Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school Milestone charts - are they for real?

I wanted to look up a few milestones for DD 27 mos and ran across this, which I found to be jaw dropping:

http://giftedkids.about.com/od/gifted101/p/milestones.htm

After reading it, I saw it is actually posted for parents of gifted chilren. My gosh, this cannot be right. Are the expectations for ND children truly this low?

So off I went to the American Academy of Pediatrics, which I don't always agree with, but it is the standard. Again, I'm shocked. Are these milestones intended to be a low bar?

http://www.aap.org/publiced/BK0_DevMile_3-4Yrs.htm

http://www.aap.org/publiced/BK0_DevMile_4-5Yrs.htm

I thought the same thing the first time I saw this, and all I could think was "this can't be right" I have 3 DD's and all three were way ahead of what these expectations are. I'm not sure why it is so low.

I should NOT have clicked on the kindergarten links in that. Now I'm even MORE frustrated!

This is a bit better as it gives distribution.

http://www.babycenter.com/milestone-charts-birth-to-age-3

I think the best advice given on this board ( and by our Ped ) is to throw the charts away. We've stopped recording milestones.

And yes, a lot of ND kids fit right on the published scale. Mr W plays with 2-4 year olds a lot and they seem to fit the charts. Mr W just learns so much faster than they do.

We just got an information booklet from our ped on Caring for Your Five to Seven Year Old. Here's a bit under Starting School:

"By age 6, children often recognize and name letters of the alphabet and their sounds. Early reading begins with blending letter sounds to make words. Ability to read 15 or more common words and write letters and words is typical. Most children are reading by age 8."

Yeah, um, yeah... ha!

At DD3's last check-up two months ago, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself (in my head so no one would hear) as I filled out the survey on milestones she has reached. All I could think was, "If they only knew. . ." I tried telling the Ped. that she could read, but I don't think he believed me. In fact, the pre-school teachers didn't really believe me either, but I guess they'll figure that out this fall when she goes to school.

Anyone go to pbsparents.org to their milestone checklists?

What does ND mean?

ND=Normally Developing (as opposed to GT=gifted/talented)

FYI - if you go to Forums, Parenting and Advocacy, there is a sticky post at the beginning with common acronyms.

I have a whole houseful that don't fit the charts, ND and GT.