Hi all, Let me start by saying I don't actually know if my 25 month old is gifted - I'm not really worried about that just yet, however we just completed a university study and discovered she has a 5 year old plus (the tests only went up to 5) level of visual comprehension and a long attention span. We are not stimulating her enough at home given she now wants us to read her books upside down while she looks for things, and does her puzzles upside down too.
Just wondering if anyone had recommendations on activities we could do with her for fun, and also if there are any board books that are quite complex in their pictures? I know about books like animalia etc but I'm looking for ones that can stand up to toddler treatment and maybe have things like spot the difference etc.
Although I def think she is bright and she is advanced physically (throwing catching etc) we figured we'd take a wait and see approach to her level of ability.
Not tough but great spot the difference books are the "I Spy" series, there are several levels, some are at early reader level. Hairy McClairy does board books and has fun quirky rhymes, and of course more advanced puzzles. I would check your local library for all these things if possible because she does sound "gifted" IMHO and will probably desire lots of variety sooner or later -and it gets expensive!
Thanks for that Rachelle, I also bought some activity books for her that designed for older kids and she is having fun working through those with me.
We went back for part 2 of the test today and I expected her to do average, she got above the 99% so I'll keep an eye on that! Still not sure about the gifted tag - you read all sorts of anecdotes from people that my dd doesn't even remotely come close to ie: talking in sentences, doing maths or whatever but she does seem to be 6 months ahead in most areas - wait and see I guess
The "tag" is something I got used to. I know it is a bit weird at first. I wouldn't worry to much about the anecdotes, all children have different strengths :-)
Hi Sue, at 25 months I would have thought she was too young?
I mostly feel I'm reading too much into her scores, yes she is def bright,like knows her colours (10 of them), can count to 5 and recognise written numbers up to 10 when she feels like it and knows a few letters etc but she is still very normal in most other areas.
I thought I might try actually teaching her a few things this week and see if she takes to it, although she can sit at something for an hour (like lining stuff up all over the house) if she's not interested I don't even get 30 seconds.
The stuff she has learn't has been her pointing at stuff and wanting it labeled, I imagine small poppies would require a little self motivation.....
I completely relate to the 'lining stuff up' thing. My son (HG now 8yo) was completely into that. I advise Playcentre, Small Poppies or other preschool situations so that she can get the stimulation she needs without completely wearing you out. I found that 'bad behaviour' developed if I did not pay attention to varying the stimulation sufficiently.
The long concentration span is fantastic for giving you a break too.
I used to read the newspaper while son found all the 'H' letters on a page,
circling them with crayon was great for his fine-motor skills. The gap between ability to think/read and to write is something that the school seems to make a lot out of so paying attention to developing pre-writing skills is worthwhile. HTH.
Thanks so much for your advice - we do attend play centre so that is working well for us, is small poppies similar? Thanks also for the tips on pre writing skills, I would never have thought of that! I think I have now found some cool stuff to keep her happy and developing.
Now I just need to find a way to help her physically - I'm going nuts throwing a ball back and forth -eek Netball doesn't start for another 3 years!!!
Hi Toni
Sounds like you are going to have lots of fun with your gorgeous girl!
I attended Playcentre for 5 years with my 3 sons, and it was through PC that I came to terms with what that somewhat scary "tag" involves. With my son I thought he was pretty bright but being in the PC environment and building close relationships and observing lots of children I realized ( as did other parents) that he was "different" in an exceptional way. The day he read an entire book word perfect aged 3 stands out in my memory as all the other mums were saying " wow did you teach him?" and I was saying "no he taught himself". Sigh!
It was also thru PC that I had the amazing support of other mums of gifted children who were able to recognize signs well before I did and help me. When one noticed that my son was emotionally unsettled and frustrated she recommended Small Poppies and we attended with Sue for about 2 years.
In answer to your question is SP like PC, the answer is no, but for us it was a great counterpoint. Playcentre is so child led that I found that my son never really fitted in as the activities which interested him were not what other kids wanted to do. Also he never ever wanted to get wet and mucky!!
Instead, at Small Poppies he could indulge his love of books, lists and 3d creating with lots of other like minded kids - while still having a parent with him. Small Poppies can also be more directive than PC (because it needs to be!) and I found this a philosophical adjustment. My son adored both in the end, but made no great friends at either (he is the same at school and One Day School now - adores the learning, not so worried about friendships).
At the end of the day I found that the PC and SP combo worked really well for ensuring the emotional and creative health of my child and both gave me such a huge store of ideas for how to engage my children. Very very valuable! And to this day I keep meeting other PC mums at gifted kids events! Must be doing something right!
Hang in there and - don't worry too much about the "label" of gifted as it can be very daunting.
Mel
I did in home ECE with "Footsteps" when my grandson was little .... it was an excellect resource ..... its like "preschool home schooling" - a co-ordinator came around once a month to see what he had been up to and provide new resources based around on his interests and level of development.
I preferred to keep him in a quiet 1 on 1 setting as much as possible , it had worked well for my eldest daughter when we lived miles away from the nearest town without a car and when we moved into the city a variety of ECE settings definitely did NOT work well for my youngest. I figured it made sense to repeat what did work well rather than what didnt and it worked again.
I preferred my grandson learn his social skills from me rather than from a random mix of children.
My daughter tested as gifted, I tested as gifted and my grandson tested as gifted .... EVERY time I was surprised because NONE of us seem gifted to me - we seem normal and those who are supposedly normal seem (from my perspective) to be something else entirely.
The downside of the "gifted tag" in my experience generally come from the ignorant and those who feel threatened by high intelligence. But the knowledge and understanding that can be acquired when one has a better picture of their individual strengths and weaknesses far outwieghs the downside.
Gifted kids are very very diverse - its quite common for the parents of gifted children to see their child as being "one of them"
Toni,
May I ask what the test was called that was used to assess you daughters. Usual comprehension? Your daughter sounds similAr to my son and I'd live to have him tested.
