Would you expect a 2.5 year old to put 3 letter words in the right order ?

[mermait]

I'm not saying my son is a genius or anything but I am noticing some differences between him and my older DD.

He just seems really switched on in a way she wasn't / isn't. He notices a lot of things and he is able to speak in quite long/ complex sentences. Also you can have a proper back and forth dialogue with him. I know that's not unusual for his age.

Today I noticed he was playing a game and able to put three letter words in the correct order.

He just seems really aware of things. I bought a globe maybe 3 moths ago and I must have showed them both where the UK is and explained that's where we live. I randomly picked it up and asked him where he lives and he pointed at the UK. Maybe someone else showed him a few more times or something and I didn't realise but my 4 and a half year old didn't know, although I've showed her quite a few times.

His behaviour is pretty ' bad ' in terms of tantrums and I'm getting reports from nursery that he can be quite a handful. But at the same time he is pretty clever. I want to channel his energy in the right way. Maybe he's bored out of his mind or something and that's why he's testing boundaries ?

Anyone know a child like this ? He's probably not even that clever, it's just that my DD wasn't and isn't like him at all. She's doing well at school though ( reception, so early days ) but she's started reading so I think she's on track.

He recognises roads, car brands and just generally always noticing things and pointing them out. My DD just didn't / doesn't care about things like that.

My DD was like this, absolutely so clever but tantrums galore! She has ADHD but is able to focus as school so must be quite mild really. I also have ADHD but slightly more chaotic but I'm able to focus on qualifications (I have many) when needed and I am clever. I do also find the 2nd child picks up language better as they learn from their sibling.

This is unusual for that age. I recently did this with a class of pre schoolers and none of the 3 year olds did this. Only some of the 4 year olds. My ds was like this, he absolutely loved words and was so happy when he realised letters make words. Maybe buy some movable alphabet magnet things and show him how cat can become car etc and he will love it. Point to each word in a book as you read it. Then if you see that word out in the world point it out to him and he will make the connection. Definitely encourage it, kids who enjoy learning really crave it. There are so many learning toys and activities these days it's worth buying a few things.

Oh yes definitely think having an older sibling to look up to helps the second born! I'm second born and was really quick with everything too.

He also potty trained before 2. Pretty much without huge effort from me. He just wanted to sit on the toilet like his big sister does.

He takes great interest in locks and doors and is able to unlock the back to let the dog out and in.

My DD just doesn't do stuff like that / takes no interest in it. He also likes to tidy things away and knows where things go in the house.

You're at risk of sounding like you prefer your son to your daughter. I'd be careful talking to anyone in the real world about this as your daughter will start to pick up on it.

He should not be able to open locks and doors, you need to put a stop to that. A high up latch is needed.

Yeah I have this amazing magnet game with words I use with my DD. He can't really play it with us, as his impulse control is just not there and he just tries to know everything down etc.

But I could try just letting him have a go at it in a more free flow way, rather as a game, like I do with DD.

My daughter (3 in December) notices everything. She'll point out random things and I'm like oh wow, I didn't even see that! She recognises some letters and numbers from 0 to 4 (because those are the ones in our lift) and points them out to me. If I write her first name she recognises it but no other words and I don't think she could put a three letter word together by herself. She always seemed to be observing everything, even as a baby. She's also way ahead with language, both spoken and receptive - confirmed by a developmental test (she has a physical disability and to apply for an assistant for nursery she had to have an official standardised test to determine which areas she needs help with).

Behaviour wise she's usually relatively good. Nursery recently said she's stopped listening to them and will do her own thing or go away when she's told to do something she doesn't like (e.g. tidy up) but nothing super challenging or age inappropriate.

@Hypermedi I don't talk to anyone about it.

I'm very aware that I don't want DD to feel upset.

She is very clever too incidentally. Just in a different way. She also surprises me. She's doing well at school so far and recently she made this really cool ghost out of toilet paper and managed to create a little hook for it too. I was so impressed. Honestly she does stuff that I can't believe, all the time and I praise her lots. Just in a very different way to the little one.

If you can let him discover things himself rather than trying to teach. He won't sit down and listen to you anyway. Just keep talking to him and showing him the world. Make sure there are lots of books around and maybe high quality YouTube videos if he shows an interest in a specific thing. It's actually really exciting when a child has a learning burst like this.

Yeah definitely. With my DD I really tried teaching her lots of things. I have literally not stressed about it with him. He just picks stuff up. I think having an older sibling helps.

He sees us doing phonics practice and tries to do it himself. Although he pretty much does an ' S ' sounds for every letter.

Sounds very like my DS!

My top tip (apart from the obvious Read Read Read) would be to invest in some of those Orchard games to play as a family - they are so good for turn taking and dealing with losing. We used to make his toy monkey play and have tantrums when he had to go down a snake. I have an ancient video of 2.5 year old DS saying ‘Now now monkey, we all have to lose sometimes - it doesn’t mean I don’t love you!’

Agree with magnetic letters on the fridge and foam ones in the bath.

I think just nurture his interests and see how he develops. Childhood is not a linear trajectory. Some children start school ahead of others and continue to be ahead across their schooling. Some are ahead and then by year 4 everyone has caught up (ehem my son lol). And some will fall behind as they move through school as they may have challenges or diagnoses.

enjoy your child basically. He sounds wonderful.

I really think it doesn't mean much. I was a little genius as a child and really struggled as soon as I found things a bit challenging. Terrible teenager too. My parents are still disappointed, as it all ' started so well ' .

So when it comes to my kids, I'm not getting hung up on any of that shit. I spent my whole life feeling like I was born to be great and then fucked myself up.

It's a marathon, not a race. But I have seen posts on here before claiming you can tell about academic ability really early etc. so a lot of people do believe that. I think it's a marathon not a race. And actually it's good to learn that things aren't always easy from an early age, so you can also learn to deal with that. Rather than having everything always come easy and being really shocked when one day, inevitably it doesn't.

I’m another with a son with ADHD who was like this at that age which is interesting. As part of his edPysch evaluation we also found out he has a very high IQ. Doesn’t really translate very well into school performance because of the ADHD but he is very intellectually curious. The hardest thing was finding a school willing to help him reach his potential and we ended in the private sector.

When did you start going for a diagnosis etc ? Do you think 2.5 is a bit young ? I'm going to watch and wait for now.

His behaviour is challenging for sure.

I'm just thinking about the game he was playing.

He got it right most of the time. But sometimes he got it wrong.

But the thing he worked out really quickly was that the vowel needs to go in the middle of the word and he would start by putting the vowel in the middle.

So say with C A T, he would start by putting the A in the right place and then working out the other two letters.

My eldest was like this. I remember him writing a letter to Santa aged 3, he was able to spell short words with the fridge magnets from 2.5.

Him being my first I thought this was normal and was in for a shock with my other two 🤣

He now excels in all areas if I’m honest, gifted and talented, on the scholar programme, we have been told to look at universities for him now and he’s only 13. I’m kind of afraid for him really as it feels like pressure from the school that we tried hard not to put on him at home. Just nurture it, keep him engaged and challenged, be creative as you can with games and things, teach him the benefit of exercise and mindfulness as it can all be quite a lot. I have to tell my mum to shut up about it as she puts expectations on it, and that’s the last thing you want to do.

But no, it’s not something your average child of that age can do.

Also, games wise - I don’t know if they even still sell these, we had one of those pointer pens from leapfrog that came with a map. One of the world, one of the planets. He loved that.

My DS was like this, he just absorbed everything. He’s ASD which wasn’t diagnosed until adulthood.When he was three, he came to me and declared that Father Christmas couldn’t be real because even with the different time zones across the world, he still couldn’t get to everyone overnight! He’s very matter of fact.

That's a great idea about the planets. I need a solar system ! He was asking me yesterday why it was dark and I said the sun had gone down and he just kept asking ' where has it gone ? ' why did it go ? Etc etc and I was badly trying to explain why it's gone and the earth rotating etc.. it was hard to explain.

I'd imagine he's just memorised the 3 letter words if they're very basic and common. What's he like with new jigsaw puzzles if you hide the box/picture?

My 2.5yr is really good with the globe, I'd say she can find and locate maybe 8 countries, where we been on holiday and where family live. I've never shown her, her relative did just once when it was gifted to her. My 4yo can do maybe 4, but they just have different interests.

The younger one can also work the TV remote despite having only an hour or so of TV a week, the older one still has no idea so asks her to do it!

I think 2nd born just pick more stuff up.

2nd children tend to progress quicker because they try and catch up to older siblings, or so that's what I found with mine

Perhaps keep an eye out for signs of neurodiversity. My son is similar, like a sponge. Could read at 3. He's on the waiting list for an ASD assessment.

If his behaviour is getting more challenging it might be worth having in the back of your mind.

Lucky you. My son the same age only speaks a couple of words although I can't fault him on his climbing ability. Yes we are in touch with speech and language therapy.

They are unlikely to have vastly different IQ’s I’d watch how you are parenting and guard against thinking your son is cleverer and your daughter less.

@mermait you sound like me! I was such a bright clever little kid good at everything and really confident too. But that was it, I peaked at 12!! I spent many years feeling like a failure with my very average job and life.