Bright vs gifted..

[Ellie2015]

My 18 month old
Can count until 10 and now starting to add 11,12,13
She learnt phonics off you tube and can now say a for apple b for ball upto z for zoo.
Draws vertical horizontal plus and circle. Also draws eyes ears mouth nose and hairs at almost appropriate places and says them loud while drawing them.
Copys her hands and feet on the drawing board and is able to make real tiny circles with mature holding of the pen.
Can say words like potato tomato pistachio avocado aeroplane with real ease
Says ‘peak a boo i see you’..’this is fun!’ ‘Moon is hiding’ and with a pause ‘clouds’ she means ‘behind’ clouds 😂
Sings goodbye goodbye see u again :)
Knows ALL body parts including neck back chest bum ankles hips thumb middlefinger little finger etc etc
Knows all major colours white black pink purple orange red green blue yellow
Takes active interest in music i.e starts dancing with full synchrony the moment music is on (not been taught!)

I am sure i am forgetting many of her abilities but anyway point i was meant to be asking is i think she is just above average or bright but some people have mentioned her being talented. What do you all think? Is she indeed gifted & talented? Not that it would make any bit of difference but would just perhaps help me know where I stand in terms of my own understanding of her abilities 😂🙈 tia

She very much sounds how my son did at that age and he is still very bright aged 7, he began reading at 3.
Just encourage her as long as she is having fun, she sounds delightful 😀

(I have no idea about the whole gifted scale) I was told My son had reading capability of an 11 year old in his first year at school, but scales of measuring it were never mentioned. It really makes no odds though, they just become there own little people.
The one issue I have had is my son cant deal with not being able to do something! He is used to flying through learning so if he comes across anything he can’t do, he struggles with that. He is also bored easily. I don’t know if these will be issues for you though x

My first daughter was very much like that at that age. I don't know if you can tell to be honest. I think some develop very fast and then others catch up. On the flip side I thought my son was pretty dim at that age whereas he is now the "gifted" one at school and top of his year group of 60. My older daughter who always presented as the bright one is just run of the mill bright in comparison. Their baby sister is still not talking at at all at 15 months but understands everything that's said to her and I know she isn't stupid despite the language delay! All you can do is keep encouraging her and nurturing her interests and I guess only time will tell. To be honest though, in my experience being very bright is probably a better place to be than gifted when it comes to school, at least!

It sounds like you already have a good understanding of her abilities without needing an unnecessary label for it. Enjoy your little girl.

Aw thank you ladies for your lovely messages. In a way I am relieved to know she is like other bright children and not ‘gifted’ especially i know its best from school point of view as nellsbells said! Tattybogle she is indeed lot of fun! She started going to nursery since last week and ‘delightful’ is the word that they are using for her :) yes i too dont believe in any scale and as lovelyjubily said I have good understanding that she is doing well so i’ll keep going :)
I was just wondering if I could get any recommendations on books for this age here...what do you think about particular series of books? Like oxford tea tree biff chip and clipper julia donladson Usborne etc? I know perhaps too early but i want to buy something for her book shelf! So far we have been having random books from library which she enjoys a lot xx

HI Ellie

www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/qs_product_tbp?productId=218821&catalogId=10051&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIppf66IKW2QIVb7HtCh3ONgbHEAAYASAAEgIh_PD_BwE

These are the collection I used with my son , Julia donaldson. (Bargain aswell!) I didn’t want to step on the schools toes when he started, or have him bored of biff and chip before he started so I chose these as the school didn’t use them.
They are fab and my son was reading the first stage at 3years old , he enjoyed the silly stories also. Nothing too serious and they gradually get more difficult. Huge colourful pictures too.
They definitely helped my son to read and enjoy reading x

it's really difficult to know at that age. She does sound bright, and I hope she carries on learning well, but by comparison DS2 could count backwards in 3s from 30 at around 20 months, could put digits in the correct order (not just reciting the numbers but if I'd jumble up number fridge magnets he would put them back in order within seconds). At 3 he understood and could figure out percentages, fractions, negative numbers and at around 4 he asked me 'what is the biggest negative number mum' (to which I still haven't found an answer).

He is now in year 6, doing great in maths (G&T), and wants to be a pilot. Has always been top of his class in maths. He wasn't identified as G&T before year 3 at school though. Before that they would just say that he was bright and advanced.

Whoa twofishfingers! I would defo call your son gifted with all that talent! No my DD is definitely no where near that! But you have given me several ideas to challenge her. She does jumble the numbers in correct order but no other things like negative numbers etc. Did you son mean -1 being the biggest as if you go further, the digit go big but their value goes smaller..i just wonder!🙈😂

Anyway, thank you sharing your sons abilities. It feels good to know about such bright children out there :)

Tattyboggle, thanks so much. I had actually thought the same thing and your recommendation made me order that one straight away :)

Anyone any other tips on how I could help my little girl to continue progressing well? Ofcourse not so serious ideas as I want her to enjoy and learn :)

Thanks in advance xxxxx

I remember a doctor commenting once on a picture of a person our daughter had drawn in hospital, she was very little and had added all the detail, eyebrows, hair, fingers etc. Apparently that was a good sign!
She had severe speech delay so we couldn't gauge anything based on her speech, and she still has issues with articulation. But she was a quick reader once she started in school, and reached the last stage in her infant school by year 2. And is on free reading in her current year 4. So I don't think when they start reading really matters that much. It's how quick they progress, and that can fluctuate due to many things.
One thing we always thought was unusual, was her ability to complete 50+ piece jigsaws before she was 18 months. Our other child had never shown an interest. And she could work out how to unpick locks and open things she shouldn't!
So we weren't surprised when her spatial & NVR iq tests scored really high. I wouldn't worry too much about getting them to start on things 'early', I would be more inclined to let them navigate to what they are interested in. Our daughter never liked reading, didn't start until school, still doesn't read very much, yet has a very high verbal IQ and has a reading comprehension age 3years + beyond her actual age. We just don't push it anymore. And funnily enough..she now likes to read books about science or geography..it's what interests her. And that's what matters. Good luck to you both! Am sure she'll do great.

Thankyou schoolquery for sharing your DD’s story. I agree with your message to not push. I defo wouldn’t be doing that. I just want to give DD choices. If she doesn’t like it- no problem! Move on..important thing is for her to continue to learn from play and enjoyments.

You’re right their abilities can fluctuate and depends on so many things. I have to just focus on her environment being safe and healthy.

Gosh! Your DD has some real fine abilities! Good luck to you both too! Hope she catches up with her articulation soon xx

She sounds lovely!
Just as a contrast to twofishfingers - at 18 months my ds could only say 2 words and had only just started walking. By 3 however, he could add subtract understand fractionscdcdxc, read simple words. By 6 he was asking about algebra and by 11 was doing A level maths problems! He was identified in Y1 as being gifted but before that we despaired that he would do anything at the right time. (We later figured out he won't attempt something until he can do it perfectly.)
Now age 16, he can barely speak intelligibly, can't bathe without prompting (but has many other talents - ie a normal teenager!).
what I have learnt is that it is almost impossible to push a really bright child - they will push themselves onwards and a parents job is to support and make opportunities available. My ds would/will never do anything he absolutely doesn't want to do but will seek out opportunities himself (like arranging to not attend maths lessons at secondary and teach himself the A level syllabus (and the Head of Maths agreed!)
If you love her and support her, she'll do great.

Georgeherbert! just managed to log onto mumsnet after quite a while and found your last message! Thank you for such a lovely post. I liked the ‘normal teenager’ thing! Lol 😂 yes we will try our best give her best nurturing and by Almighty’s grace, she will find her own way xx

I agree with others that there is so much change in development for young kids and while there is some correlation with kids who progress early at first to go on to be bright it's by no means guaranteed. Often it's just a case of developing quickly and then their peers catching up. Girls in particular seem to more often develop quite early. Advice would be to keep encouraging her but definitely don't set up any expectations because it really is far too early to tell.