Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Gifted Traits as Toddlers

In the FWIW department...

I think early milestones tend to indicate (though do not guarantee) GTness, especially if a child reaches milestones early across the board or at least in most of the areas not tied tightly to motor skills.

Later milestones, however, do NOT mean a child isn't GT. That's very important! There are just WAAAAAAAAAY too many cases of kids who didn't speak until 3 or 4 or whatever, and then spoke novels, or the kid who didn't read until 1st grade, but was reading at the 8th grade level by the end of that same year. I have a deep mistrust of anything that is used to "rule out" kids, especially kids who are pre-K-aged or so. There's too much going on there that we can't necessarily see.

I, too, would suspect GTness in your child, HoosierMommy, and I'm with Lorel that it seems too early to tell level.

So there's certainly no reason to think you're crazy, no matter what your family seems to think!

Thanks for the thoughts. I fully understand that some children do not show any signs of GT until the school years -- I was one of them. My DH and I will certainly enjoy our DD as a fun-loving, rambunctious toddler who loves to swing and paint rocks with water colors outside. She keeps everyday interesting, that's for sure.

Hmm. I've seen this chart before and have always been a bit dubious about some of its claims.

Ex. I'm not convinced that a speaking a word at 7.9 months is a "normal" developmental milestone. This seems pretty early to me (extremely so for the general population), and also because the chart says a vocabulary of 4-6 words doesn't come until ~8 months later.

Also, my kids' pediatrican told me that the standard 24 month milestone is combining 2 words (onset 18-23 months), not simple sentences. And if a child has a vocabulary of 20 words at 21 months, how can he "combine several words"? His vocabulary isn't big enough for that unless he just strings them together with no meaning. From what I've read, combining two words happens when a child has a vocabulary of ~25 words.

Not throwing a ball until age 4 seems pretty late to me? I'm pretty sure this happens a little before age 2.

Also, what does "30% advanced" mean, exactly?

Has anyone ever wondered about this chart?

Val

I didn't look at the chart--I'm too lazy--but our physician suggested that the sentences kids make should be 1-word-long per year of age for ND. So a 2yo should form 2-word sentences, and a 3yo should form 3-word sentences.

I'm not sure how soon after that the rule breaks down, but I'm betting kids don't wait for their 4th birthdays to make 4-word sentences. But that's just my guess.

Throwing a ball happens before 2. I'm pretty sure you're right about that, too. Both our kids did, and they weren't terribly advanced in the motor skills department. Certainly not DS7!

FWIW...

I have a DS2...well, he'll turn into DS3 next week. He's advanced. Very much so, both in language/reading and logic/math.

I just wanted to say that about 6 months ago, I went through the same process you are now. Questioning myself, trying to find any charts/statistics/anecdotal evidence that would help me quantify him. And I was able to assure myself that I wasn't crazy, or overly biased (as much as any first time mom can be unbiased). And that made me feel calmer.

Now that a sort of general acceptance has settled over me and my DH regarding our son, I don't feel as neurotic about it. For me it was a bit like the stages of grief....call it stages of GT acceptance:

1) Amazement / Disbelief
2) Worry / Anxiety
3) Planning (for me this meant trying to rearrange the future picture in my brain regarding school since we are going to be making some fairly big life changes before school begins)
4) Acceptance / Normalcy

If last 2 years have been any indication, DS is never going to be a typical kid. And I have gotten a lot better at dealing with that...mostly dealing with friends, family and strangers who comment on it.

I have recently decided to just stop worrying/planning/thinking down the road and just enjoy him now. He's an amazing creature and although he reads like an elementary school kid and like to count to 1000, he still refused to eat his breakfast this morning and broke down because his eggs were on the wrong plate. So, yeah. He's still a toddler and I don't want to miss a single minute of that roller coaster ride.

What a wonderful post, Catherine!!

I can remember going through all those stages, but without the clarity of understanding it so well.

Hummmm.... now that I stop and think about it, I still go through all those stages, sometimes on a daily basis. And I've been on this particular roller coaster ride for eight years now.

I guess the fun never ends.

wow, catherine, you went through your stages much earlier than I did. But I think you've got them pegged. We started our "phases of GT acceptance" after we got DS4's test results (PG based on the chart Cathy posted). We had him tested as a condition for early entrance into kindergarten. We went with the psych's recommendation to not early entrance DS. Your "worry/anxiety" wa much more like panic for me. I'll add "find out everything I can about HG" as a step before planning.

Here's DS4's background. Alert at birth, and with strong neck muscles. Day 2, flipped himself over in the bilirubin light incubator thingy. Besides that one incident, he was early at rolling both ways. After that, not too early with gross motor. In fact, he took first several steps before he turned 1, then fell, then didn't try again until 14 months and kept on since then. He didn't jump until about 3 1/2 - he's my cautious little kid (except for his invincibility syndrome).

Very early talker. Can't remember exactly when. I do remember that before one I had some sign language cards. I remember looking at them, in a very lazy manner, and thinking, well, he already says or understands all these words, why should I bother with the signing?

Could sight read many words around 2. Around 2.5, took off with road signs. I ordered tana hoban's "i read signs" then, and by the time it arrived, he could read it straight through by himself (he was very proud to have "read" his first book.) He could read chapters in Frog and Toad around his 3rd birthday. After that, we knew he could read many words, but he didn't want to read to us.

I forgot to mention that he has always loved being read to, since birth he would pay attention to books. We have pictures of interested baby on his back with daddy laying next to him reading hop on pop. Reading to him was one of my calming techniques for high maintenance baby. Horrible napper. He wanted to be read to for hours when he was old enough to point at books (early pointer too - I remember carrying him around identifying everything he pointed to).

Now, at 4.5, he's reading encyclopedia brown chapters to us (he'll only read to us as a procrastination method at bedtime). These are maybe 3rd-4th grade level? He's not interested in spelling too much or writing.

He occasionally shows some interest in math, but always loves science stuff. We just try to play with him like anyone else, though. He loves hiking and collecting rocks. He's still just a kid. We'll worry about "real" schooling next year (although we definitely continue teaching him on a day to day basis - just not organized teaching).

sorry so long!

I think I have made the introductory trip through those phases. I have absolutely no doubt that I'll most likely be visiting each one again in depth as the years go on. Honestly? He's 2. There's not much that can be done (or even should be done) now.

Our biggest thing is the plan. We need to move districts and that's going to require selling our house in the next 24 months. So in a weird way, my DS and his brain are directly responsible for me re-painting our living room. That's one of the many, many items on our large "get the house ready to sell" list that we made up this weekend.

So see? If I have to buy new paint/carpet/landscaping, it's ONLY because my kid is too darn smart! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

CFK-

Nice to hear from you again! Interesting study idea. I don't think anyone has tackled that yet. Catherine, I think you're right on about the grieving. I've been saying the same thing for years. And I do revisit the different stages as my kids grow and change. Mostly, though, I think I'm in acceptance, until something new reminds me of how weird we are...

C, I know what you mean. Life is all about balance, and it's good to be honest with yourself about the potential to over analyze and obsess.

But it is nice to see you back...