My older daughter just turned five but we don't yet know whether she is gifted. She did spontaneously learn to read at age 2.5 though, taught herself to write and is now learning multiplication and division.

My younger daughter is 3.5 and is learning to read. She's been able to do 50-piece puzzles by herself since she was 2. Again, she is too small yet to tell whether she is truly gifted.

My husband and I are both gifted and MIT alums, though, so we won't be terribly surprised if our children take after us.

 

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Apart from the fact that intelligence is often estimated to be 50% genetically inherited, the fact that both of the kids' parents are educated really helps matters out. It is most likely that both of you sit and read with your kids, and have since they were very young. Lots of personal interaction versus just letting them learn on their own.

That's why I usually cringe when I see "spontaneously learned to read" and "taught herself to write" because there is no way in hell if the child had a ton of books around, bunch of pens and paper available, but was never actively read the books or shown letter and paper and what to do, that she would have learned to read/write by herself.

 

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fair enough I guess. Yes, I did read her books, but we never did phonics or any of that, she just figured it out by herself. And I have no idea how she learned to write. But I did the same, at the same age, and neither of my parents has more than a high school diploma/G.E.D. so it can't all be about the parents' education level.

 

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everyone thinks thier kids are super smart. just once i would like to hear someone answer the question with "hell no, my kid is dumber then a box of rocks"

 

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Actually children will start reading when THEY are ready to read That age may be at age 2 or at age 8. Gifted kids learn to read after they develop their vocabularies and learn to know what should come next in a sentence. The brighter the children, the earlier they start absorbing verbal—language—information from their surroundings. Gifted or bright kids learn to read when they are exposed to how the printed word gives information or tells a story.

Teachers in public schools think they are teaching kids to read by instructing them phonetically. I actually am a big fan of phonics because it helps you decode unfamiliar words but in no way is being able to decode a word reading! To be able to read and comprehend is actual reading in my book

Bright kids come from stimulating environments and are often free to explore 'things' that are interesting to THEM. Most public schools do NOT allow for this path of learning...especially with the NCLB debacle.

Children have varied interests and this should be incorporated into their 'guided learning' in a public school setting. My experience in schools tells me...this is rarely the case. Truly...


~Murron~

 

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Well we learn next week if our 5 year old will be in 4th grade or 5th grade based on the results of his evaluation. I am secretly hoping for the former, he moving so fast

 

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Let us know, BT. I'd loved to know how he does. He truly is an amazing little boy.

 

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Interesting. I always feel sad for kids that are so much younger than all of their peers age-wise. A year or 2, sure, but 4? Ouch.

 

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He is at a Montessori school. The 1st-6th graders all share the same classroom .. so there are 6-7 year old children that he plays with and then he does the academic work the 9-10 year olds do ...

 

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same with my children, I have them both in a Montessori preschool and I'll be honest, I'm leaning toward keeping them there a little ways into elementary school. They can progress at their own pace instead of having to keep up with (or stay behind for) their classmates. And the sensorial approach to learning I feel can help making mathematics and geography more intuitive and help them develop a better grasp of spatial relations (plus it's just more interesting). It's not all academics, either -- they learn how to sew and keep house too, something I'd love to do if I were home with them more, but since I work outside the home, this is the next best thing, I guess.

at our Montessori school the groups cover ages 3-6 and 6-9. They are looking to expand and add a group for ages 9-12 as well.

 

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