Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Do all Gifted kids have early academic interest?

Hi, I have a strange question. My 4th child seemed to be the most gifted of my kids early on in his life. He walked, talked, etc. very early. He learned letters and sounds almost overnight and well before he was 18mths old.

Then by the time he was about 3 he seemed to lose interest in letters, numbers etc. He still has a small interest in dinosaurs and loves mazes but beyond that refuses to do any "academic" worksheets, etc. Has no interest in learning to read, etc. He will say "reading is too hard for me" He even says "puzzles are too hard for me." It's like anything that requires effort isn't worth his time.

He is still highly verbal but there is no directing him to academics. He is obsessed with star wars and video games.

I hear of so many kids that read early and I guess I assumed he would have been reading by now. When I look at Rufs LOG academic interest is such a huge part of it. Does that have to be there early on??

I guess I should mention he just turned 4 a few mths ago.

thanks!

Dd#2 sounds a lot like that. She, too, was speaking very early (2 words together at 5.5 months) and seemed to be very, very bright as a baby. Even in my family where most of the kids are pretty bright & I didn't realize that dd#1 was gifted until she was 6.5, dd#2 stood out to me as quite smart.

She then took no interest in learning to read although she could read simple early readers at 4.5. At 9.5 now, I just don't know. She isn't that interested in academic subjects in general. Some of it seems to be due to confidence and some bad experiences at school, but some of it is just lack of interest. She does like writing and she did come up with a creative means of dividing the other day that I had never thought of, so I see the flickers there occassionally, but most of the time I'd say that her interest just lie outside of the typical academic realm.

She is still gifted to some degree, but she is interested in Hollywood Make-up artistry, acting, and generally things that put her in the spot-light.

D2 read late -- really not until 1st grade, but then she took off like a rocket (3rd place finish in Midwest Academic Talent search for SAT Critical Reading in middle school). She also didn't care for worksheets or workbooks during the preschool years. So just because he doesn't read early doesn't mean he isn't gifted. Maybe because he is the 4th kid there is usually someone there to read to him

My DD4 is not at all interested in worksheets. I doubt that has anything to do with her LOG. And of course many gifted kids don't read early.

Part of what you are seeing may be that your DS feels some pressure from you to focus on academics and he is (understandably) resisting. Part of it may be that he doesn't want to try to do something until he's sure he can do it perfectly. Either way, this might be a good time to start addressing these issues.

my two kids (DD7 MG 2E and DD6 HG+) have never ever had any interest in workbooks, worksheets, or any time of systematic learning that is the norm in "schoolwork". Both started to read late for gifties (second half of kindergardent) but then went very very fast thru all the reading levels. I thought it was unusual and doubted their giftedness at times, until i read thru this forum and find that there are lots of kids like this.
irene

Thanks, that could be it. Maybe he just isn't interested in the worksheets, etc. My oldest dd was the same way now that I think about it and she tests near PG.
It's tough not to doubt the giftedness though. I have a friend who really pushes her kids to sit and do academic type worksheets everyday. I think they are all close to MG but all read by the time they are 4 - 4 1/2. I've just started to doubt my kids ability or even my competence as a parent when I'm not moving them ahead well before hitting K.

Neither of my girls were interested in academics early on. My 7 year old DYS began her interest a little after turning 4. She did not even know all her letters at 4 and had no idea about letter sounds, but once she did she started reading and she progressed super fast.

My other one is still 4, and is only now becoming interested in reading and counting. She has also been tested as HG+.

interesting, well my DS5 DYS was highly academically inclined very early...so that was very clear to us because he was all about reading, letters, numbers, questioning, etc. So Ruffs LOG worked well for him and easily always put him at a 5. But with DD2, she is quite different. Not really into all that stuff at all. She does like books and will sit through fairly long books now. I recently found out that she knows all her letters, and she counts really high, etc...but I just didn't realize all this because she just isn't into it like he was. She is more creative, quite imaginitive, etc. I do think she is a gifted child, different than DS, but clearly gifted. It just doesn't show itself in the same way. so I guess you never can tell.

FWIW, my dd whom I mentioned above has been IQ tested twice. Once she was at the 99.9th percentile and once at the 97th which is why I say "gifted to some degree." I don't know if she is MG or HG+ based on her wildly erratic scores on both IQ and achievement tests. She does make me question as well, though, b/c she doesn't clearly present as gifted the way my older dd does even though she looked more gifted as a young person. I'm having to assume that she is still gifted, though.

Worksheets? Yikes!

Being gifted doesn't mean a love of "schooly" stuff. It's an aptitude for learning-- which often is likelier exemplified by asking incessant questions, a reputation as the most legalistic four-year-old on the block (or the planet), or dismantling the TV/dresser/baby locks (possibly to see how they work, possibly to get parts for his planned World Domination Robot).

Gifted also doesn't necessarily mean being an early reader. Reading is a developmental task, and gifted kids are notorious for asynchronous development. One of my kids' friends (also ID'd gifted) didn't read until he was nine, though at twelve he reads as well, and as much, as my reading-at-five son. (There are studies that suggest math aptitude is developmentally linked as well.)

The schools, and sometimes us as parents, like to assume gifted kids are all of a kind, and all fit into a neat little box. Sometimes we just need to remember than anyone that bright can surely find his or her way out of the box (and probably turn it inside-out and sideways). <ggg>