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
Gifted Children - What to do with a highly advanced toddler with new baby on the way
Expert: Carol Bainbridge - 9/9/2009
Question Hi Carol,
My 20 month old is displaying some gifted characteristics for his age. He learned his ABC's at age 17 months and can recite the entire alphabet. He can also sing the ABC's almost fluently. (He gets the l,m,n,o,p a little jumbled, but so did I at 3 years old, and he is only 20 months!) He knows all of his colors, even non basic colors like brown, black, white, pink, etc. He also can count to 10, and has memorized probably 60-80 words based on pictures from a set of alphabet books. He is also forming sentences and speaking very well. His teachers at school have been telling me for months that he is far a head of his peers and even older children in his class in learning and has the vocabulary of a 2 1/2 year old. I don't know if all of these characteristics would make him a gifted child, but I would agree that he is further advanced than the average 20 month old. My question is, I am getting ready to deliver a new baby next week. All of his peers have moved up to the pre-school room at his school. He was the youngest in his classroom. So, now that all of his peers have moved up, they have moved the younger children in with him with ages ranging from 13 months- 18 months. His teachers think cognitively he is ready to move up to pre-school, even though he is not 2 yet. Although, they want to wait in case he regresses due to the new baby. My concern is that he will regress cognitively being in the toddler room with a room full of younger children. I am also afraid he will get bored as he already knows everything they are teaching in that classroom. What would be your advice for advancing him to pre-school early? I have spoken to the director and she wants to wait and see how he does emotionally with the changes in the household and the new baby. Is it your experience that they regress significantly?
Any advice you have would be appreciated. Thank you!
Answer Hi Jennifer,
What you're asking is a little beyond my expertise since I'm not a child psychologist or pediatrician. However, I can tell you what I think based on what I do know. Children do often regress as a result of some significant event -- such as the arrival of a new sibling. I've never heard of that kind of regression being permanent or really significant.
For example, a young child who was an early reader at age three may pretend to be unable to read after the arrival of a sibling, but that child is not going to suddenly be unable to read. The suggestion that a child will regress cognitively is not one I have ever heard before. Once the brain develops, it's not going to reverse its development, unless there is a some physiological reason and the birth of a sibling is not physiological.
The same is true for your son being in a toddler room with younger kids. Once the brain develops, it isn't going to go backwards. It may look like regression, but that's not cognitive regression. It's the similar to what I said about pretending not to read. I've actually known gifted early readers who start kindergarten and then pretend to be unable to read. It's more of a social than a cognitive thing.
The problem with waiting to see how your son reacts to the new baby before advancing him is that gifted children often develop behavior problems when they are placed in an inappropriate academic setting. These behavior problems are interpreted as immaturity or emotional problems, which makes it even harder to get a child advanced to a more appropriate environment.
Most kids eventually adapt to a new sibling and life goes on. I would not add to that child's burden by placing him in a room with younger children. I would much rather advance him and then move him back if he develops problems that don't improve with some help.
