3 year old and mathematics obsession

[waitingforsomething]

this isn't a stealth boast and I know she's only 3 (nov) but I think my dd might be gifted at maths/space/shape. She is able to count and recognise on paper all numbers to 100 and she can do addition and takeaway with numbers and objects up to 30. She is very able with puzzles and all hers are 100-250 pieces which she does alone without the picture. She also does them upside down and turns them over and does them without the picture. She is actually a little obsessed with all things number and spends a lot of her day counting things, doing maths, trying to tell the time and speed-completing puzzles! She is socially a little shy and doesn't always find it easy to play with other children, and has no interest in drawing, colouring and learning letters although she knows a few. Do I let her get on with this obsession and hope she picks up other things when she's ready or should I be steering her towards other types of learning now?

Hi, just to add my experience. Ds5 is maths obsessed. At pre-school he was quite similar - refused to colour / uses crayons or pens etc. I think anything motoric / physical he wasn't as good as numbers (not bad, just normal probably!) so he avoided it. He also wasn't great socially but more in a loud boisterous way. I tried to encourage stuff creative and physical (bike riding/climbing etc) but he just wouldn't have any of it. He would sit for hours doing mental maths questions fired at him though!

Anyway, fast forward to now and he's just completed his first term at primary (prep school) and he's still way advanced at maths, school say he's at yr3-4 level and put extra lessons in place for him. But since starting school he's flourished with writing, has become massively creative (thanks to an inspirational art teacher who he adores), can now ride a bike and scooters well, and socially he's developing well (although I think this will always be difficult for him because his mind works like a 6-7 yr old but emotionally he's very 4-5yr old which makes social development tricky!)

My DS was moved up a year at his school because he was just too talented at mathematics. He consistently achieved the top of the year even after that. He got a 4a in real age year 1 and when he was in real age year 5 he received a 7a. Recently, he achieved full marks in his intermediate maths olympiad in year 9. This is not a boast or anything but, I think that my DS is more talented than any of your children.

You need to be aware that encouraging an obsession means other things gets missed - so you need to actually concentrate on other things as well such as motor skills, speech etc. If she is good at maths I'd start her on some sort of musical experiences as the two often go together.

My friend encouraged maths over all things in her child from 2 onwards. He is 10 now and is way behind in English, has poor social and motor skills and kicks off violently if asked to do anything non-maths.

In hindsight, it would have been a lot better if the child had done non-maths things as well as the maths. Especially for children - if they concentrate too much on one thing their development becomes massively skewed and the fact is, in school and most of life (until say A level) you can't realistically only do one thing - you need life skills and experience across a wide section of activities and experiences.

(I also have a very mathematical DD but she does tons of other stuff as well.)

Thank you MyLifeisabox this is great advice. Since I posted the OP I have been trying to steer her away from just maths and puzzles. I bought some Orchard Games for Christmas which she really loves playing, it's more social as it needs to be done in 2,3 or 4 so this is good for her.
She got some books for Christmas that she's enjoying being read and she's quickly learning the letters which she's enjoying.
Music is on my mind - I'm a musician so perhaps it might be time for her to try something musical. Thanks again.

Sounds similar to my DC - especially the upside down jigsaws
I didn't get them doing much extension work but they played a lot of maths type games such as chess.

The one that did upside down jigsaws is now at uni studying maths and the other are studying subjects where maths is essential.
They all enjoyed maths and puzzles from an early age.

Ohh I missed out some of your posts when I posted but everything you say about your DD sounds like all 4 of my DC. They are still fairly quiet as adults but other than that they have grown up just fine with no 'issues'. The two boys were really quiet in groups as little kids but as they played with close friends and their siblings ok I never worried about it.
Try and relax and just enjoy her enjoying her
Maths. There will probably be plenty of opportunities for you to worry later on.
( I'm not saying that you should ignore obvious problems though IYSWIM)

Thanks jamesetjee. It's interesting that all your dc are good at maths- my Dh and lots of his family are very good at mathematics and he and his siblings all do maths related professions- I'm pretty sure she gets it from them! We played a memory game yesterday, it was really tricky but she was way better than me; perhaps it's all part of the same skill!

She came home from pre-school yesterday and showed me how she can almost write her name so she obviously is showing an interest in other stuff just not at home.

I want to nurture her skill without boxing her as being only good at one thing- this parenting business is hard!

Also I'm not sure what we would do at home all winter if she didn't like jigsaws and games so I guess I'm lucky I have hours of activity on my shelves!!

I reminded DD of her of her habit of doing upside jigsaw puzzles when she was little. It made her laugh. Even now after spending the whole day studying hard for her maths exams she comes downstairs and does some 'extreme' Sudoku's to relax

I always tried hard not to 'label' my DC. I wanted them growing up without getting pigeon holed into the geeky category. I'm not sure it worked but at least I tried.
My DC didn't get their aptitude for maths from me either.

Have fun with the puzzles.

She sounds lovely :) Just had a thought that maybe some thing like kodaly based group music lessons might be something she would enjoy.

dd was an upside down jigsaw put-together too

Other than her fantastic mathematical ability she sounds totally normal for her age op. Try not to worry just provide opportunities for all kinds of play and learning, keep on with 1:1 play dates and encourage her to experience everything the world has to offer.