Ideas for a g&t 2 year old

[phonelover]

My 2 year old son can read, spell, count to over 100, add, subtract and use negative numbers. He has excellent concentration and has an amazing memory. His language is very good and he chats like a child of 6. Everyday we play bingo, uno, snakes and ladders, beetle, rummy, etc over and over, rather than play with toddler toys which don't interest him. We also read lots of books, write, draw, bake, sing and play music. I think he memorises the bingo cards as well. He is growing increasingly distant from his peers as the gap widens and he finds it hard to understand why they can't recognise numbers / letters and play the games he wants to play. He is very sociable and enjoys the company of other children. I am a SAHM with a 3 month old baby as well. The playgroups we go to don't cater for his intellect and he is getting upset because he isn't interested any more. We have just finished tumbletots and a story time group. We go to a nature club and as a piano teacher myself I am introducing him to the piano. But, I am looking into doing new things with him. I have approached a football group and an art class. Has anyone got ideas of groups I could try? Also is there any support network for parents of g&t toddlers? And, any ideas of how to nurture his talents without pushing him.

[thunksheadontable]

You say he is sociable but bored by others his age and their games? What does he like to play? What sorts of talents does he have outside of memorizing and playing rule based games? Does he like to pretend like a six year old? I would say play, social and emotional skills sound like they might be areas to focus on.

[doyouwantfrieswiththat]

computer chess gave us lots of spare time.

[LadyKinbote]

Are there some areas that he's not naturally talented in? It could be an idea to explore some of those as a) it sounds like you're doing the right things already to nurture his reading / maths, and b) he might feel closer to his peers if they're equally bad at swimming or whatever.

[threepiecesuite]

You mention lots of intellectual things, but perhaps try swimming, bike riding, pitch n putt, where he may be on more of the same level as his peers.
He sounds like a very clever chap indeed.

[ReallyTired]

I think the little one needs to play and learn how to make friends. There is more to life than being able to count to 100 or recongise letters.

My daughter is three year olds. She goes to a gymnastics class, swimming and a nursery music class. I think that a pre school gym class offers more than tumble tots. Our local gym club produced an olympic medalist so easily can cope with the best. Prehaps suzuki violin might be fun and social.

Children need physical development as well as intellectual development. Other things which might be good is a season ticket to a local zoo, (somewhere like London Zoo or Whipsnade can mentally challenge the brightest minds on earth)

[flow4]

This thread has good advice. I especially like Pythonesque's image of building a broad-based 'pyramid' to their experience and learning. :)

[PhilMcAverty]

You may find the NAGC useful - www.nagc.org/ . We've had some good advice an input from them, but they're not to everyone's taste.

Socialising and imaginative play are still very important even to G&T children. DS was about where your DS was at that age in terms of maths and speech etc, but struggled at school with social skills and ended up diagnosed as having Aspergers. I'm not linking that to your son at all, but I would do what you can to encourage him to play imaginatively with other children.

[Betty5313]

With our dd (just turned three) a ballet class has been a godsend. she gets to interact with other children the sane age, on a level playing field. the structure helps. she is far better now when we go to playgroup at trying to act the same as the other cchildren.

she loves playing on the computer , she knows how to spell but her lack of pencil control frustrates her so on the keyboard she can write.

imaginative toys help her too, Lego and the like. also we cook, garden etc together and have started birdwatching.


btw her ballet teacher had her down as g and t in maths by the end of the first lesson. was quite funny, you could see her wondering whether to say anything, quite a relief when we said we knew!