[mom2reenie]

A discussion with my sister and some reading I've done made me wonder what the general thought on MDC is and then more specific questions of your experience. I don't want to really discuss the reasons behind the first answers, just curious what people really think (my sister said when she was teaching, she had many parents tell her they thought their child was gifted because they talked/walked or read early). I've also read that there are more parents who feel their child is gifted, even though their child does not test gifted.

I know everyone views/defines giftedness differently and I don't think there is one single defination, but was hoping to see if there is a general agreement of what giftedness actually is.

Are all early talkers (saying more than 5 words before age 1) gifted?

Can late talkers (talking after 18 months) be gifted?

Are all early walkers (walking before 10 months) gifted?

Can late walkers (walking after 15 months) be gifted?

Are all early readers (before age 4--sounding out words) gifted?

Can average or late readers (reading after age 4) be gifted?

Can a child be gifted, but not be able to communicate the knowledge to let others know he/she is gifted?

Can a child be great at academics (able to take a test well or retain knowledge) and not be gifted?

Is there one or two characteristics that separates an average child or an advanced child from a gifted child or is it not as simple as just saying "because my child is x and y they are gifted?"

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Do you believe your child is gifted in a wide variety of subjects/areas of life or just gifted in one or two areas?

At what age did you first believe your child was gifted and why?

As your child got older and was around more peers, do you still think they are gifted or just more advanced in an area than their peers.

Do you view their peers as gifted if the peers excel more in an area than your child?

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Need to go get ready for the day, but will try to come back and put my answers when the kids are napping.

 

[mom2ponygirl]

I'll put my message in a different color below:

Quote:

Originally Posted by mom2reenie <snip>I've also read that there are more parents who feel their child is gifted, even though their child does not test gifted. I know everyone views/defines giftedness differently and I don't think there is one single defination, but was hoping to see if there is a general agreement of what giftedness actually is. Are all early talkers (saying more than 5 words before age 1) gifted? I'd say that many are, but wouldn't use that to form a final conclusion. Can late talkers (talking after 18 months) be gifted? Yes, I didn't talk or walk until nearly 2, but was considered quite gifted in school - extremely high ACT scores, graduate degree, fluent reader before 5, etc. Are all early walkers (walking before 10 months) gifted? Don't know, although I've met several obviously gifted kids (many tested, some not) who fit this. Can late walkers (walking after 15 months) be gifted? Yep, my daughter walked independently after 15 months and she tests profoundly gifted. Are all early readers (before age 4--sounding out words) gifted? I think almost certainly to some level. Can average or late readers (reading after age 4) be gifted? Absolutely! I've met several highly gifted kids (all boys but that's a coincidence) who read very late. Two were not reading fluently until 8 1/2 or 9, one did not read well until 13 (he is highly gifted but also has severe learning disabilities). They all have some issues with dyslexia. Can a child be gifted, but not be able to communicate the knowledge to let others know he/she is gifted? Well, I think they may not be able to communicate their knowledge in many situations and still be gifted. They had to communicate it someone, somehow though! Can a child be great at academics (able to take a test well or retain knowledge) and not be gifted? I don't think so. Is there one or two characteristics that separates an average child or an advanced child from a gifted child or is it not as simple as just saying "because my child is x and y they are gifted?" I think it is a spectrum and therefore very hard to draw an exact line. ------- Do you believe your child is gifted in a wide variety of subjects/areas of life or just gifted in one or two areas? Yes, she is pretty globally gifted. I've met kids that were much more asynchronous though. At what age did you first believe your child was gifted and why? People I barely knew said she was different from the time she was a baby. When I got shocked statements from near strangers about how 2 year olds don't talk like that and she began reading, I started exploring the concept more. As your child got older and was around more peers, do you still think they are gifted or just more advanced in an area than their peers. Sometimes I would think she is just a bit more advanced than some of her peers. However, I realize that many of her peers are also quite gifted. I also tend to forget that she is so accelerated. I meet kids from one of her classes at school and they seem to operate on a similar level. Then I remember my dd is 11 and most of her classmates are 14 to 16. In these classes she is generally not the top student, but one of the top 3 or 4. So, she sometimes seems like just a somewhat advanced good student. Then I remember the age difference, duh. Do you view their peers as gifted if the peers excel more in an area than your child? I consider them gifted even when they don't, but definitely when they do. ----

 

[RiverTam]

Are all early talkers (saying more than 5 words before age 1) gifted?

Often, but not always.

Can late talkers (talking after 18 months) be gifted?

Yes.

Are all early walkers (walking before 10 months) gifted?

No

Can late walkers (walking after 15 months) be gifted?

Yes

Are all early readers (before age 4--sounding out words) gifted?

No. Sometimes they have hyperlexia. They have better than average decoding skills, but poor understanding. It can be a symptom of an autism spectrum disorder.

Can average or late readers (reading after age 4) be gifted?

Yes. The majority of gifted kids are not early readers.

Can a child be gifted, but not be able to communicate the knowledge to let others know he/she is gifted?

My oldest has a language based learning disability and is gifted. (This has be tested and confirmed by a psychologist, a speech therapist and a pediatric neurologist, in addition to the observations of our pediatrician.) He has problems verbally expressing what he knows. On the other hand, despite this he consistently demonstrated exceptional logic skills and visual spatial skills from a very early age.

Can a child be great at academics (able to take a test well or retain knowledge) and not be gifted?

Sure, I guess. Giftedness is more than just "good at school." If a person is "good at school," but lacks the other gifted traits, he/she isn't gifted. I haven't met many (any?) people who are great at school and don't have the other traits, though.

Is there one or two characteristics that separates an average child or an advanced child from a gifted child or is it not as simple as just saying "because my child is x and y they are gifted?"

There are other traits besides smart. Here's a teacher checklist from the St. Louis Council for the Gifted: http://www.giftedresourcecouncil.org...Evaluation.pdf

Here's another checklist: http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/Wha...d/characgt.htm

Hoagies has more on identification if you want to read more.

Do you believe your child is gifted in a wide variety of subjects/areas of life or just gifted in one or two areas?

Despite the disability, my oldest has very strong gifts in visual spatial areas and verbal areas (as long as its written, not spoken). That said, he doesn't excel in music or physical education or interpersonal skills and probably never will.

My youngest seems to be gifted across all areas.

At what age did you first believe your child was gifted and why?

Most people started commenting on how alert my kids were before they were 4 months old. Our daycare center identified them both as gifted when they were each around 2. It mostly had to do with their reasoning skills.

As your child got older and was around more peers, do you still think they are gifted or just more advanced in an area than their peers.

Giftedness isn't just an "advanced skill set." It is caused by a differences in neurodevelopment. Gifted kids typically have a prefrontal cortex that matures later than "normal" kids. The current speculation on this is that this might allow them to learn broadly and deeply for a longer period of time, but can cause delays in the development of executive functioning and social regulation. That might be why people perceive gifted to be "young for their age" or to "lack common sense," at least until their neurodevelopment starts to catch up to normal kids. They do seem to catch up in executive functioning and social regulation by the time they're adults,

Do you view their peers as gifted if the peers excel more in an area than your child?

There are other gifted kids in our school. Some of them excel in things that my child does not excel at. There are "normal" kids at my school, some of whom excel at things that my child does not.

 

[itsmyturn]

I'll skip some of the first questions because during the baby/toddler years, I never noticed that my PG DD was any different. She did do most things a little on the early side but nothing that made me think that she more advanced than the other kids in my circle.

Can late talkers (talking after 18 months) be gifted?
of course! Many of the smartest people in history were late talkers

Are all early readers (before age 4--sounding out words) gifted? No, I think most 3-4 years can be taught to read if one is willing to devote the time, patience, and repetition. However, If one is reading without encouragement or instruction then yes.

Can average or late readers (reading after age 4) be gifted?
I think the sign of a gifted reader is not the age when they begin to read, but the pace in which their reading grows. Most gifted readers jump multiple grade levels in months once they start reading where as an average early reader will progress at the same pace.

Can a child be gifted, but not be able to communicate the knowledge to let others know he/she is gifted? Yes

Can a child be great at academics (able to take a test well or retain knowledge) and not be gifted? Yes, school is designed to meet the needs of the average child, therefore above average can be "great" in school.

Is there one or two characteristics that separates an average child or an advanced child from a gifted child or is it not as simple as just saying "because my child is x and y they are gifted?"
I think that above average children have many of the same characteristics and abilities as the moderately gifted. I think that if you step up to the highly/profoundly gifted range if you are likely to see more notable differences.
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Do you believe your child is gifted in a wide variety of subjects/areas of life or just gifted in one or two areas?
Variety of subjects.... not in sports or art LOL

At what age did you first believe your child was gifted and why?
Age 5, 2weeks into K, Her teacher told me she was reading over 2nd grade level and I had no idea that she could even read. Her teacher introduced me to the G word and suggested testing

As your child got older and was around more peers, do you still think they are gifted or just more advanced in an area than their peers.
Yes, it shows up more, now at age 7, than it did when she was younger. The gap between her and average seems to get bigger every year.

Do you view their peers as gifted if the peers excel more in an area than your child?
The only peers I have met who match or exceed her, academically, are in her Gifted class. If I met another 7yo who was into Algebra, negative #'s, and long division, I would make the assumption that the was child was gifted.

 

[ChristaN]

Are all early talkers (saying more than 5 words before age 1) gifted?
I don't, personally, think that saying more than 5 words before age one indicates significantly early talking. It is above typical, but not extremely outside of the range of typical. Both of our girls were early talkers and dd#2 was a quite early talker -- 2 word phrases by 5.5 months and 50+ words by her first bd. She is somewhat gifted, but may be only on the low end of MG (although one IQ test did put her near PG, others have not and she doesn't appear more than MG at age 9).

Can late talkers (talking after 18 months) be gifted?
Yes, certainly
Are all early walkers (walking before 10 months) gifted?
I haven't seen any research that shows any significant correlation btwn early gross motor skills and intellectual giftedness. Anecdotally, of the few children whom I have known who were early walkers like this, none of them are intellectually gifted.
Can late walkers (walking after 15 months) be gifted?
In our experience, yes. Like one of the pps, our dd#1 walked at 15.5 months and she is HG at least.
Are all early readers (before age 4--sounding out words) gifted?
I don't know on this one. I would guess that it depends on whether it was self-taught or child-led learning to read or whether the parent spent a bunch of time with Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons or Hooked on Phonics teaching the child to read.
Can average or late readers (reading after age 4) be gifted?
Sure.
Can a child be gifted, but not be able to communicate the knowledge to let others know he/she is gifted?
Again, I'd go with yes. Not all gifted kids are obvious & the more extraverted ones may care more about fitting in than showing off their differences.
Can a child be great at academics (able to take a test well or retain knowledge) and not be gifted?
Yes, absolutely. High achiever and gifted are not the same thing although a child can be both.
Is there one or two characteristics that separates an average child or an advanced child from a gifted child or is it not as simple as just saying "because my child is x and y they are gifted?"
I like this list.
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Do you believe your child is gifted in a wide variety of subjects/areas of life or just gifted in one or two areas?
In terms of academic achievement, gifted kids like all others are going to have areas where they are stronger and areas where they have to work harder, but to me gifted is not about being really good at specific subjects. It is about being wired differently and experiencing the world differently as a result. So, I'd say no -- a child isn't gifted in one area, his brain is wired differently so he is gifted as a whole being albeit academically maybe more able in some areas.
At what age did you first believe your child was gifted and why?
With dd#1 we started to suspect giftedness was part of the problem with her when she was 6.5 and having a terrible time in school. We thought that she was just an avg student and that the teacher shouldn't be expecting so much of her b/c she was miserable & working really slowly. I had someone suggest to me that she was gifted when we removed her from school to hs the rest of the year b/c she was multiple years ahead in terms of academics. In hindsight, I am a bozo and should have realized that all of the things that made dd so different from the time she was a baby were likely related to her being gifted.
As your child got older and was around more peers, do you still think they are gifted or just more advanced in an area than their peers.
Dd#1 is clearly gifted still. She is 11 now & started 7th grade this year before her 11th bd. She is still testing in the 99th percentile on many measures, did better than the avg hs senior on the SAT recently, and appears very advanced academically across the board. Achievement aside, she is still the same person she was at age 1 and that person is wired differently from the avg person. She still stands out as different, but in a good way.
Do you view their peers as gifted if the peers excel more in an area than your child?
I'm not really making any judgements about dds' peers. It really doesn't impact me or my girls if their peers are gifted or not & I really don't know if their peers are excelling or not -- other than to know who is in the accelerated or GT classes. Some of them are probably more able than my dds and some are probably less able. As long as my kids are getting their needs met, I don't get too involved in that. With dd#2, who is more of a kid who attempts to fit in at all costs, I worry a bit more about her peers b/c she will morph to fit in with whomever she is around and having a large group of peers who are very different from her is not good in terms of her being herself and accepting herself.

 

[no5no5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mom2reenie Are all early talkers (saying more than 5 words before age 1) gifted?

No. I think kids who are extraordinarily early talkers are probably all gifted, but I'd use a very strict definition.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mom2reenie Can late talkers (talking after 18 months) be gifted?

Of course.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mom2reenie Are all early walkers (walking before 10 months) gifted?

No.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mom2reenie Can late walkers (walking after 15 months) be gifted?

Of course.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mom2reenie Are all early readers (before age 4--sounding out words) gifted?

No. Extraordinarily early readers who do not have hyperlexia and who were self-taught are very likely to be gifted.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mom2reenie Can average or late readers (reading after age 4) be gifted?

Of course.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mom2reenie Can a child be gifted, but not be able to communicate the knowledge to let others know he/she is gifted?

Yes, but this would speak to dual exceptionality. My MIL was told by my (2E) DH's teachers that he was "retarded."

Quote:

Originally Posted by mom2reenie Can a child be great at academics (able to take a test well or retain knowledge) and not be gifted?

Of course. But of course that depends on your definition of "great" and also on the amount of work involved.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mom2reenie Is there one or two characteristics that separates an average child or an advanced child from a gifted child or is it not as simple as just saying "because my child is x and y they are gifted?"

I think if you can point to any skill that is years beyond the norm and that has been achieved without extraordinary effort, you are looking at a gifted child. Barring that, it is not simple.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mom2reenie Do you believe your child is gifted in a wide variety of subjects/areas of life or just gifted in one or two areas?

I think she is probably globally gifted, and highly gifted+ verbally. I could be wrong.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mom2reenie At what age did you first believe your child was gifted and why?

Well, DH & I are both HG+, so we knew that it was likely. She had signs from infancy, but I didn't start really thinking about it until she started reading at 2.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mom2reenie As your child got older and was around more peers, do you still think they are gifted or just more advanced in an area than their peers.

I still think she's gifted.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mom2reenie Do you view their peers as gifted if the peers excel more in an area than your child?

I think that all of her friends are likely to be gifted. But we've yet to meet a child who is less than a year older than her who has demonstrated a more-advanced skill than her (with the exception of a boy who can shoot hoops and run faster). I do try not to compare her to her friends and vice versa. All kids are different.

 

[loraxc]

Are all early talkers (saying more than 5 words before age 1) gifted?

More than 5 words before 1 strikes me as a low bar for "early talker." More than 50 words before 1, hundreds before 18 months...I'm likely to suspect giftedness.

I think there is research connecting very early talking with giftedness fairly strongly.

Can late talkers (talking after 18 months) be gifted?

Yes, definitely. I know a child who had one word at 18 months who has tested as very gifted.

Are all early walkers (walking before 10 months) gifted?

I doubt it, but I think sometimes this is an indicator.

Can late walkers (walking after 15 months) be gifted?
Definitely.

Are all early readers (before age 4--sounding out words) gifted?

Untaught and reading well before 5 strikes me as gifted territory.

Can average or late readers (reading after age 4) be gifted?

Sure.

Can a child be gifted, but not be able to communicate the knowledge to let others know he/she is gifted?

Yes, I think so.

Can a child be great at academics (able to take a test well or retain knowledge) and not be gifted?

Hmm. Define "great." But this is a tricky one for me. Depends on how intensely the child is working and being taught, I guess.

Is there one or two characteristics that separates an average child or an advanced child from a gifted child or is it not as simple as just saying "because my child is x and y they are gifted?"

I think it's complicated.

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Do you believe your child is gifted in a wide variety of subjects/areas of life or just gifted in one or two areas?

A wide variety, though she has some areas of relative weakness.

At what age did you first believe your child was gifted and why?

When she knew the entire alphabet and was speaking in long sentences at around 14 months, we started to wonder.

With DS...I'm not sure yet if he's gifted or bright, but he also has been a very early talker and learned the alphabet before 18 months.

As your child got older and was around more peers, do you still think they are gifted or just more advanced in an area than their peers.

I still think she is gifted.

Do you view their peers as gifted if the peers excel more in an area than your child?

Depends on the area. I would consider any K child reading at a higher level than DD to be gifted, for instance, but the hardest puzzle she can do without help is probably 200 pieces, which I don't consider gifted level at K age.

(I'm not sure what you are getting at with this question, TBH.)

 

[loraxc]

BTW, OP, I would not consider "reading at age 4 or later" to be "average or late."

Reading 4yos are not common by any means, and I'd consider a fluently reading 4yo who has not been very extensively instructed to be gifted.

"Average" is starting to read in K or early 1st. I don't think we're in "late" territory till later in gr 1, or gr 2.

 

[quaz]

I know everyone views/defines giftedness differently and I don't think there is one single defination, but was hoping to see if there is a general agreement of what giftedness actually is.

Are all early talkers (saying more than 5 words before age 1) gifted? Not necessarily. A child that is talking early, though, may be, but only when other factors are looked at.

Can late talkers (talking after 18 months) be gifted? Of course!!

Are all early walkers (walking before 10 months) gifted? Not necessarily. A child that is walking early may be, but only when other factors are looked at.

Can late walkers (walking after 15 months) be gifted? Of course!!

Are all early readers (before age 4--sounding out words) gifted? Sounding out individual words is not necessarily what I would call reading. More than that, not all kids read by sounding out words. I do not believe in the word, 'all', because there are exceptions. If a child, though, is reading early, and hasn't been 'taught' by a parent... the chance of that child being gifted I believe really goes up. My dd2 began reading at the age of 3. She brought me 9 Bob books, announced she could read, and then read me the books. When looking at an early reader, the question is whether that child has been taught or not. While there are always exceptions, if a child is reading at 2 or 3 without the parent overtly teaching that child, then I would speculate there is a good chance that child is gifted. From what I recall, gifted literature supports this. Other factors need to be looked at, though, and one can't say for definite that child is gifted or say 'all'.

Can average or late readers (reading after age 4) be gifted? Of course!! I taught my daughter to read at the age of 4 1/2. She is in 1rst grade, and reading at a 5th+ grade level, and is identified gifted. She still struggles to sound out words, though.

Can a child be gifted, but not be able to communicate the knowledge to let others know he/she is gifted? Sure.

Can a child be great at academics (able to take a test well or retain knowledge) and not be gifted? Academics is not what being gifted is about. There is a difference between gifted and smart.

Is there one or two characteristics that separates an average child or an advanced child from a gifted child or is it not as simple as just saying "because my child is x and y they are gifted?" All gifted kids are different, but there are some characteristics that can be common. It does not mean, though, that all gifted kids have those characteristics.

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Do you believe your child is gifted in a wide variety of subjects/areas of life or just gifted in one or two areas? Giftedness can be either. For my kids, though, they are gifted in a number of areas.

At what age did you first believe your child was gifted and why? With both my girls it was evident by the time they turned 1. With ds, he is 3, and I still do not know. Why?
Giftedness runs in our family. Dh and I are gifted. That gives a big waring bell to watch out for out.
DD2- It was apparent that we had to watch what we said around her by the time she was 6m, because she understood. One of her first words was chapstick. She began scribbling before a year. Before a year, she was imitative pretending. She was sitting, crawling, standing by 5m. She could follow multi-step direction before a year. The next year only confirmed it... true pretend by 15 months, first sentence at 15, was able to construct pyramids, triangles, cubes, squares out of magnetic construction items at 18m. (under supervision)
DD- At 4months, she was able to purposefully keep herself awake if I was awake to insure she wouldn't miss out. If I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep, she would be sleeping in 60 seconds. She caught onto my trick within a week. That seems to be a fairly advanced skill for someone that is just 4 months of age. She could follow multi-step directions before a year. It was apparent with her, how much of her world she was absorbing. I had many people comment on this when I was out with her, compared to any of my other kids.

As your child got older and was around more peers, do you still think they are gifted or just more advanced in an area than their peers.
Both the girls are gifted, and both are in gifted classrooms. It isn't a question of being advanced, but of being gifted.

Do you view their peers as gifted if the peers excel more in an area than your child?

My K student can decode at a 4th grade level. Her comprehension is more at a 3rd grade level. From an Aleks standpoint, she is about 1/3 of the way through 3rd grade math.
So, yes, if a K student was reading at a 5th grade level, or doing 4th grade math, I would suspect that child to be gifted.

If a 1rst grade was reading at a 6th grade level (my daughter is about 5th grade), or was doing 4th grade math, then yes, I would also suspect that child to be gifted.

Now, my 7 year old just learned to ride her bike this weekend. I haven't gone around thinking that everyone else that is better at this skill is gifted in bike riding.

I think a certain amount of common sense has to be used when comparing apples and oranges.
Tammy

 

[itsmyturn]

Quote:

Now, my 7 year old just learned to ride her bike this weekend.

My DD7.5 just learned also; 2 days later my DS3 insisted on doing it too

 

[joensally]

I'll ditto previous posters, and the literature documents much of this.

My personal leaning is to be more reticent about pinning gifted labels on kids prior to preschool age, or later. I think it can change the dynamic and kids are just so variable in those early years. There's also evidence of as much as a 30 point swing in IQ over the childhood years, so I think it's possible for a kid to be gifted per IQ score at one age and not at another.

That said, there are kids who are clear outliers, and demonstrate it very early on. I think there's the notion of gifted as "really smart" or advanced, and then the statistical outliers who are clearly out of norm.

Quote:

Do you believe your child is gifted in a wide variety of subjects/areas of life or just gifted in one or two areas? At what age did you first believe your child was gifted and why? As your child got older and was around more peers, do you still think they are gifted or just more advanced in an area than their peers. Do you view their peers as gifted if the peers excel more in an area than your child?

My children are gifted across areas. I suspected with DD as an infant due to a variety of way out of norm things along with family history. But I wasn't confident of it until she started school - I figured she was advanced, but wasn't sure about gifted. I was sure DS wasn't gifted until an EI specialist pointed it out to me when he was around 3-3.5. I read more and realized that he likely was. He was tested at 5 and it was confirmed.

As to why I thought they were gifted, it relates to depth and breadth of knowledge, ability to synthesize information, out of norm interests and abilities.

My kids are 7 and 10 and it's clear when they're in class that they're gifted. Their classmates note it and they are always in the "top" group of everything. I notice it during playdates with the types of games the kids want to play, and that my children often end up the "resource" person and the leader.

DD has a number of gifted peers, many of whom excel beyond her in areas of interest/expertise. I don't really know how to answer your last question.

I feel no competition between my children and others. I'm not a Gardner (multiple intelligences) proponent particularly, but I do try to see people as whole entities with widely varying component parts. I see wisdom, social intelligence and various other abilities as important and valuable, and giftedness does not have primacy to my way of thinking.

In fact, I think giftedness is most problematic in the childhood years due to the age-normed group environments that dominate children's time, and that the "challenges" of giftedness are largely dealt with once we are out of age groupings (for most people, I know this varies).

 

[mom2reenie]

OP here.

Are all early talkers (saying more than 5 words before age 1) gifted?
No (sorry for just the 5 words...None of my 3 kids have said any words before age 1, so I was guessing at what an early talker would do--LOL).

Can late talkers (talking after 18 months) be gifted?
Yes

Are all early walkers (walking before 10 months) gifted?
No

Can late walkers (walking after 15 months) be gifted?
Yes

Are all early readers (before age 4--sounding out words) gifted?
No (again, based this on my experience. Most kindergarteners I know IRL are reading prior to Kindergarten, so figured age 4-5 was the average age for beginning reading)

Can average or late readers (reading after age 4) be gifted?
Yes

Can a child be gifted, but not be able to communicate the knowledge to let others know he/she is gifted?
Yes

Can a child be great at academics (able to take a test well or retain knowledge) and not be gifted?
Yes

Is there one or two characteristics that separates an average child or an advanced child from a gifted child or is it not as simple as just saying "because my child is x and y they are gifted?"
I don't think so, but it seemed that some people do--the reason for this post--LOL

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Do you believe your child is gifted in a wide variety of subjects/areas of life or just gifted in one or two areas?
She is academically advanced, I'm not sure if gifted is the right word. We tell her that she is good at telling others what she has learned and retaining that knowledge. Others have called her gifted. She is not artistcally, musically or atheletically talented, but still loves doing it all

At what age did you first believe your child was gifted and why?
I knew she was advanced when people started making comments on how she shouldn't be able to read (at age 3) and how she could learn about something and repeat it without having to really try. She picks up on new concepts super easily. I just figured she loved to learn, but by at 3 we started getting comments about her being gifted and we get comments by teachers and other adults I started researching and reading more about giftedness

As your child got older and was around more peers, do you still think they are gifted or just more advanced in an area than their peers.
I think she has more of an interest in learning than her peers. She would rather sit down and do math worksheets than play with toys. She would rather memorize information about presidents than watch a movie. Academically I know she's more advanced than her peers, but now I don't know if that makes her "gifted". Her teachers have stated that academically she is above her peers, but socially and emotionally she is age appropriate.

Do you view their peers as gifted if the peers excel more in an area than your child?
Many of her peers are more advanced in althetics, art, music, etc.... and she will comment on how they are talented in that sport.

Thanks for answering. It's very insightful and comforting to know that unlike I've found on some places that not everyone believes an early talker/reader=gifted.

 

[eilonwy]

Are all early talkers (saying more than 5 words before age 1) gifted?

I'd say that most 12 month old children have five words. They may be words which are only understood by family (or even by one parent/primary caregiver) but the overwhelming majority of 12 month old children I've encountered have five words-- easily. I wouldn't consider that to be "early talking". A child who speaks in complete, understandable [to strangers] sentences at 12 months is certainly an early talker, and I've yet to meet one who did not turn out to be gifted.

Can late talkers (talking after 18 months) be gifted?

Absolutely.

Are all early walkers (walking before 10 months) gifted?

I haven't seen any real correlation between the two. I have one early walker out of four gifted children. She's the only early walker I know personally, but while she is clearly gifted none of the other gifted children I know in person were early walkers.

Can late walkers (walking after 15 months) be gifted?

Again, I haven't seen much correlation between walking and giftedness.

Are all early readers (before age 4--sounding out words) gifted?

Early reading can be due to hyperlexia or (on rare occasion) to hyperactive parents. A child who is sounding out words before the age of four could fall into either of those two categories (I think-- hyperlexia might be defined as fluent reading before age four), so I'd vote for no. That said, a child who is self-taught (or who has demanded to be taught) and is reading fluently by four is probably gifted.

Can average or late readers (reading after age 4) be gifted?

Absolutely.

Can a child be gifted, but not be able to communicate the knowledge to let others know he/she is gifted?

Sure, that can happen in any number of ways. Often a child who is twice-exceptional will appear to be perfectly normal because they are able to compensate for the exceptionality with aspects of their giftedness.

Can a child be great at academics (able to take a test well or retain knowledge) and not be gifted?

Absolutely. Most school curricula are aimed at the top of the bottom third of students. An average child could do very well throughout their school career, and in fact many do.

Is there one or two characteristics that separates an average child or an advanced child from a gifted child or is it not as simple as just saying "because my child is x and y they are gifted?"

It's a lot more complicated than that. There are a few simple things that are pretty obvious signs that a child is gifted, but it's almost impossible to say that a very small child (under four) *isn't* gifted based on those signs.

-------

Do you believe your child is gifted in a wide variety of subjects/areas of life or just gifted in one or two areas?

I've got four, and yes, they do seem to be gifted in a wide variety of subjects/areas of life.

At what age did you first believe your child was gifted and why?

Bean, Boobah: Within the first five weeks. Bean said his first word at his one-month well baby check, and before he was two months old was combining words into short sentences. He was always very responsive, alert, and interactive. Boobah was more physically advanced but also demonstrated incredible comprehension, repeated patterns, and just had a very sophisticated outlook on life. By the time she was four months old, I was pretty certain.

I thought Bella would turn out to be spectacularly average until... less than a year ago, I suppose? Today she's a month and a half short of four and she's very obviously very gifted (reading, sophisticated understanding of relationships between words, numbers, ideas, people, etc). I never really thought that much about Bear, though I'm pretty confident that he's gifted now (he just turned two). He absolutely astonished the allergist a few weeks ago by identifying random letters in the room, and I frequently hear comments from people who are very impressed by the clarity of his speech. He's also my only little artist, and draws recognizable figures all the time (he's particularly fond of people, dogs, and cats

).

As your child got older and was around more peers, do you still think they are gifted or just more advanced in an area than their peers.

The older they get, the more gifted my children appear to be because their asynchronies have become more apparent. Bean (my oldest) has experienced blatant, exponential development intellectually while his emotional and social skills have improved at a far more typical pace. At two, he was very much like a four or five year old in most areas. At seven, he's intellectually somewhere around 12, socially about nine and emotionally very seven. He enjoys watching Oswald and will sing and dance with The Backyardigans, and then spend an hour giving me an impassioned speech on his desire to build a replica of the Antikythera Mechanism.

He still says "map!" when Dora asks him to, but he told me that he thought some of the people with whom he plays games online "might feel quite alienated if they knew they were being pwned by a seven year old".

It's insane, and he definitely seems much, much more different from his age mates than he did before as a result.

Do you view their peers as gifted if the peers excel more in an area than your child?

Yes and no. Bean is considered globally, profoundly gifted. Many, many gifted children are not working on his level, but they're still gifted. If a child surpasses Bean in any given area, then they're absolutely gifted in that particular area. Bean is seven years old and working through an advanced fourth-grade math course. I know another seven year old who is working through an advanced third grade math course; That child is definitely gifted, though they're not working at Bean's level. The fact that I have gifted children doesn't mean that other people do not have gifted children. The fact that at least two (likely three and quite possibly all four) of my children are profoundly gifted does not change the fact of a more moderately gifted child's gifts.

 

[quaz]

OP.... you also have to really define what you mean by talking early or reading early.

Let me give an example.
DD2... at the age of 2 she started being able to spell words. When she was a young three, she could decode simple CVC words at a 70% rate.
Would you consider that reading?
I don't really.
As a late three she started decoding Bob books on her own.
A few months later she was reading simple chapter books, such as Rainbow Magic Fairy books by Daisy Meadows.

In her case, I consider that particular early reading skill to be a pretty big indicator of being gifted. Does it absolutely mean she is? No. It is a LARGE indicator, though.

We have many kids by me reading at the age of 4-5. I had the school administrator at my local public school go off on me about how many kids start school reading. This was in response to me asking if there was someone I could talk to about what they do about differentiation. She also went off about how many parents think there kids are gifted because they are reading early.
Now, she didn't bother to find out what I meant by reading.
Sure, there were kids that could decode words, but picking up a random picture book and reading it from front to back? No, there weren't classrooms full of those kids. Those kids would be at the top of the class, and a good chance that eventually the child would test as gifted.

It's the same thing with speech. No, it isn't an indicator in and of itself. It CAN be an indicator go.

The same daughter... she was conversational at the age of 18 months. That is early. In her case, it was an indication of being gifted.

Some people consider their child speaking earlier if they are saying 5 words before the age of one. I read that, and thought... isn't that the norm, and not early?

Your description of your daughter, honestly sounds gifted. Maybe she isn't, but there are enough signs in there, that it is something to really look into.

Her teachers have stated that academically she is above her peers, but socially and emotionally she is age appropriate. That is completely typical with gifted kids. In fact, many gifted kids will be intellectually ahead, but perhaps socially/emotionally behind. That is my oldest daughter.

You say you see your daughter as smart, but not gifted... why not gifted? Have you read the indicators of giftedness? There are a ton out there.
Tammy

 

[loraxc]

Right--ITA with quaz. A child who can sound out CVC words and who has some sight words at late 4 is not, IMO, a "reader," or even all that advanced, among children of well-educated parents who enrich. A 4yo who can pick up a second-grade book and polish it off--yeah, different story.

 

[cappuccinosmom]

None of my three boys were physically or verball advanced in infancy. None walked before 1 yr old and we had no talking in sentances at 15 months or anything like that. My oldest was saying so little at 18 months that a doctor suggested extensive hearing tests for him (no hearing problems discovered, he was just quiet) My middle kid was nearly completely incomprehensible until 3.5 yo. Most of the time we had no clue what he was saying.

For my boys it seemed like they reached an age (different for each one of them) when their brains "turned on", and after that point, they were measurably advanced (particularly in language skills), but not before.

 

[mom2reenie]

Your description of your daughter, honestly sounds gifted. Maybe she isn't, but there are enough signs in there, that it is something to really look into.

Her teachers have stated that academically she is above her peers, but socially and emotionally she is age appropriate. That is completely typical with gifted kids. In fact, many gifted kids will be intellectually ahead, but perhaps socially/emotionally behind. That is my oldest daughter.

You say you see your daughter as smart, but not gifted... why not gifted? Have you read the indicators of giftedness? There are a ton out there.
Tammy[/QUOTE]

I guess I see her as smart, because that's all I know--ya know? when she was little, I saw her as gifted, but the more I read about it and the more I see other kids, the more I wondered if giftedness was just an overused word that people through out. I've read the gifted indicators and read many of the posts and most kids I know with involved parents meet a lot of that criteria.

Or maybe it's because I was labeled gifted as a child based on a test and at age 7 , I'm pretty sure she knows more than I do (and now I've heard from numerous sources that as someone who had moderate apraxia, I should have had severe learning disabilities). Or because when dh went to school they split the kids into two schools--gifted school and average school. From my understanding, the schools had pretty close to equal number of students. The kids in the gifted school had to get a certain grade to attend there.

So that's where I struggle. I see students being labeled gifted, see posts about gifted children, and view that as average because it seems the norm where I am and where I grew up. It's normal to me that DD in second grade is able to do 4th grade math...it's normal to me that DD in kindergarten was reading and comprehending 4th grade level...it's normal to me that all the state tests we take have her in the 99th percentile.

That's why this is so insightful, because I realize maybe my first instinct when she was young is correct (and since I still lurked on gifted forums and read up on the information--I think I just struggled with the defination of giftedness and wondering if being gifted is more norm than we realize/accept). She probably is academically gifted, but beeing surrounded by peers, friends and family who are also probably in that same range of giftedness--she appears normal or average.

 

[mom2reenie]

Oh and wanted to say again, sorry for the low defination of early readers and talkers. I really had no idea that kids talked before 1. Of all my family, nieces, nephews, friends kids, brothers, sisters....one of them talked before age one. I just figured everyone online was exaggeratting when they talked about kids before 9 months talking and kids having more than five words before age one--LOL (sorry, I just had no idea it was possible)

As for the reading, I guess I didn't realize that people had different definations. I didn't consider DD reading until she was reading chapter books without our help, was able to tell us what the book was about, and recall silly information we pulled out of the book. I figured most people considered reading as being able to decode words without help.

 

[physmom]

Hi, I'd agree with PP's when they said there's a good chance that your daughter could be gifted. It's common to see asynchronous development in children so it's really not surprising at all if she appears to be ahead academically and at the same time average (or even behind) with social development.

One thing to consider is that a child's social development can appear even further behind than it really is because they are so far ahead academically. It's HARD to keep that in mind because sometimes you do tend to think of your kid as older than they really are (something my own mother REALLY struggled with and I don't think she ever really understood that

).

Overall, I'd agree with what PP's have said, so I'm not going to reanswer all your question. I wanted to add that it is impossible to determine giftedness from one particular milestone(s). However, I have noticed (just from life experience) that the people I know who are gifted tend to have a inner drive or rather a curiosity.

One example of this is DH's boss. The man is definitely HG+, if not PG, probably one of the smartest people I've ever met. Now, he specializes in a specific field but he's curious about EVERYTHING. For instance, when I was pregnant and went past my due date he asked me what the distribution was for women giving birth around their due date (like if it was a Gaussian distribution with the mean centered on the due date).

BTW, if you're curious look here: http://www.dogfish.org/chris/fun/delivery.html.

Growing up, I know a lot of students that fit in the bright but not gifted category. They'd get good grades but had to really work at them or would take easy classes in order to maintain a 4.0. On paper they would appear "great" at school but that didn't necessarily mean they were gifted (and some were pretty clearly not). I also know of a handful of underachieving gifties (DH is included in this category) because the school was not challenging enough and, thus, they didn't put for any effort because it was too boring.

I'd like to reiterate that being 2E or even perfectionism can affect when children reach their milestones so it's not very cut and dry. The same goes if parents are pushing their children in certain areas.

As for DD. We don't KNOW that she is gifted because she's too young to be tested. She has genetics on her side (DH and I both are plus a lot of family history). She's always been advanced and alert and more intense than other kids her age. What really set off bells was our pediatrician visits when they made it clear to us that what DD was doing was not typical for her age (these "warnings" started at 4 months). The older she gets the farther away she pulls away from the "norm" so it's what makes us believe that she might be. All kids have strengths and weaknesses so it's definitely possibly that some of her friends are better at some of the things then her. Then again, I know those moms too and they are also very intelligent so their kids could very well be gifted also. It's sooo hard to tell at a young age and just watching her friends develop there are some kids that seemed pretty normal, if not a bit behind, and have now caught up and are ahead. Probably the best way to look at giftedness is not comparing to friends/family (especially since many adults are drawn to those with similar IQ levels) but rather look at milestone averages and lists of gifted traits.

 

[greenmamapagan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by loraxc Are all early talkers (saying more than 5 words before age 1) gifted? More than 5 words before 1 strikes me as a low bar for "early talker." More than 50 words before 1, hundreds before 18 months...I'm likely to suspect giftedness.

Uh, that was my first thought too. 5 - 50ish words seems pretty average to me. Upwards of 50 and I'd start to wonder.
But now that I start typing I see that's been addressed.