At what age did you know your DCs were G&T?

[MiaSparrow]

I'm interested because we have it in the family, both sides - DP was some kind of child genius (you wouldn't know it now - ha!) and DB has Asperger's and is definitely G&T when it comes to mathematics and all things computer-related.

DD's 2.10 now and has always been very bright - met all the milestones early, shocked HVs with her speech. Full sentences at 18 months, etc. I feel I have to constantly play it down amongst her peers' parents, which is a shame really.

But lately, it's the drawing that's making our jaws drop. She is our first, so maybe this is normal, but just now before bed I went up to her room with her milk and she'd drawn a hugely detailed picture on her blackboard. DD, Mummy and Daddy in a wood - all three figures with faces, including eyes, noses, ears, mouths, hair, even eyelashes for me and DD (!). (She'll still have our legs coming out of our heads, mind). She'd drawn recognisable trees all around us in green chalk, a sunshine with beams in yellow and a white cloud with blue rain coming out of it. Like I say, she is our first, so maybe I'm being PFB, but it was as good as any picture I had drawn at school, aged five.

Were your DCs like this? I'm not really into labels, but if she turns out to be G&T what would be the course of action in school? Have you had supportive teachers? She doesn't go to nursery (never has) but I'm hoping to start her at pre-school this coming September.

Thanks!

[MiaSparrow]

I should add we were in height order too and each of us in a different colour. I'm shocked!

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

DS2 is highly able, and also has Aspergers & ADHD.

I knew he was unusual in his development by the time he was 2. He talked very early. We were teaching DS1 (4) to read and realised that DS2 had taught himself. Also sang in tune from a very young age.

Pre-school and infant school provided little support.
Junior school was much more helpful. They brought in secondary Maths & Science teachers and provided differentiated work and more challenging tasks.
Secondary has been equally good. Science, Maths & Music all catered for already, and it's only been one term.

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

He was also talking in full sentences at 18m. It did freak some people out when they first met him, especially as his motor skills were delayed so he was non-mobile at that age, which made him appear younger at first glance.

[cece]

DS1 wasn't particularly early with talking, reading or writing but he did seem to grasp anything number related quickly. He also used to ask a lot of questions.

He is now G&T for maths at school. He is also above average for reading despite being 5 and half before he read a single word. However he is also SEN for handwriting and because of this is below average for his writing.

[Phaush]

DD always seemed alert - but she's our first too so we didn't know different. I can't remember when we first discussed the idea that she might be quite bright, but I do remember her pointing to the circles in some railings when she was about 14 months and saying 'Oh' (letter o) She could recite the alphabet in order and name letter shapes in capital or lower case, as phonics or 'names' before she was two, which she learned by asking about letters continually.

Both school and pre-school have been great with her and provide her with differentiated work.

[Lovepancakes]

At about 1 although even earlier DS showed interest in odd things eg at 7 months a fascination with clocks as if he was upset we'd take him to look at one upstairs and he was immediately fascinated and distracted. By 22 months he asked why certain clocks had Roman numerals etc. He's now 2.5 and has huge interest in things like foreign countries and talks rather like our 6 year old but he doesn't have the same interest in friends as she already did by then and only loves her or older people so I hope he'll be happy at school as already worry might not make friends easily.
I don't know if he'll be G&T but he seems older than his years.
He notices music too which I'm hopeless on and at about a year would sometimes shake his head and cover his ears if didmt like the singing at playgroup. i was a bit taken aback when I was listening to the radio and he (correctly) commented 'I like Mozart actually' at 20 months as I know nothing about music and rarely put it on!

[MiaSparrow]

Oh all your very talented DCs sound so sweet! Yup, DD can also hold a tune freakishly well for a two year old and will start singing along to something instinctively - you only need to give her a snippet of the tune.

So, what do I do? Just keep encouraging her interests and see where we are come school age? I should add, as bright as she is she still finds the time to be a very silly nearly three year old - the imaginative play is out of this world. But I don't ever want her to feel like an outsider or different. She's very sociable too and having grown up with Asperger's I'm pretty sure I'd be able to spot it.

[Phaush]

We just went with what she wanted to do - obviously being an only that's easier. She likes things that challenge her and I don't think there is anything wrong with that - sometimes you can say something to her and it's like time itself stops: she's almost never totally still, but if something interests her she will immediately become motionless and silent, before formulating a question (Usually "What?" or "Tell me again")

This means that at 4.5 she knows a surprising amount about the various things she has had an interest in. She seems to go through phases of wanting to know more about some area or other and other phases of being seemingly unconcerned with anything other than playing, which is fine - although at the end of the 'playing' phases she often seems to emerge with a hitherto unknown skill; her reading was like that; it seemed to us that one day she couldn't read and the next she could, but actually she'd just never let on that she could read (I presume!)

We found school were very good, and in fact were proactive about getting us in and setting appropriate targets for her. I guess if you get to school and they aren't proactive you need to intervene - I think I've been hindered my whole life by spending my school days not really making much of an effort and getting good results, but it took me until my mid (gulp - late) 30's to realise.

[MiaSparrow]

Ha Phaush you sound similar to me. I was bored/lazy at school but still came away with really good grades. I wasn't pushed at all though and feel like so much of it was a waste of time. Luckily, the primary schools in my area are excellent and even our second choice is Ofsted 'outstanding' so I hope they're well equipped to deal with all abilities.

[Blueberrypots]

Oh do not be fooled by the Ofsted Outstanding label!!! We went through two Ofsted Oustanding schools and they absolutely did not cater for brighter children, let alone gifted ones. It was a terrible experience.

I would be very wary of this and really dig deep - of all the schools we visited none we able to go into how they differentiated for the brightest children, which made me suspect they were equally diabolical at it.

You read on mumsnet about junior schools providing secondary school teachers, being allowed to join higher classes for certain subjects, being put in special classes, etc but where we live this sort of thing doesn't seem to happen.

[Back2Basics]

I don't think talking early has anything to do with being intelligent sorry OP.

Apparently things like necks drawn on is a really good sign of a clever child more then facial features.

So lovely when your so amazed at your dc, I'm totally amazed at mine during parents evening and such, is a lovely feeling.

[ipadquietly]

I drew pictures like that at 18 months. There's nothing special about me now, except that I have very good spatial awareness.

However, my ds, at 18 months, would refuse to draw anything - he'd even refuse to add stripes to zebras 'because they wouldn't be right'! He has now finished art college and has nearly finished an art-related degree. This child would be so minimalist with his drawing, you would have needed a magnifying glass to prove he'd done anything!

What I'm saying is - you can't tell how it's all going to pan out... and part of the excitement of being a parent is watching the process.

[naty1]

I agree about the early speech at 18m not necessarily meaning anything although it might.I saw someone saying sentences under 1. Which i found amazing.
Girls have speech earlier so if average/ most children should have words together by 2 18m is not that extreme.
It probably means vocab is larger something like 50 words to put words together.
At 20m we are up to 200-250 or more words which is more than suggested in milestones but think that is to highlight issues. Most people have no idea though when it takes off.
I think it is probably the unusual thinking that is more obviously different.
Threebee thats funny. The strange looks you must have got. It happens when they are a little bit smaller than average too. Sometimes kids look too small to be walking
I think its true you cant compare what they know letters numbers etc because that could be environment or child taking interest and picking up themselves.
Ie my 20m knows nearly all body parts because we have "taught" her and she is a sponge.
But say we were indoors and heard a plane go over and she just said plane, never seen 1 in reality and cant see this 1 now, dont think said plane before, i just think thats odd. Must be from tv. Arent kids amazing.
I agree the art sounds amazing but as a first time mum whose 1 cant do more than scribble im probably missing how very amazing it could be.

[PleaseNoMoreMinecraft]

To be honest, the ASD and ADHD hid it pretty well until he took an IQ test given by the Ed Psych in Y1 at school and he came back stunned with the result. We knew before that that he was a character (and still is!) but it took the school to tell us he was rather brighter than normal. Still, it did brighten up the endless grimness of all the reports going towards an ASD diagnosis to be told by the SENCo and Ed Psych that our child was a genius