1. Nothing absurd like doing back flips at age 2, but certainly ahead - walking at 9 months, writing her name at 2, biking on normal bike at just over 3, doing 15 somersaults in a row at 3 or 4.... Though I think that second link posted by the OP is way off. I think it represents not what the average child is doing, but what the child for sure should be able to do.
Both ds's were ahead on gross and fine motor skills. DS2 has always been very capable and stable, the earlier walker (8.5 months), amazing fine motor (very pretty, round handwriting from a very early age, graceful dancer, etc. DS1 was also early (e.g. walked at 10.5 months) but not as "gifted" physically I guess, hurries around and bangs up his legs, wrote very well early but not as careful with it, etc. But DS1 is more an obvious or stereotypical gifted-type personality with the relentless questions and curiosity, etc. The differences are probably largely due to their different personalities now that I write it out! Or, really who knows which causes what, the abilities or the personality....?
My dd10 was, if I recall correctly, about on par with average for most small and gross motor skills. She's very, very small physically now and I'm not sure if that's been what has kept her from trying with sports, but she's still not really an athlete. Her interests seem to lie in other areas like theatre as well.
Dd12 was very advanced with small motor skills and a bit on the slow end for gross motor. Again, I suspect that personality played into the gross motor end of things as well as sensory issues on her end. She didn't walk until 15.5 months but she did it perfectly when she started. She didn't learn to ride a bike until age 10 by which point it was becoming an embarrassment for her b/c she was going into 7th grade. She kept telling me that she was going to fall and fracture her hip.
For small motor skills, though, she was taking caps off ballpoint pens and putting them back on with precision by 5 or 6 months of age. She stacked blocks into high towers by 7 or 8 months and was able to sort complex shapes like multiple different shaped stars, hexagons, octagons, etc. into six sided shape sorters by 10 months... We used to joke that she would be a neurosurgeon.
My gifted DD was a 1 physically all around, and everything seemed to come easy. Now that she's 9, she's evening out more with her peers athletically, although maybe still ahead with sports that involve high levels of body awareness, like gymnastics and horseback riding. My gifted but also special needs DS was a 2 for gross motor and a three fine motor (still is a 3, although with lots of OT he's somewhat in a low-normal range now). Despite not being the best socially, he's great at team sports and uses strategy well. Our most ahead physically is our not academically gifted DS who was playing tennis and knitting at age five but didn't know his letters and had a severe expressive language delay. I haven't seen any particular correlation with physical skills and academic/intellectual giftedness in my kids or anyone else's.
looking back... dd was early on fine motor skills but late on gross motor skills....
however i feel it had everything to do with her 'mind' her personality... nothing about what her body was able to do.
dd showed walking readiness at 10 months, but refused to walk till almost 16 months. she is almost 9 now and still cant ride a bike (well a lot could be coz she rides the tandem a lot and hasnt really spent much time on a bike). i can list a bunch of stuff.
and here's the reason why. first dd is a perfectionist. two she is extrememly competitive. she came wired this way. i think because of these two characteristics she has been v. v. tenacious.
she is the kind who wont try it unless she knows she can do it. and then she will do them and take off and surpass the other kids. she started walking on day one, by day 2 she had figured out not to crawl anymore in spaces she wasnt sure she could walk to and by day 3 she was running. at the playground no one could tell this child had just started walking. on the very first day of her walk she walked 2 miles with lots of stops and explorations and playing in the park.
i had to give away her tricycle coz she refused to sit on it and then suddenly at 3 when her friend came to visit on her tricycle, dd sat on it and rode it all around the block - her first time.
she has done this quite often with many things including reading and puzzles. she takes time to do the first steps and then bounds thru the other steps. and is done with things. if she gets it she does not want to revisit it again, the reason why toys never worked for her. she hates, hates, hates repeatition. with anything.
her personal preference is gross motor skills - not fine. with paintings she has always and to this day prefers large shoulder movement, not short wrist movement. so her art pieces are large - not tiny.
by the time she was 3 i learnt not to freak out about milestones. because i discovered she did her stuff on her own time.
oh and btw she learnt to dance before seh crawled or walked. she'd pull herself up to start the CD player and bob her butt and do the whole travolta grease arm dancing. this was around 6 to 7 months old when seh started sliding across the floor rather than crawling which she did almost at 9 months.
Is there a correlation between physical milestones and academic giftedness?
Is there a correlation between physical milestones and academic giftedness?
Not that I'm aware of. I've heard all kinds of hypotheses about various things that may be related to intellectual giftedness from early dentition to early development of speech. Some of them seem to be well accepted as related (such as early well developed speech) while others probably aren't (like getting teeth early). I've actually never seen any experts hypothesizing that early gross motor skills are related to intelligence.
There was an old study by Tremain where he concluded that intellectually gifted children were generally strong physically as well but that's the only time I've ever really heard that correlation.
Is there a correlation between physical milestones and academic giftedness?
Is there a correlation between physical milestones and academic giftedness?
I had to look hard to find any mention of a possible correlation. From my reading it looks like there may be a weak association, though one that is mostly evident across populations rather than individuals. (In other words, when comparing gifted and non-gifted groups within-group variability is greater than between-group variability.) I don't think it's surprising that there is some minimal correlation, as I don't think developmental tasks are ever purely "gross motor" or "language" in nature ... there's almost always a contribution from intellectual facets like temperament, focus, alertness, memory and so on.
Miranda
There was an old study by Tremain where he concluded that intellectually gifted children were generally strong physically as well but that's the only time I've ever really heard that correlation.
That research is questionable at best. The children were identified by teachers for testing. The sample was also almost entirely white and middle class, and the study was conducted by a eugenecist. If teachers were identifying the gifted kids in California in the '30s, odds are they leaned in certain directions.
That research is questionable at best. The children were identified by teachers for testing. The sample was also almost entirely white and middle class, and the study was conducted by a eugenecist. If teachers were identifying the gifted kids in California in the '30s, odds are they leaned in certain directions.
I totally agree. It's just the only time I've really seen a correlation in print.
well depends on what the definition of gifted one is using here too.
i think we automatically equate gifted with academically gifted. not social or physical or even all round gifted.
well depends on what the definition of gifted one is using here too.
i think we automatically equate gifted with academically gifted. not social or physical or even all round gifted.
I don't think in terms of academic giftedness. I don't view giftedness as academic performance; that is more of an achievement thing to me and may or may not be as a result of high ability. I tend to use the terms intellectually gifted which is probably semantics at best ;) ! What would all around gifted be or is that just another way of saying intellectually gifted or high composite ability vs. high ability is a specific domain (like good verbal skills but no other area in which one stands out)?
not sure i understand what high composite ability is. an all rounder that i am trying to describe?
well i was actually thinking of an adult - x when i said that. he was intellectually ahead, won a sports scholarship to college (which he refused), and is a singer, songwriter, as well as a multiple musical instrument player. he picked up tennis at 27 and by 28 was winning statewide championship. self taught himself painting at 35 without ever taking a class and got well known in the scene due to his work (which everyone admired but few refused to buy due to the dark nature).
i think my definition was more like stands out in almost all areas as opposed to one.
x suits the picture perfect defintion of 'all that he touches turns into gold'. whatever he shows interest in he masters. which could be science or english, a sports or carpentry.
well depends on what the definition of gifted one is using here too.
i think we automatically equate gifted with academically gifted. not social or physical or even all round gifted.
The thread title says academically gifted.
The type of individual you go on to describe is pretty rare. It's rare to be globally gifted (in terms of intellectual potential on IQ tests), and it's also rare to be multiply talented, with or without gifted IQ.
Whether or not there is a correlation in the general population, I believe that my particular DD's early gross and fine motor skill development is related to the way her brain processes things, and the way her brain processes information is also connected to her being academically gifted. She is a very fast learner. When she was 5 months old, based on someone's safety advice related to co-sleeping, I showed my daughter how to get off of our bed by scooting her body to edge and lowering her legs down. I did that 2 mornings in a row, and then on the 3rd day, she scooted herself out of our bed and crawled into the kitchen on her own, and she's been on the go ever since. I feel like I see the same thing happening with academic subjects. She only needs to review a spelling list once to know and retain the words. She seems to grasp math concepts right away as well.
I also believe that the way my DD developed is connected to her experience with her environment. She has sensory issues, and gets overwhelmed easily by touch, texture, and sound. I think her ability to move around early gave her more control. She cut out the middleman, not having to ask for toys and such, since she could just go get what she wanted, and easily get away from things that bothered her. Control has always seemed important to her. I noticed on the playground that she seemed to prefer playing on things that she controlled, strongly prefering a slide or climbing structure to being pushed on a swing.
Anyway, those are just my observations of my one child.
I could see some of my dd12's fine motor skills having a correlation with intelligence. For instance, the shape sorter required not only good small motor skills to fit complex shapes into the holes, but also the mental capacity to turn a six sided sorter around to find the right holes and see that the three different types of stars differed from one another.
My highly gifted child has always been way ahead in physical milestones.
My oldest is pretty average academically and hit milestones at about the normal time. However as he's gotten older, he has become a fairly talented athlete.
My youngest is just about 1 and has hit physical milestones early, but not as early (walked at 10 mos. as opposed to 8.5, etc) and is not nearly as verbal as her gifted brother at her age. Time will tell if she's gifted-- she seems pretty normal to me now though.
All 3 as babies were ahead on physical gross motor milestones. DD1 by the time she reached kindergarten had some definite fine motor delays. The other two have been a bit ahead on fine motor. DD3 has been ahead of her age competent in the water since she was about 2. She would be further along, and probably completely independent in the water by now (she's 5.5 years) if I had paid for private swim lessons. The group lessons available here would place her in with kids that are 2nd or 3rd grade. It has caused some bullying issues, so we have backed off the lessons until she is a little older. I am finding that she is making about the same amount of improvement with playing at the pool this summer with me as she would in classes. DD2 (7.5) is a talented swimmer. She is definitely very strong and very physically competent (although, it seems clear to me that she is not gifted). She is also the only one that has been identified as gifted. I believe that DD3 will be identified by the schools when she starts. DD1 has ADD and some other learning disabilities that I imagine will prevent her from being identified, but believe her to be gifted none-the-less. Just less tangibly so. All 3 DDs are dancers. DD3 seems to be the most naturally coordinated in that way. DD1, who, while she loves dance and is really beautiful to see move if she is just dancing on her own, is less capable of following a set, choreographed routine is a pretty good runner. She enjoys running (I think for the same reasons Linda On The Move's daughter loves swimming). It is easy, repetitive, non-competitive and she is able to just get in her own head and tune the world out for a while.
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