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DS4 started special ed preschool on Monday and I am already seeing some interesting changes in him. He has always been the type of kid that just absorbs information ... from tv, computer, video games, me (very rarely) but never interested in an actual dedicated time for a sit down learning activity. But now, 3 days into preschool (2.5 hours a day) he gets home, relaxes a bit, tells me about his day, I ask if he had fun, he says "yes, a little bit", I ask did you play, he says "yes!" and tells me all about what he played with, I ask if he had learned anything, he says "no" ... just plain no. And I wasn't expecting him to learn since we put him in for learning to socialize and get used to being in a larger group of children.
But now, later in the day, he himself looks for learning activities. He has these magnetic numbers and suddenly he started using the numbers on a white board putting together addition problems and asking me if the results are correct. In two days he went from understanding / recognizing / using numbers to 20 with occasional mistakes ... to now recognizing any number to 100.
Until this week, I had him do a little bit on the ABCMouse website ... he could do any activity but had to get at least 20 reward "tickets" before I let him use other websites like the pbskids.org site. And normally he'd get off ABC mouse as soon as he got the 20 tickets. Now, he just tells me he wants to keep playing with ABCmouse and learn more.

So, I just wonder ... have your kids get this sudden urge to learn more when they entered preschool and weren't getting enough there? I am pretty sure part of what is going on with him is his new diet (Gluten free / casein free) that we started 4 weeks ago to see if it helps lessen his autistic traits (and it's been working wonders for both our boys). It just seems to have overall cleared both their little minds A LOT. But now I am not sure what to do? Just keep giving him more when he asks for more? I am not expecting for the school to challenge him because we put him intentionally with the less advanced group of kids so he can work on his fine motor and social skills ... so, do I need to keep him more challenged at home?

It sounds like he's doing really well! My ds was always a "learner"...but I definitely noticed that the things they did at school would spark an opportunity at home (made a "cave" in his bedroom for nocturnal animals after they discussed this in school for example).

My suggestion is to follow his passions and make learning fun. What my ds says he misses most now that he's in school full time is the hands-on things. Field trips, nature walks, science experiments - makes me half-wish we were homeschooling.

Thanks! yes, I have always just followed his lead. I can't even come up with the stuff he does so I don't have a choice! lol I purposefully pushed for AM preschool class so we would have the afternoons for trips and other activities.

I noticed the opposite with my DD9... she was a voracious learner from very early on, but then (sadly) became a chameleon when she entered preschool.

All of a sudden my DD3.5 is acting very motivated for learning math and reading. Instead of me reading to her at night, she wants to play learning games on the Ipad. She recently completed the math portions of TeachMeKindergarten, and has made it a goal to finish the reading portions as well. She is also working her way through TeachMeFirstGrade. Last night she was clearly over-tired (a new girl at daycare wakes her up during nap time), and couldn't concentrate enough to reliably get correct answers. I told her it was time to stop.... and she threw a fit! It was terrible. She kept begging me to let her play. My rule is that if she cries for something, then she does NOT get it.

Normally I try to do everything I can to help her learn, as long as there is still enough time for everything else: trips to the park, riding her bicycle, pretend play, drawing, sleep, etc. My concern is to create a healthy, well-rounded girl. I don't concern myself with leaving anything academic for her to learn in kindergarten. Most of the advice I've seen on this site has directed me to worry about things 1 year at a time. At her Montessori preschool, they give her appropriate challenges, and assure me there is no limit to what she can learn in her time there. At the same time, her teacher makes a concerted effort to help DD with her shyness, and helps her deal with routine changes, to which she often reacts very negatively.

For each child there will be different priorities, but I think it's important to make sure that they feel challenged often. I don't want my daughter to become accustomed to a pace of learning that is effortless. Nor do I want her accustomed to being the smartest student in her class. At her school there is another 3 year old girl who is also doing addition worksheets, and they have become good friends. Plus, there are 6 year old students in her class doing multiplication, so even if she were the smartest child for her age, she is not the most capable child in the class. I hope that her new-found drive has positive roots. I hope she isn't becoming competitive... especially not with her friend.

I think the usual traps for gifted learners are laziness, poor study habits, disorganization, and insecurity. The first three all stem from expectations that are too low. The last one comes when children value their position as the smartest child in class as a necessary part of their identity. They fear losing that position, or being outsmarted, especially publicly. These insecure students refuse to ask questions in class, because asking a question implies that they don't understand something. If anyone else in the class does understand it, then their position is threatened. This, of course, is not the optimal way to learn.

So, to summarize, I suggest enriching your child (academically and otherwise) at every opportunity. Keep him challenged, allow him to work well ahead of the pack, but don't let him define himself as the kid who is more advanced than all the other kids.

We have the same thing with our DD4 - she was a sponge before going to preschool, but now is saying things like "I'm not supposed to learn to read until I'm 5" or "but I'm too young to know how to do that Mommy, I have to be older before I can understand that". It is only when we catch her with her guard down that we can see how much she can actually read, or how good she is at math.

DD9 was the exact opposite - she seemed to learn through osmosis when she entered school - if it was being taught somewhere in the building, she learned it somehow and needed more when she got home. It was actually pretty scary and continues to be so to this day!

Ditto. My DD was a voracious sponge, and her love of learning survived an outstanding pre-K teacher. Then came K.

a month later ... he's still eager to learn something new 24/7 and while he says he's not learning "anything" at school when I ask him, he IS happy to go there pretty much every day, which at the beginning, knowing him we thought would never happen so all things considered, we're doing great! ... except for my ears always ringing from DS4's non-stop talking and question asking! lol