Is my 17 month old gifted? Tell me what you think.

[ACuriousMom]

I'm the first time parent of a 17 month old. I am wondering if you could give me some advice? I'm questioning whether my daughter could be gifted. I'm finding it hard to talk about with friends who are moms. I'd really just like to know whether I should be doing something different with her or providing her with more opportunities than she currently has.

She LOVES books. And has since she was a tiny, tiny baby. She begs to be read to and many times, when a book ends, she "fusses" and either flips it back to the beginning for me to read it again or gives me another to read. She has sat through as many as 15 books read to her in a row. Often, she would rather sit and "read" than play with toys.

She knows her entire alphabet. She can't sing it, but she can name each letter when asked.

She recognizes and names "2" and "5." And she seems to understand when there are two of something.

She recognizes logos.

She seems to hear the name of something once, then uses the world weeks later. She will be 18 months old at the end of February and her spoken vocabulary is just over 225 words that we can count.

She is using short phrases/sentences such as "Mommy, I see you" and "Bless you, Daddy" after a sneeze.

She seems to be picking up the concept of colors. She seems to know purple and yellow. She also correctly names the shapes heart and star.

Her attention span seems to be longer than normal. She can sit through countless books and has favorite TV shows. (She begs to watch Caillou. We have no idea what it is about the show that she likes.)

She does NOT seem to have any special advanced ability with shape sorters or puzzles. She can put shapes through shape sorter holes, but it takes her a good while and she gets frustrated. The same goes for puzzles. She also did not walk exceptionally early – just before her first birthday.

That's all I can think of. I'm interested in ANYTHING you guys can tell me.

Thank you.

[ollyoxenfree]

She sounds like a lovely child who is developing beautifully. At this point, no one can say whether she's gifted. It's just too early. 

You'll find quite a few old threads discussing early vs. late speech, early reading and math skills and other developmental milestones. You may find them interesting reading to see what others have experienced. Generally, you'll find quite a wide variation of experience, particularly with language skills. 

It sounds like you are doing lots of great things with her. My only suggestion is that you continue to give her a variety of experiences. While she may prefer her books, playing with toys is the "work" of children and important for healthy cognitive development.  You'll find quite a few old threads on this subject too. 

Oh, and welcome!! 

[pickle18]

It's hard to say, but I would trust your gut.  Giftedness is even more than just intellectual advancement, it's a whole different way of being wired, but it can look so different from one kid to the next.  I've noticed there are lots of moms on this board with similar milestones, and others whose children developed normally or were delayed.

I just mostly wanted to pop in and second exposing her to all kinds of environments, open-ended toys, etc.  Gifted kids will lead the way - life itself is an enriching environment, they don't need special instruction or pushing, look what she's learned already. 

Pretend play took off for my son around that age.  And I'm not sure he's gifted, though a number of things point me that way (very similar to your child in terms of milestones).  But I MOSTLY wanted to say - he is OBSESSED with Caillou, too.  Which is kind of disheartening in terms of limiting screen time, but he adores it.  DH noticed he picks up a ton of social cues and phrasing from that show, though, so maybe that's it?

[ACuriousMom]

Thank you for your response, Pickle18. So far, all she "pretends" is pretend sleeping. She loves to lay down on her favorite blanket and say "shhhhhhhh." She doesn't close her eyes, she grins up at us to make sure we are watching. It's the biggest game to her.

I have no idea what it is about Caillou... :)