Gifted child.....?

Farelle wrote: Some of you may have been reading my posts about the "difficulties" I have been having with my 3 year old and the other day an RN brought up an intersting thought. She said that perhaps he is gifted?? I have been looking it up and he does seem to match quite a few of the characteristics.....??? But there is not a whole lot of information for comparison of what a child his age should be able to do.
So all you Mom's (and Dad's) of 3 year olds.....what things are your children doing at this age?? I am always blown away by my little guys ability to learn things so quickly. For instance, he took a liking to birds a while ago and after 1-2 times reading through our little bird book (he would ask to have it read at bed time) he was able to idnetify all the birds in the book. And even now when he sees one out in the yard he'll say "Mommy, the grackles are eating the bread we threw out"(and it will be a grackle)
So....my question to you all is....are your kids doing similar things? I sure would like to think he is gifted instead of thinking he has adhd.
Anyway, thanks in advance! You guys are all GREAT!!

moped replied: Yes I would say Jack is doing similar things - they are like sponges at this age....Jack is 3 (yesterday).....he has known every brand of vehicle on the road for at least 6-8 months. There is very few words he can't say - if any. I think he is a very normal 3 year old boy. He knows almost every single water creature in a huge book we have......

What are the charactaristics of "gifted"

luvmykids replied: Colt did a similar thing with horses around that age, he could tell you if it was a sorrell, a dunn, etc...Macie, who is three now, talks like crazy and uses phrases that always suprise me just for the fact that I can't believe she uses them appropriately. She knows some of the alphabet, counts to 12, etc. I'm trying to think of what else she does that you could use as a measure but I'm going blank.

My3LilMonkeys replied: Brooke is also 3 and is the same way....she is very good with directions and can tell you exactly how to get to Walmart, the grocery store, Grandma's house, etc when you're in the car (she points out all of the turns), can count to 15, knows several letters by sight and can do parts of the alphabet and is starting to take an interest in "drawing" her letters and numbers. Sounds to me like we all have a very smart bunch of 3 year olds on here!

Farelle replied: Let's see if I can think of some things......Andrew can say the whole alphabet and recognize all of the letters, he can count to 10 (just started to 15 last night) and can count...like I ask how many apples on the page and he'll tell me the number. His memory is what blows me away. He can remember the words to almost every song he hears...and makes up his own lyrics (HA like I do) when he can't remember something. If I try to mix them up, he'll correct me and tell me that I am singing them wrong. He also tries to play tunes on our guitar and keyboard...not just banging away on them, but actually seems like he is trying to play.
I am by NO means tooting our own horn here, I just wonder what other 3 year olds are doing.
As for the characteristics, I'm interested in the ones that seem problematic to me, being over sensitive, very easily frustrated, high level of energy, fidgety. The positive ones are excellent creativity and imagination, excellent memory,...? can't remember the rest (I am OBVIOUSLY not gifted LOL!) There was another interesting fact about tactile stimulation.....does anyone else's kids have to have the tags removed from their clothes??
Anyway, on and on I go....I'd love to hear from some more of you!! Thanks!

luvmykids replied:
I'm not sure yet because I know she's young, but I do associate some these traits in Kylie with being highly artistic/creative. She has that moody, sensitive, brooding type thing that I associate with artists. I don't know if that is truly the case though, just my own observations

moped replied: Well all these things are in my eyes normal for a child. I hate to go on about what Jack can do but things like numbers and has counted to 20 and the alphabet he has known since 2.5 for sure and not because i push him, I don't at all. So, i am not saying your child isn't, just that maybe he is a smart guy and knows stuff!

Cece00 replied: My son is 5 and he was tested as gifted a couple of months ago.

We've always thought he was pretty smart, I mean we didnt think he was a genius or anything, but I wasnt totally surprised when his teacher mentioned that he should be tested and then recommended him to be tested @ the college here.

When he was 3, some of the things I can remember him doing were knowing the whole alphabet, being able to count to 30+ (he had been doing these since 2.5 or so), he would recongnize colors like magenta, turqouise, aquamarine, etc. He would use words like "transparent" correctly. When he was 4.5 or so, he explained to me what a "pugil" (pupil- in the eye) was, and how it worked...that sort of thing. He has a pretty darn good memory, too.

Boo&BugsMom replied:
This is Tanner to a tee! He knew is ABC's by 2 years old, can count to 100 and recognize the numbers, can add and subtract, and he LOVES facts etc. When we go to the library he doesn't want "stories", he wants the non-fiction books about subjects. I wouldn't classify him as gifted, perse though. It really is just a matter of fostering that love of learning, which it seems you have done, which is important. It's very hard to classify a chlid this age as gifted because many times once they get to 1st-2nd grade, a lot of kids acedemic levels even out with each other. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to downplay, just trying to explain that a lot of children this age do all these things and more, but don't nec. classify as gifted. The most important thing you can do though, is keep fostering that love of learning, don't push him, but challenge him regularly, then once he gets to school he will be able to be challanged and maybe he ahead of the game. If parents keep challenging their children and realize that children are capable of a lot more than they give them credit for, then their children can remian ahead of the game. Sounds like you're doing a great job with him, mama!

moped replied:
He counted to 100 at 2???????????????????? Seriously? That is amazing!

Kids really are sponges and I agree 100% with Jennie!

Boo&BugsMom replied:
No...he can count to 100 now, at 4. Sorry Jen, I should have explained that better. He knew his alphabet at 2 and probably could count to 20 by then and recognize the numbers. It was around his 4th birthday or thereafter when he could recognize and count to 100.

ETA: I forgot to mention as well that it's VERY common for first children to be ahead of the game because of the constant one on one attention they receive more than 2nd, 3rd, etc. children.

moped replied: Whew, I was thinking that this kid could make you bazillionaires!

Boo&BugsMom replied:
Well, If I had my way he'd be my rock star since I seem to have handed down the musical talent to him. Troy would love it if he became a pro football player since he's so solid..........so we'll see!

Farelle replied: Well thanks for all the info!! It's good to have some comparisons. I think he is definitely a smart little boy...the gifted part, well we'll see in time. Most of my friends have girls and their development is different, especially the emotional. And the girls are also a lot quieter so it's hard for me to guage sometimes how "active" he is. LOL! HE prob is just a normal 3 year old who has learned early on how to push Mommy's buttons! (ha that seems to be my family trait as my Dad used to do it to me - LOL)
I love that he loves to read and learn. I hope it's something that he will continue to do as he enters school!! I agree that they are like sponges!! I wish I had a 1/4 of that ability some days!! LOL
Sounds like everyone has smart ones!!! We must all be doing something right



What propmted you to have your son tested? He does sound smart from the things you listed that he could do at an early age, but I'm curious if there was something else that made you decide to do it? Or did they think he was gifted in school?

moped replied: I just like to say a normal boy!!!!!!!!!

grapfruit replied:
Funny you mention that. There was a segment about this on the Today show this morning! They said that EXACT thing! Plus they said that 1st children also get an extra boost b/c the parent's often say "Can you help your brother w/his homework" so then they're getting reinforcement from that as well. The best way to learn it is to teach it!



About the tag thing, that stuck out to me. My former landlord's children had some severe behavior problems (sorry I didn't remember before). Her daughter is very bright in the ways you describe but for lack of a better term, a brat. She had her tested for autisum (sp?) b/c her son is on the spectrum, and it seems like she is also. She has her in music and occupational therepy and it's helped LOADS!!!

One of the things she makes her do to calm her down when she's "acting out" is pick up "heavy" pillows and blocks one by one and put them in a toy box. The heaviness and repetition brings her behavior back in line. Also they purchased a blanket that is heavy, maybe has shot gun pellets or something similar? She sleeps w/this at night (actually both kids have one) and it seems to help w/the sensativity. She had HUGE problems w/tags and socks and underware. She'd say they "hurt". She's 6 now, and still has some pretty severe behavior issues, but is flurishing in school. I know a pretty ridge schedule has helped as well.

If you want any more information just PM I can give you her email address. She has lots and lots of information. Even if he's not on the "autism spectrum" some of the techniques could be of use to you.

ETA: Maybe she's 7....I think she's 7 actually...

Cece00 replied:
I have always thought he was very smart, and figured we'd test him in elementary, around 2nd grade. I cant remember everything he has always done (4 kids will do that to you ) but he was an early talker, an early EVERYTHING, he could do complex things from early on (puzzles), he has been able to spell small words for quite awhile, counting, putting things together, etc etc etc. And we have always been told how very smart he was, by many many people. His language probably was the most deciding factor- I have never seen another child use words like "transparent" at 3 correctly, or have another 4 yr old explain to me how the eye works, etc.

But what prompted us to get him tested was that his teacher sent a note home one day for me to come in & talk to her & she gave me the form recommending him to be tested by the college here. I do not know his IQ (they did not tell me, only that he was gifted, that he scored @ a certain % of the # of kids who took the test, and that he was accepted to the program), nor do I really care. He is smart, but so are all of my children. He may be a little more gifted in the intelligence dept, but we dont consider him any different than the other children. I totally agree that first children often tend to do things earlier, etc, and that could be the case with him as well. We just dont know right now, he is only 5.

He will be tested again in school, by both his school and the school board, to be in some other gifted programs. But he will not need to be tested again for the program he is currently in until 8th grade, I believe.

And you know, it may be that over time, he is less ahead of the curve, or it may be that he will continue to be gifted. Time will tell, I suppose. We know he is smart, and that is nice and all, but mostly we care that he is happy and healthy.

redplaydoh replied: Both of the boys were counting to 20 before the age of 3 in English and to 10 in German and both knew their ABC's saying them and identifying the letters by age 3. Lucas is wickedly good on the computer, when he was barely 3 he went into the network, accessed our other computer and uploaded a Baby Einstein video to the computer he was on, and opened it with a video program we didn't even realize was on there (it was pre-loaded when we bought the computer) and began watching it. He's crazy crazy good with the computer...

I never thought of them being gifted because since they were babies I have always pointed out letters and counted pushes as I swung them. Kids are literally sponges and ready to learn everything.

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
My 21 month old knows her full alphabet in both the french pronunciation and the English one. She can also count to 20. She can sing most of the words to several songs... and it's the actual words, not just babble that sounds like it.

She says full sentences. This morning, was "I want put bananas in bowl", when I asked if she wanted me to put some sliced banana in her bowl of cream of wheat.

She's also potty trained.

Zach could read when he was three, and Emilie's gettin gpretty good at it too, she's 3 1\2. She recognizes all the letters and can write pretty much all of them. They're both starting on simple addition and substraction. Em can put together a 25 piece puzzle in about 1 minute. Whether she's seen it before or not. Her and Zacharie can also dfferenciate different types of birds, we looked them over when we made some birdfeeders back in february. My neighbor gets almost freaked everytime she hears the kids say oh there's a blue jay! or there's a lot of finches this morning... it's funny.

Emilie could, as of about 2 1\2, draw people with the head, the little stick legs and arms, and circles for the hands and feet. And the facial features, including eyebrows. Now, she draws fingers and toes too and the stick legs are less stick-ish, and more like pants.

The kids can remember an incredible amount of songs and rhymes. I can't even remember them all myself.

Boo&BugsMom replied: Oh, that computer! Tanner has loved the computer since age 2 and has been a wiz every since. He knows how to do things on it that I probably don't know. I think it's good that kids know how to at least fiddle around on it, esp. in this day and age where everything is computerized.