How to know if child is gifted, and does it matter?

[xcloxcx]

How do you know if your child is gifted? I mean, it's our job to think our child is the most amazing child that there ever was! And strangers will always tell us out children are clever/beautiful/whatever as that's just what you do, isn't it. Also, does it have any bearing on their intelligence in later life?

In my opinion my child is quite forward, but shes still very young, what do you think?

She is 14 month and 5 days old. Shes been walking since 9 months exactly and has hit all her physical milestones early. She can say about 30 words and learns a new word every day at the minute. 25 of those words she can correctly identify if you show her a photo of it and ask what it is. She can make the noises of 6 animals when asked (quaks when you ask what a duck does ect). She can string more than one wore together like "up mummy", "bye daddy" and "ready, steady, go!". She can also count to 6, though has no idea what the numbers mean yet. She can also do 6 makaton signs and knows what they mean.

Would you say she was gifted? And does it matter either way at this age?

[jimblejambles]

I would say its hard to say at that age as some children learn stuff incredibly quickly and others not so but when they get to three they are all level.
She sounds bright though and I am sure someone more knowledgeable than me will be able to tell you more

[LadySybilVimes]

I would just go with the flow and have fun with your dd. Gifted isn't really a term you can apply to such a young child I wouldn't have thought. It sounds like you are doing a great job with her, have fun and just enjoy it.

[DeWee]

I don't think you can say at that age.

I nannied two little ones, one walked at 8 month, other walked at 18 months. Within a week of the older one walking you couldn't have pointed out which one had walked first.

My dd2 was saying well over 100 words and talking in 3-4 word sentences at 14 months. At 4yo we met a friend who had been referred to speech therepy at 2yo for not saying any words. We hadn't seen her since then. Their speech was exactly the same level then.

So enjoy her achievements, but don't worry about her being gifted.

[ShineSmile]

I don't know if it matters or not at this age. However she does appear to be advanced for her age. My DD is 12 months and I very much doubt she'll be able to do any where near what your LO is doing. But don't set your expectations high, others may catch up with her as they get older.

[Fcukfifa]

I agree with the other posters, your daughter sounds very clever for her age, my ds is 14 months but doesn't even say mum yet! Only dadda!

But there are wide ranges of normal for babies/toddlers and once they start school teachers usually can't tell who was walking or talking early.

Just keep on doing what your doing and encouraging, she sounds super bright :)

[Bonsoir]

I don't think you can tell this early! Go with the flow, respond to your DC's attempts to explore the world and make sense of it, work on gross and fine motor skills as much as possible, ensure a language rich environment and see how it goes.

[BlackeyedSusan]

yes you can tell at 14 months, but maybe only proved right in retrospect.

does it matter? no not really if you are going with the flow and doing stuff she enjoys. it will matter later if she turns out to be gifted and depending how different she is and whether there are associated difficulties and how supportive school are.

right now. enjoy her. make a note of what she can do when, talk, play read together. let her enjoy the stuff she likes doing. this is the easy bit.

[ThinkIveBeenHacked]

My own dd was very similar and now at 2 1/2 has a massive vocabulary. She will say (in context) things like"mummy this jigsaw is impossible" or "mummy last time we were here we saw two cows didnt we and I said they were called Daisy and Tom"

It baffles me the rate she learns and her recall.

I never thought of her as gifted, just good memory and maybe a propensity for learning over and above physical acheievements.

I suppose time will tell. She sounds a little treasure, regardless.

[tricot39]

people often seem to associate speech with intelligence but forget about introvert/extrovert tendencies. ds hardly said anything at 2 but at 5 has a great vocab and is reading well ahead of most of his class. i dont think he is gifted. they all do diffferent things at different rates to different levels of ability. i assumed giftedness would apparent age 7/8 and above but not sure why i think that!

[Greythorne]

I agree with all the other posters. Your DD is certainly advanced at this age but it may not mean anything over the longer term.
I would try to stimulate her just as you would any child in a developmentally appropriate way...jigsaws, reading, picture books, play-doh, etc.

Many, many bright toddlers level out at school age.

[LittleMissGreen]

DS1 was very advanced when he was young. Large vocab by age 12months and starting to talk in sentences. Knew all his letters by 2 and taught himself to read by 3.
At 11 he is not G&T, but he is bright and in the top sets at school.

DS2 was a late speaker (only 10 words by age 2.5), had no interest in reading until he was 5. Now is considered G&T in literacy.

DS3 was fairly average toddler, and is now above average, but not G&T, in reception at school.

[littlesupersparks]

People were always telling me my eldest was a genius (or autistic?!)

He knew all the car brands on the road and many specific models by sight well before 2. He could also name most of his letters and numbers. He knew his colours at about 18 months.

He's now a pretty average 4 year old I think - I'm pretty sure his visual memory will help him do well at school - he's not reading yet, but I think he will pick it up quickly. I wouldn't say he's 'gifted' though.

[bruffin]

Teachers have always said ds 18 is different and its mainly because of the questions he asks and he is a very deep thinker with excellent analytical skills.
He was not a particularly early speaker, but swallowed a dictionary 2 days before his 2nd birthday and he was spouting new words all day. He did walk early though.
He has dyslexic problems so didn't read early and does affect his gcse and A level results. His maths teacher says his questions are bordering on genius and he had the whole maths faculty debating something he asked the other day.
Unfortunately due to his spld he is not the whole package so never got the string of A* at gcse he would have needed for Oxbridge, but has still managed to get offers from leading universities in engineering.
Being gifted isnt just about nc levels and results and thankfully my dc's secondary school recognise that, although ds is one of the top performers in his year at maths and science.

[Pinealike]

14 months is way too young to decide that she is gifted.

But: even if she was gifted, I don't see being labelled as gifted as an unalloyed good, There are ways of making sure bright kids are fully stimulated without having them in that system. Mine was labelled that in KS1, but I've discouraged it since, as I think he is better off in mainstream. (My attitude is, I know, in part due to me being labelled gifted in primary, being taken out of my class for hothousing, and being utterly miserable as a result.)

[lornemalvo]

Your child sounds similar to my two. They didn't walk until 11 months (DC1) and 10 months (DC2) but were putting words together and making simple sentences a few weeks after their first birthdays. Nothing you have mentioned suggests your child is gifted. It doesn't mean she isn't though. You just won't know for a while yet. She is certainly ahead of a lot of her peers at this moment in time.
Also, I think it is best to let your child be a child. She will have enough social pressures when she starts school without having the pressure of being 'gifted' as well.

[BlackeyedSusan]

if they are gifted they are gifted... labelling or not labelling is not going to change how intelligent they are.

there is also a lot of difference between children who are on the 90th percentile and those who are 97, 99th or 99.99+ not all children of the same percentile are going to present in the same way. They will all have a different profile of abilities, strengths and weaknesses. not all children of the same percentile will have the same sort of problems. Some will get lucky and get a supportive school and have very few of the problems that can accompany high intelligence.

there are a lot of stereotypes about how gifted children behave and what they can do and how you can identify a gifted child. very few fit the stereotype.

you also get the let her be a child thing trotted out on here loads of times. perhaps being a child means doing the stuff you enjoy... whether that is watching videos about the periodic table at age 6 (or younger) or picking daisies in the back yard.

[rocketjam]

DS missed all milestones, both physical and in terms of speech development - he said his first word at 2.5 and was speaking in short sentences by the end of Nursery (3.5). He is now on G&T list for maths, in year 2 he has been 'estimated' to me on level 4c, that's year 5 maths. He is also very good at reading, spelling and writing, he is within the top three children in is year group in all subjects (apart from PE!). Very early development is great and should be enjoyed and praised, and can be an indicator for future abilities, but in reality it doesn't mean a lot.