure I'd even describe visual thinking as a skill. It's more a property. It's just the way her brain works. This gives you some useful information on how to teach her (don't just tell her, show her), but tells you nothing useful about what to teach her.