Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy physically gifted - resources?

I started my daughter in tap & ballet classes at 2, which were a wonderful outlet for her energy, and gave her some great stimulation too. Gymnastics classes are also very appropriate for that age group, as are some martial arts. You might try a class for a few weeks and see how your daughter likes it. My daughter is nearly 8 now, and has just had me sign her up for her 6th year of dance lessons, so she's definitely getting something out of them! (PS daughter is PG or EG, and LOVES music, dance, singing, etc, but certainly isn't a "star" or the best in her classes, etc. Dancing and singing just make her happy! I think they teach striving, practicing, improving, all things that are important for academics in the long run.....

Polarbear, the only child I know whose gone well in competitive gymnastics started at 9-10 and was at a state level in 1-2 years, and moved on to another sport because her club couldn't really do more for/with her but other clubs would have required about twice as much time per week (which she clearly didn't need to spend to reach her level). Actual physical giftedness v. Quite good and working for hours a week over many years = she blew past her peers who had trained for years longer and for many more hours per week.

Yesterday in the lobby of a building, there was a set of metal "parallel bars" that were above her head when standing. She grabbed on, flung her legs over and put herself on top of the bars. She then stood on them and let go! AH! Scared me to death. (They were actually quite unparallel as they were railings on a ramp...one going up, one flat.)

I guess we will look for gymnastics for now. A mommy and me thing.

I'll also reiterate the advice to not look too far down the road with a toddler/preschooler like this. I was one of these kids, and my mom told some pretty hair-raising tales about my exploits.


Your story about the railings reminds me--

When I was not yet two, she looked out the kitchen window to find me 8-12 feet up one of our gnarled old fruit trees... terrified, she didn't RUSH outside for fear of "scaring me and causing me to fall" but by the time she gingerly came around the back of the house, I was "down from that tree and higher still in another one."

She put my crib railing down permanently and removed all the hanging decorations from my room before I was a year old-- after she discovered how my mobile was winding up IN the crib with me after every naptime... I was standing on the crib rail and pulling it down, evidently.

Anyway. Same thing.

I do still have great body awareness, balance, and flexibility. I also enjoyed tumbling and gymnastics-- a LOT. That one runs in the family, fwiw-- I have 6 cousins who were nationally ranked gymnasts in their teens. I never broke a bone as a kid, in spite of my daredevil ways-- though I did eventually sustain a back injury (disc) doing something stupid without a spotter. In my mid 40's now, I am paying for that one.

But I couldn't hit (or catch) a baseball to save my own life. I can't play tennis. I struggle even with volleyball, bowling and badminton. There's nothing wrong with my eyesight-- I just don't have the right neural wiring to process the inputs in real time.

I can golf, sail, and am pretty good at martial arts.

For what it's worth, today DD3 was doing her "routine" on the same metal bars in the lobby of a building that I previously mentioned. The building includes dance studios. One of the dance teachers was leaving for the day and stopped to watch DD and just chit chat. She was amazed at what she was doing and commented that she is incredibly strong and talented and that she needs to be in a class! (The closeted denier/cynic in me thought, "that's nice...the teacher just wants to make $ from another student in her class.) Whether or not that was her motive, it was interesting to get some completely unsolicited feedback.

I would suggest in a scenario like that, unless the teacher gave you a card for HER class, that the advice is well intentioned. Chances are that this particular teacher doesn't teach 3yr olds :-), it's a niche thing.

We had to work pretty hard to find a ballet class that would take my 2.5yr old (I caved after months of begging and hysterical tears every time her older sister went to HER ballet class). The place we found is actually really ideal for her in that they cater to 2-5yrs olds only, the teacher dresses up as "princess bows" (which keeps the smallest kids attention, the LOVE her) and she's really good at managing the children, all the children, from the terrified 2yr olds who don't want to be there are cry through the whole lesson, to the 5yr olds that can do everything and should be in proper classes. So my 2.5yr old was able to get instruction at her level (not much!) while not disrupting the class more than any other child by hanging upside down from the bar. She was the only one hanging upside down, but there were plenty of other kids doing other "wrong" stuff. A year in I have gotten over my horror that the class is taught by "princess bows" and I appreciate how much she manages a really emotionally, socially and physically diverse bunch of kids. My DD has made quite pronounced progress in that time too, in group participation AND ballet skills. She will be ready for pre-primary "real" ballet well before her older sister's teacher is usually willing to take kids and she will thrive when she transitions - but I SO don't think that my older daughter's wonderful RAD teacher would have been remotely the right person at 2.5yrs!

At 3, there are not too many options. Gymnastics is great at that age because it works on flexibility, balance, and strength which will benefit any sport in the future. At 4-6, soccer is good to introduce because it works on footwork and conditioning. I don't recommend any of the skill sports at those early ages unless there is one that you know really well yourself. Pitch and catch with anything is enough. 7 on up, just see what she likes. They are usually different seasons, so you can try a few in a years time. Around 10, she needs to be settled into 1-2 of them.