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    Joined: Jun 2016
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    I have a 15 month old too. 😍 He is not verbally inclined so I'm completely fascinated reading about your baby's language interest and ability!! There's plenty of evidence validating that a parent's gut instinct is very accurate in identifying gifted children. Trust yourself!

    As far as screens, I'm not okay with passive consumption of media for myself or my kids. no television here. (game console for occasional DVDs and rare Minecraft play for my oldest).

    My 15-month-old loves touchscreen games he can manipulate. Daddy is teaching him to play Clash of Clans. 🙄 My guy loved the Smart Baby sorting games for iPad, but he has moved on to physical puzzles, trying to put lids on containers and extend his bath by putting the drain plug back in. He enjoys Little Write iPad app, although he can't yet trace a curved line on his own and loses interest. When he is sleepy he enjoys Starfall ABC's app. We cuddle up together, he picks the letters (totally random) and I sing/talk along. Sharing the names of the apps because I had a hard time finding anything decent.

    Screen time is limited to rough bedtimes when he would rather fight sleep and scream. Screen babysitting if I'm stuck running errands and he's fussy. Or any time I have patience to deal with his tantrum when screen time ends. 😂. so not very often. Mostly because he gets bored with the apps and starts getting into the wallet section of my tablet case!!

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    Originally Posted by blackcat
    My biggest piece of advice is to avoid any academic based preschools.


    This would be mine as well.

    Also, we didn't have great experiences with skipping ahead in classrooms before pre-k age. There's so much social and emotional stuff going on before 4 years old. I regret allowing DS's preschool to skip him ahead by a year when he was 2.5. My daughter will stay with her same aged peers until 4.

    My son was ready for academics at 4 and we did find a great "transitional K" with gifted peers, just by chance, and that year of pre-k may end up being our favorite year of school ever. smile We're only on 1st grade though!

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    When it comes to screen time, I think it's all about balance. Prior to having my daughter I was of the mind that there'd be zero screen time until she was two. That went out the window. I have tried to limit it, but we have some better days than others. There are days my kids have watched way too much Sprout. But, I'll say that my five year old, screen time having daughter has an incredible imagination, a creativity that blows me away, is a stellar reader who LOVES books and will always choose to go outside over watch a screen.. I think the CONTENT of the screen time matters greatly as well. We do almost all educational programming for the most part. My daughter does watch some My Little Pony and what not now, but it's mostly educational. She's allowed to turn her brain off at times though, as we should all be allowed to. In all things - BALANCE! Relax, enjoy your unique little one and just follow her lead.. She'll show you where she wants to go.


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    You have received some excellent advice! Couple of additional thoughts to consider. In consideration for preschools. I have heard that the Reggio preschools sometimes are not as great for the off the charts kids as you might think. The projects are determined by what most of the kids want to do and they don't go as deeply as your child might want to go (they cater to the average class). You didn't mention Montessori...I have heard there can be great variability in approach and some gifted kids find they have too much repetition and rigidity. We did play based and Dd was still bored, but did gain a lot from the daycare even though they had no idea what to do for her lol. Last thing, most likely your little one will read early...if she doesn't, don't be alarmed. She will read when she wants to. Dd knew the letters at 20 months, but would not admit to reading until she turned 5 and then mastered it fairly quickly.
    Good luck and try to enjoy the journey😀

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    My son picked up his letters from me reading the Dr. Suess ABC book. Not sure when exactly, but he knew them all at 18 months when I bought him magnetic letters on a hunch he knew them already. Around 20 months I sang that song the popular fridge toy sings (the b says buh, the b says buh, every letter makes a sound the b says buh) for each letter and DS picked up all the sounds the first time I sang them. After that I made a few words with his magnet letter and sounded them out for him. I never asked him to do anything, he watched and listened to me because he was interested. Next thing I knew he was spelling words with his magnets on a daily basis.

    DS didn't actually start reading until around 3, presumably when all of the aspects of reading readiness were sufficiently developed. He would get all into reading for a time... and then completely lose interest. Each time he would start reading again he would be ready for a new level of books. Other than encouraging him to finish a book if he started it, he's mostly been in charge of his own reading progress other than me telling him the sounds and showing him how they form words that one day.

    We didn't have any electronic toys when he was little and he never even saw a screen on in our home until 22 months when I got a tablet for Christmas. He loves screen time, but now, at 6, it's still pretty limited. Once a week he can watch a movie and other than that we alternate days he can use the screen with days he plays outdoors after school. Most days he gets no screen time.

    Around 18 months his favorite toy was Keva Planks and he build all sorts of things with them. He also loved Play Doh, Duplo, and puzzles. I took so many pictures of the things that he made (green poop with play doh!?!) and I'm very glad we spent that time playing together without screens.

    There's nothing a screen can teach your child that you can't teach better. Building with blocks is an especially excellent time for presenting new vocabulary that they pick right up on because they are engaged. They learn physics and geometry without even knowing they are learning anything.

    BTW, I too was told the class they had for my son for K was full of "smart kids just like him". Total rubbish. They had no clue where he was really at. Even at the pediatrician where they know him well and his file includes his IQ results (along with info about his disabilities) they get all bent out of shape about the least impressive stuff. Last week he was getting measured and they asked him to take his shoes off and he insisted on taking his socks of too because he was concerned about the measurement being completely accurate. They couldn't believe he said accurate. This was so unimpressive to me that it took me a moment to understand what they were fussing about. I guess I learned that most 6 year olds don't use that word, but I still find it hard to believe.

    I guess what I'm saying is that it doesn't matter what your child is doing, how many times you have told someone they are doing it, or what test results you have in hand... it's like all of that info just hits a brick wall of incomprehension. Then they act so surprised when your child does the least of what they can do. We found a tiny all gifted school where they totally get it and he fits right in. We will never look back. Hopefully you guys will find your place as well. Good luck smile

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    A few things to echo others:

    1.) Don't worry about teaching. Follow her lead. If she's interested, then"teach". But at this age the learning is very self directed. Only now that my DD is in K are we doing anything that really seems like teaching, because I'm trying to supplement her education primarily to keep her happy and challenged.

    2.) There may be times of plateau. My DD knew all letters by 18 months but it's not like she started reading immediately after. Dont worry that she's sliding back to normal or anything. These things go in fits and starts but most likely she'll always be advanced. She learns more quickly than other children, so she will pick things up in a fraction of the time.

    3. Stick with reggio. I can't emphasize that enough (unless you eventually choose a grade skip). DD is in a reggio program and although we do some after schooling as well to keep her engaged, she's not being asked to do things that bore her at school. We're also very lucky that our school understands her abilities and is willing to hear us out for future grades, but that varies by school and the level of giftedness in the child. DD hasn't been tested but she presents as a g/mg kid. Hg+ kids have more challenges in school, even in a play based one. So your mileage may vary.

    4.) I combat the flashcards accusations on two ways. First, I make it clear in social media that I'm a fan of play based learning and i don't believe children need to be reading at 5. So others' knowing that insulates me a lot. Second, in response to others, I just say something like, "if this has anything to do with my teaching her, I'd patent it abnd become a millionaire! This is all her and she continually surprises us. We just follow her interests and support her whether that's math or Barbies"

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    Oh forgot one more: we're pretty liberal on screen time. Their iPads are always available to them... But because of that it's just another toy so often they'll do something else instead. Helps that I have back to back kids so they always have a play mate. Now that they're older they also both know that I believe too much screen time, like candy, is bad, and they know I'll take it away if I think they use it too much. So they adjust accordingly.

    When they were younger I still let them use screens or watch TV though... Just for my sanity having 2 under 2. I did monitor it a bit more, but bottom line is don't beat yourself up if she's on a iPad more than you'd like. Nothing is ever perfect, and at least for my DD she honestly does learn best with apps.

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    Just adding my 2 cents on Reggio. And I'll start by qualifying that I am sure each school is different. My twins spent 3 years at a Reggio preschool a few years back (they are now 16 yo). One twin was a fluent reader by 2.5yo, and we found it worked well that the preschool did not have an academic focus. They thrived on the art, music, make believe and play. They did do group projects, and that worked well too, because each kid was allowed to contribute in their own way. (One year their big class project was to write and produce a play. Dd's contribution was to design a program to hand out to the audience. She had seen some examples from the local theater to get ideas. Her program was great and even included some very funny fake ads -- she was still really into dinosaurs then, and one of the ads was for a diamond shop for dinosaurs -- "Giant Jewels.")

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