Could my two year old possibly be gifted or is it too early to tell?

[Brennaplus3]

I have a two year old daughter that has been amazing me ever since she started talking at five months old. I've always shrugged it off thinking that I'm just being an overly enthusiastic mom, but as time passes I just wonder more and more about this. 

 

Before she turned one she already had an amazing vocabulary speaking in full sentences. She also sang the entire alphabet without mistakes and could also sing twinkle twinkle little star very clearly without missing a word by eleven months. When she was about sixteen months I showed her the word cat without thinking too much of it, to my surprise she just spelled the word cat. Being amazed I showed her  flash cards with the alphabet just to see if she could really recognize the letters and to my surprise she knew almost all of the letters.  I had never sat down and taught her any of it.  She also knew her shapes including trapezoid and crescent before one years old (this part I did teach her) and when we would leave the house she would go around pointing out shapes she knew from objects in the street and stores. 

 

Now at 26 months she knows all the sounds of the alphabet. If I call out words such as pink, mom, ball, etc., and ask her which  letters they start with, she'll tell me.  She also knows all sorts of things that I never taught  her. She just picks things up from her surroundings, TV and such.  Of course every time she demonstrates  a new ability I try and reinforce it and I also read to her tons. She begs to be read to constantly. Now at two, her vocabulary is truly amazing and the way she expresses herself.  Also, the questions she asks have me constantly wondering "how can she even put these thoughts together?".  At this point it won't surprise me at all if she starts reading before the age of three.

 

Now, i have heard that you can't tell much if kids are gifted until they are older about 6-7 and that it might be just too early to tell in her case, but what do you think? Am i just an overly enthusiastic mom or are these signs that she might be gifted? 

 

 

 

 

[whatsnextmom]

I'd say she has signs based on what you said and my experience as a preschool teacher but I'm not qualified to tell you your child is gifted. Sounds like you are doing a good job following her lead, reading to her... keep enjoying her.

The reading thing is really child specific. My eldest figured out all the letters and their sounds before 2, was writing words and sentences phonetically by 3 but didn't sit down and read a book until after turning 5. She was downing 5th grade chapter books within weeks of reading her first early reader. My DS knew all his letters after one sitting at the library letter puzzle at 12 months. He started picking out sight words at before 2. Could read any word, even scientific ones at 4. Didn't become what I consider fully fluent until after turning 7. At 11, he's reading at adult levels in both English and Spanish. I'm just sharing this to show that you can't predict when your child will start reading. There are physical factors to consider like the fact most babies are born farsighted and not grow into their 20/20 vision until about 6 ot 7 (around the time most kids can read.) Your child could start reading fluently at 3.... both DH and myself were. She could stay in the early stages and then take off like a rocket at an older age.

[skark7]

Question for whatsnextmom... are your children in public schools? I have a possibly gifted 3 year old and he doesn't seem to fit into any preschool or montessori environment because he is advanced compared with any of his peers and the teachers are simply unable to teach him at his pace. Not sure if it is lack of knowledge or lack of experience with faster paced children.

Brennaplus3, I am in the same boat and my son will turn 3 end of January. He can spell, read sentences, write in sentences with small words, sings complex songs, etc. He seems more developed in language and reading skills than math or art. I have to find ways to constantly keep him engaged or he asks me "now what, mamma?" or "what next". :))

Whatsnextmom.... your name is what my son always asks and am wondering if that is why you chose it too...? Do your kids love the "whats next mom" question too? :)

[joensally]

Play based preschool may be a good approach, where academic skills aren't as relevant.  You may want to search this forum for preschool threads as it's been discussed a number of times and there's some good info in the history.

As for the what nexts, I see self-regulation and self-entertaining skills as being highly valuable, and see building those skills as goals in themselves.

[skark7]

Originally Posted by joensally 

Play based preschool may be a good approach, where academic skills aren't as relevant.  You may want to search this forum for preschool threads as it's been discussed a number of times and there's some good info in the history.

Thank you. I will do that.

[Mizelenius]

Yes, she absolutely sounds gifted.  I look at it this way . . .while not every child who is gifted will read/speak early, the children who do tend to be gifted.

Enjoy her!

skark, I agree so much with the play-based preschool!  If only we could find that for even the "grades"!

[elefante]

I definitely agree with the play-based preschool route.

Also, as a "gifted child" myself [and unfortunately a "normal" adult ] I will also say that in my own experiences, I had a tough time in school finding a balance between being taken advantage of [in Kinder the teacher had me do all the storytimes for the whole year while she took a break.. this made me not like reading for a while, but I was only 4 and didn't know I was being taken advantage of], and being ostracized by other children after being put in the spotlight by the adults around me. A play based environment would be great for your daughter. Please just talk to the adults around her about the difference between encouraging her and pressuring her to perform. You know what I mean?