About Carol Bainbridge Expertise I can answer most questions on parenting gifted children, from infants on. Questions can be about parenting, advocacy, and support and I can provide suggestions for toys and books gifted children love. I can even help you determine whether your child is gifted or bright, and I can point you to more information you might need. I can answer some questions about programs for gifted children, but can`t help much with information on colleges. Visitors wanting to know if their children are gifted might want to read the article "Is My Child Gifted?" before asking a question.
Experience I am the parent of a gifted child and have been working with other parents of gifted children for 13 years, helping them find support and providing them with information. I founded a local gifted organization and helped organize a parent day for a national gifted conference. I have been an active member of my state's gifted association since 1999 and created and maintain their Web site. In addition, I have created a website for parents of gifted children who are looking for toys and books for their children: www.giftsforlearning.com.
I am also the Guide About.com Gifted Children Site.
Education/Credentials I have a bachelor's degree in psychology, an MA in English, and completing a PhD in linguistics with a focus on verbally gifted children. I have been helping parents of gifted children for nearly 20 years and am currently the guide to gifted children on About.com
Question Hi,
My daughter is 3 yrs and 3 mths old, she does a lot of things that surprises me and seems to be well advanced... She does NOT go to pre school.
1. She can write all the alphabets( Upper case) on her own
(She first showed interest and used to tell me to write my name or her name on a piece of paper, after few days I realised that she started writing the letters by herself so i taught her on a black board and in two days she learnt to write all the uppercase alphabets!!!)Now im teaching her lowercase alphabets and she is writing them.
2. She can recognise all the alphabets
3. she can read about 25 words. I made some flash cards for her and she can read it.
4. She can draw most of the shapes by looking at what i draw or on her own.She can also draw things that i draw.
5. She is very creative... she makes different shapes or animal shapes on a piece of bread, tortia, icecream etc just everyday things while eating she amuses us ....and they do look like the animal or shape that she says it is.... like a rabbit, alligator etc... I dont know if its silly to mention this...
6. She talks a lot and very rarely makes a mistake and can talk in short paragraphs.... If i tell her to talk abt a cat .... she can say atleast 5 sentences abt it or any topic.
7. She is very friendly with kids.... anywhere we go she makes friends in a jiffy and noone believes me when i say that she is 3.
8. She can count till 15
9. She can recognise a lot of colors- pink purlple red blue green brown grey yellow black white..
10. she can understand the concept of addition and subtration..... she can add and subtract when i draw pictures
11. The attention span is amazing ........ if i sit and teach her she will stay even for an hour constantly.She loves to learn and wants me to teach her.
12 But like any other kid she loves to play with her friends and her younger brother.
13 She had always done everything walking speaking etc earlier than normal.
14 she can learn tunes very quickly. and already she acts like she is an MC..... and stands on a pretend stage and says things like ' Ladies and gentlemen boys and girls today we are going to do a show for you.' and continues to say things like we taught her. She surprises me.
15 she can use the computer a lil bit... she knows how to use the mouse and click on the you tube videos on the side when one gets over she knows to start the next one... and she can play games for toddlers on the computer.
16 She can immitate dance steps that she sees just once on tv too
17 she can remember a lot of things that we did few wks back, or few mths back. She has a very good memory. She remembers where we shopped for certain items, or if we had been to that restaurant before and with whom we had gone etc even if it was few mths ago.
I have tried to write all that i can remember some may be what all kids do at this age.... i didnt want to miss out anything... Well my questions are
Is my daughter gifted???
What should i do next?
Is homeschooling good for her?
My concerns are
If i send her to regular preschool will it hinder her interest as she already knows a lot?
Regards,
Sheeba
Answer Hi Sheeba,
Sorry for the delay in answering. I was having some serious computer issues. Anyway, your questions include two of the most common and often asked questions. Based on what you said about your daughter, it does sound to me as though your daughter is gifted. You can check yourself by reading this article:
What to do next? My basic answer is to continue what you're doing. It sounds to me like you are doing what you can to feed your daughter's hunger for learning. At your daughter's age, that is pretty easy because the world is still a big and new place for her. There are many, many things to explore in the world. For some more specific guidelines on what to do to help your daughter explore the world, you can read this article:
Your last question isn't quite as common as your first two, but it gets asked often. There is no one answer to that question. A lot depends on your family situation, your temperament, and your daughter's temperament. Here is an article that will help you make a decision on whether homeschooling is good for your family:
As for sending your daughter to a regular preschool, I don't know that it will hinder any of her interests. Some gifted kids enjoy preschool because they enjoy the social interaction. Others don't like it because they have little in common with their age-mates and don't have enough opportunity to learn. A lot really depends on the makeup of the school and even on the teacher. My son loved preschool, but then it was a mixed age group and his teacher allowed him to read on his own or do other things he enjoyed rather than always forcing him to do things in lock-step with kids his age. You really have to take a look at the preschool and see if it's a good fit for your daughter.
