Gifted? How do I develop my baby further?

[Upseydaisey]

Hello everyone,

My baby was always a very alert baby, and by 3 weeks she'd cry for her milk and if my husband or mom start climbing the stairs with her she'll stop crying and be very alert knowing she is going up to have milk.( I always fed her upstais in the bed room)
She started walking at 11 months and recognised people like neighbours and carers at around 7 months.

she was very inquisitive always as a baby and the only TV programme she wathched was Count down! (she watches all the kids programmes now at 22 months :D)

She was able to say the full alphabet and count up to about 20 and recognise letters and numbers from around 20 months, She loves reading and makes us read to her all the time and remembers everything that is in the books. She speaks well and says 3 word sentances at the moment.

She knows how to work the iphone, htc and the digital cameras we have at home. For example she'll go the skype app on iphone and say she wants to talk to her grand ma, or she'll put youtube on and go to favourites and play songs!

Everywhere I go I get other moms say to me she is very advanced but I dont know if this is common for her age or if she is advanced, mainly what I want to know is how to help her further and make sure she doesnt get bored at somepoit and not push her to the edge by doing it! Thank you :)

Why is everyone so harsh here?? I just wanted some openion, I didnt start this thread to see this! honestly I thougth people would be slightly better than this.

The best thing you can do is cut out the tv entirely for now, and then limit it to under half an hour a day when she reaches 2, and read to her more instead.

Not on MN much then?

In fairness, we are often not any better than this.

[harsh but true]

Not everyone was mean upseydaisy. Enjoy your lovely daughter. And be pleased that she felt so secure Mummy would respond to her hunger that she stopped crying when being taken upstairs for milk.
Enjoy her.

HullyGully Thank you very much and I agree with you!

Reality, stop being so bloody hormonal

hully did I not detect a note of rem, well, um,. sarcasm in your post?

upsey, really you still think your baby is so very far advanced?

My DS who is 2 can-
segment/blend CVC words
understand past/present/future activities
amazing memory
speaks in full and grammatically correct sentences all the time.
Maybe he is bright, but I just keep doing what i am doing, and he is having a lovely childhood, flashcard free.

Upseydaisy

If your baby is GT then the best thing you can do is WIDEN their experience. Children who are GT benefit from learning instruments, developing other skills such as languages and (to a certain extent) sport. They revel in novelty - lots of trips and experiences.

If a child is GT then the school work will take care of itself to a large extent so all you would be doing by starting early is depriving them of a relaxed childhood, although you might be able to develop their reading without problems. Maths is another area but,unfortunately, this can be a kind of 'false positive' as some of it is so easy to drill so you wouldn't really know until the child was quite a bit older.

WIDEN WIDEN WIDEN.

As other posters have said it's a bit too early to tell for you but no harm in hedging your bets.

Op, I'm sorry you feel hard done by, but you've actually been given some good advice too; dont just storm off because you dont like what you are hearing.

There is a consensus that nothing you described is out of the ordinary for a child her age. More importantly, the jokey responses emerge from the fact that the whole idea of a 'gifted' 2 year old is absurd. Every 2 year old should have a variety of new and interesting experiences; if she turns out she is exceptionally academically advanced there is really nothing you should be doing differently at this age to what any normal loving parent should be doing with their child, or you risk creating a very abnormal child. I remember watching a documentary about gifted kids where there was a little boy who was doing gcse maths at 5, no doubt because his parents had 'recognised' he had a 'gift' and drilled him to within an inch of his life. But he also couldn't recognise what was wrong with a picture of a rabbit with only one ear. Your daughters best interests will be served by you forgetting the whole idea of giftedness until she is well into primary school, if not later.

Sorry alicate, just realised I've more or less repeated your post using different words and egs! But upsy, take note.

LOL at TSC making a comment about the OP's intelligence while spelling brains wrong.

Everyone thinks their baby is the most gorgeous thing to ever be born. When they grow up a bit and see the photos sometimes you are surprised . Same with intelligence. Children learn more in the first 5 years of life than they do for the rest of it in relation to time. While one of mine some are G & T, most kids are just normal kids with different talents.

Hi Upseydaisey
I hope that these posts haven't upset you. If you look at others on this board you will see that they often go this way. You don't sound like a hot-houser to me - just someone trying to keep their child happy and stop them getting bored.
I personally would look at what your dd is interested in and then give her opportunities to explore. I am sure you do this already. If you go to the home ed board there is a thread on preschoolers. That might give you some ideas if you are stuck.
Hope that's some help.

Your baby sound absolutely lovely, if also absolutely normal.

What you will find is that for the first few years there are plenty of things to occupy a bright child (if she turns out to be bright). The world in itself is an exciting place, there are plenty of things to see and learn in ordinary play and by talking to you and other people around. A puddle, some cake dough, a twig with creepie-crawlies all offer wonderful learning opportunities. As do regular story sessions and singing together. Boredom is also something a young child needs to experience from time to time, to learn to access their own mental resources.

As she grows older, there are plenty of exciting books for her to read, and the best thing you can do for her is to involve her in conversation and to take her out and about.

The nicest things about the early years is that the things that work well for a gifted child also work very well for a less gifted child. They may not get exactly the same thing out of a walk in a woods, but they will all get something out of it.

Have you read "Baby Brains". It is a lovely book for parents and children.

Dd1 could do all of that at 20 months old. She could read/recognise certain words too.

Fortunatly for me she was the first baby in our family for a long time and I had no idea what she should or shouldn't be doing so I didn't brag much

She is 7 now and while she is still very bright she is on par with her peers, although slightly ahead at reading and writing and she doesn't have the common sense she was born with

Enjoy your baby. Read to her, draw with her, do all the things she enjoys doing, but don't stress about what she can or can't do and don't try and push her into things she is not ready for.