Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy parents of gifted toddlers

I am a parent of a 2 year old that shows signs of giftedness. I am looking for information on resources for parenting a gifted child and interested in what other parents have found helpful for their kids including good books to read, advice on preschools, etc. There dont seem to be a lot of resources out there and I am having trouble getting direction or advice. Any links or articles would be appreciated.

Hi Toddlermom-

It is hard to find information on gifted toddlers. Here are a few to get you started:

http://www.bellaonline.com/subjects/10599.asp

Hi Toddlermom,
We struggled to find information when our eldest child was about 2 also. First, this forum is an absolute goldmine of information and helpful, sincere, non-judgmental people. Also, check out the Hoagies' website (http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/) which serves as a crash course in giftedness.

As for books with information specifically on toddlers: I really liked A Parent's Guide to Gifted Children by Webb, Gore . . . and Losing Our Minds (now called Five Levels of Giftedness??) by Ruf. Although it wasn't toddler-specific, I also really appreciated Smart Boys by Cohn, Kerr. I have heard that Smart Girls is equally good.

I joined our local gifted group and began attending local gifted seminars when my DS was just under 3 but no one really took me seriously. I did learn things but I was often justifying my need and feeling uncomfortable. The combination of test scores and age have made the local group much more of a resource to me now.

Overall, I would just say let your DC guide you in this process and don't get hung up on age, etc. Oh, and don't forget to have fun!

Hi,

I also have an advanced 2 year old. This site is good, there are quite a few of us with toddlers and preschoolers. Check the preschool site under age-groups. For me it has been very helpful just to be able to chat about my child without offending anybody. Everybody is helpful and the parents with older tested kids don't make us with toddlers feel uncomfortable

I second the Hoagiesgifted.com. Same issue we had several years back and it has been a wealth of information.

Hi,

Welcome. There is a lot of info out there but still surprisingly little. I would have assumed there'd be a lot more research based information about giftedness in young kids but there's surprisingly little for our age group. So far this forum has been really helpful for me (mom of a 2 year 4 mo boy who shows some signs of being gifted).

As far as resources to enjoy with your child, we have had a lot of fun with www.starfall.com, full of songs/fun stuff about letters/words/reading starting with getting to know letters and then moving on from there. Starfall is a free website with a goal of promoting reading skills, created by a physics PhD and a poet.

On preschools I've got little advice except that perhaps none is better than a poor fit, we chose to hold off this year feeling that our only option (we're rural) wasn't a good one. People often recommend montessori type ones for gifted kids as they sometimes group the 3-5 year olds, but be aware every montessori is different from the next. One can find books online or in the library that over-view the various "schools" of preschools such as church-based, waldorf, montessori, steiner etc, those type of books are a good starting point if you have a lot of choice.

Polly

Parenting books didn't seem to help me much with my gifted son - here are two that I think, looking back, would have helped:

http://www.thinkingchild.com/icps.htm

http://www.energyparenting.com/products/item26.cfm

Neither are written for gifted families, but I think both would have been useful to me when DS13 was 2.

Best Wishes,
Grinity