I also think some things that make kids look super advanced aren't really that big of a deal. Like, toddler brains are designed to memorize things so while it's cool when a 2 yo can list all the Presidents in order, it's not that amazing.
So much this. I think so many parents think their kids are a genius because they have learned something they have been taught. For example, my son's school teaches algebra in 4th and 5th grades. Their reasoning is that they have found if they teach it this way at this age, that it lays the foundation for the middle school learning. They say this formula works well for minds of this age.
Personally I believe the difference with the truly gifted is how they think, not what they know.
Post by dragonfly08 on Sept 16, 2014 8:01:47 GMT -5
My oldest walked on the early side (10 months) and her speech was definitely advanced...she was speaking clearly, in sentences, with a huge vocabulary well ahead of the norm. On the other side, she sat unassisted and crawled later than all of her peers. My youngest also didn't sit unassisted until on the later side. Some gross motor skill development was delayed b/c she had bowed legs as a toddler...she couldn't run without tripping until she was close to two, and the ped had been concerned enough to refer us to a specialist for evaluation (turned out she was fine, just took longer than was typical for her legs to straighten out). The rest of her development was pretty "average", though, meaning right where the ped. expected.
I think he's slightly below average to average on fine and gross motor skills. He is pretty clumsy, not great with crayons and utensils, etc.
I do think he's above average intelligence wise. He knows all his letters and numbers 1-10, shapes, colors, animals, body parts and has a crazy vocabulary. He is also very intelligible for his age, I think--a stranger could probably understand at least 75% of what has saying, and he speaks in 2-3 word sentences most of the time.
In some areas, yes, and others, no. People (including her doctors and teachers) are always commenting about how "sophisticated" and "complex" her language is for a 3 year old. She also rocks the pre-reading skills like being able to tell you what letter words start with. (And memorizing some basic spelling.)
I do know her personal weakness is that she gets really frustrated when something doesn't come naturally to her. For instance, she struggles with puzzles. She can put shapes in their correct spaces but she can't do a multi-piece floor puzzle. And when we try to work with her on them, she tells us she's not good at them and doesn't want to learn. But then again, I don't know what the puzzle bell curve is and where she falls on it.
I haaaaate puzzles and suck at them and I'm a pretty well functioning member of society, lol.
Ha!
I'm actually less concerned about her puzzle skills and more about how she's already seems to have internalized this message that if something doesn't come easily to you, give up. I actually read an article recently that said girls in particular tend to do this (which could be why they tend to shy away from the hard sciences) but I thought I had until at least middle school before I needed to worry about the confidence gap.
Gah, I sound like a tiger mom here. I promise I'm not -- this stuff just fascinates me.
No, I do not think he's advanced for his age. His whole life, he's either been right on target or slightly behind for all his skills (didn't walk until 15 months for example). We had his 2.5yo well check a few weeks ago, and the pedi said he's normal (not advanced) for speech.
I just don't want him to be behind! So I am not concerned he's not ahead, of that makes sense.
Then she'd ask me to do my name, her dad's name, etc.
She would ask you this at 18 mos!? I am 100% sure DD doesn't even understand what the concept of a name is, let alone that DH and I have them!
DD can say two friends' names (Mi-ah (Micah) and Anna), but her own name (Elizabeth) is going to be a long time coming. Don't give your kid a 9-letter name if you want her to be able to say it. haha.
I think AJ's on the later side of average with gross motor (just recently started regular crawling 50% of the time but will army crawl the rest of the time) and squarely average with language. The latter is what I really watch for but that just goes along with the territory for an SLP
Yes but she's becoming more average, or rather, her peers are catching up to her- which is common at this age.
Physically- She sat independently at 4m and started walking at 9.5m
Verbally- Her verbal skills have always been pretty far ahead of the curve as well.
She is not advanced in knowledge (colors, letters, numbers) just average there. But her ability to have a conversation, her imagination and her reasoning/problem solving are all way more advanced than a typical 2.5yr old (I have been told this by her pedi, a speech pathologist and people in education) and she's always been this way
I am sometimes blown away but what she says- it's really amazing to me
Post by barefootcontessa on Sept 16, 2014 8:28:15 GMT -5
Not really. My oldest son tested in gifted and talented -- he is very good at math and building things but a pretty average reader, so I was surprised. My second son is very good at music but I would say overall average for kids in our SEC. Younger kids -- I do not see anything particularly noteworthy.
Yes. He read a stop sign well before 2 years old and knew all of his letters before 18 months.
He now can read like 50 words, can sound some others out, can count to 100, can count backwards from 12 ( not 13 LOL. If I ask him to start at 13 he can only count forwards!) He can also do simple math ( I had 5 blocks, but I took two away so now I have 3 etc).
He is a little behind gross motor wise but is an excellent climber. He will be 3 in November.
Post by gibbinator on Sept 16, 2014 8:32:17 GMT -5
I've always thought that ds1 has amazing concentration and fine motor skills compared to his peers. He could sit and stack 11 blocks regularly at 12 months. He's always paid attention to books, not roaming around when we read.
Language wise he's pretty average, and he is a bit behind in gross motor skills, mainly due to being extremely cautious and not trying to climb anything.
DS is above average in his vocabulary, expressing emotions, retelling things, etc. This has caused us some problems at DC, verbally he's ahead of a lot of the kids that just moved up, but he's definitely average in other areas. He spoke in sentences by age 2 and knew his numbers to 10 in English by 20m and in Spanish by 24m, but still can't get his arms out of his shirt to undress himself at almost 3.
He doesn't know his colors to save his life. At least when we're around. DC keeps telling me he knows them, but he won't tell us. I'm 50/50 on it being a game vs. he legit doesn't know. He apparently knows shapes and letters, but I haven't really tested this out yet.
Then she'd ask me to do my name, her dad's name, etc.
She would ask you this at 18 mos!? I am 100% sure DD doesn't even understand what the concept of a name is, let alone that DH and I have them!
It's better this way. Around 20 months old DS started calling me " Amy".
Now when he really wants my attention he uses my full name FIRST MIDDLE AND LASTNAME. Also my lastname is different than his so that's been a fun thing to explain.
PRAY she never finds your name out. It's spooky when they yell it.
Nope. In real world context I consider them average, maybe a tiny bit on the ahead side of average but certainly not advanced. In the context of this board, I should probably get them evaluated by birth to 3. They can count and say the alphabet but they can't identify numbers or letters yet (they're 2.5). Heck, they can't even identify colors correctly 100% of the time yet.
Post by badtzmaru22 on Sept 16, 2014 8:44:14 GMT -5
I think DD is advanced verbally, but she's 2.5 now, so other kids are catching up. She had a handful of real words at 10 months, but she had always been a babbler, and had really good timing, so it was kind of hard to figure out when the babbles turned into words, because it happened so naturally, and we were like, "oh.. She's been saying that word for a while now!" Our daycare lady (in-home) said DD's the earliest talker they've had in 20 years of daycare.
She was crazy verbal all last summer, so 16-18mo. Strangers can definitely communicate with her, and have conversations. She knows her address (and tries to say our town, but even adults have trouble with that) birthday, and the other day she pointed out a weeping willow tree, and told me they don't have pine cones, but pine cone trees do. She's just good at memorizing and absorbing stuff, and when she plays, like with her kitchen or something, she has little conversations with herself that I think is stuff she's reciting from episodes of Caillou. It's just been really fun to interact with her and see what she says.
This thread is giving me a complex. Knowing letters by 18 months is REALLY, REALLY advanced, right? RIGHT?
absolutely. my 19 month old does not even know what a letter is. I have not even taught my three-year old his letters (he just turned three). there is plenty of time for all of this to happen. my friend who is a reading specialist tells me there is no real advantage to early reading (before age five) but that what is important is that a child is read to on a regular basis.
Post by vanillacourage on Sept 16, 2014 8:51:45 GMT -5
DS1 turned 6 this summer and reads at a ~2nd grade level.
DS2 will be 2.5 in a few weeks and is known as the talker at his school. He came up to me yesterday and said (exactly like this) "when I go pee in the potty or go poop in the potty, I get M&Ms!"
Beyond those two skill sets I think they're pretty normal.
I think my older child is ahead of her peers in that she could read before she turned five. However, she's much more immature than a few of her peers emotionally. She's a great swimmer but behind her peers physically. It all evens out.
I'd say my younger is verbally advanced (in that she was talking far ahead of her peers) but again, she has other areas where she is normal/behind her peers.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
I also think some things that make kids look super advanced aren't really that big of a deal. Like, toddler brains are designed to memorize things so while it's cool when a 2 yo can list all the Presidents in order, it's not that amazing.
Haha, now I have an excuse for why I am so dumb and forgetful these days. If only I still had my toddler brain!
So far V seems pretty normal. I guess he's slightly ahead of normal on gross motor skills, a little behind on fine motor skills, and about average on verbal stuff. So far he has very little interest in any sort of organized play -- once in a while he will like put a few blocks back into the toy box or the stroller basket, but that's all he does and he gets distracted halfway through quite often. He does seems quite sociable, people comment on that.
Post by mollybrown on Sept 16, 2014 8:58:47 GMT -5
I think my children are advanced for what *I* think they should know at their ages, but average compared to their peers. Both knew the alphabet, numbers to 10, colors, shapes, etc. by the time they were 2, but so did most of their peers. DS read at 4 and could write the whole alphabet (despite an actual fine motor delay) before starting K, but he's middle of the pack in his class. I think the bar is just raised for what we teach young children.
Post by everafter07 on Sept 16, 2014 8:59:34 GMT -5
She's been on the late end on all gross motor skills, but I do think she's advanced when it comes to her brain. She's 14 months and can pick out the letter X and a couple of others from all of her letters/numbers when she's in the bath, she points to things when you ask (where's the pig, where's the bee...) and she's got mad skillz with the lightswitches, lol. I think she's bright.