Signs in 18 month old

[londonloves]

Not going to post what he can do and ask if that means he's gifted, as those threads seem to get nasty.
If your older child is now classed as gifted and talented, were there early indications and what were they?

DS is frequently described as gifted by his teachers. His favourite subject is maths and he is very good at it. Thing is that it’s a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy- he loves maths so he spends a lot of time doing it so he is very good at it so he loves it more and does some more and gets even better at it. He loves puzzles and approaches a lot of things as though they are puzzles to decode.
He took up the guitar a few years ago and loved it, not for the music so much (although he does enjoy music) but because music provides a great academic challenge, he loved decoding it. He learnt to read long before he started school because he really enjoyed solving it.
He is 9 yo now and a very happy, positive, social boy who loves school and sport. Pretty much everything he turns his hand to he is reasonably good at within a short period of time because he will practice relentlessly until he is good at it.
So yes he is gifted but I see all the hard work that he puts in to getting gifted. A lot of it is natural skill but most of it is his happiness to put in that extra work.

The other real sign was in maths, we bought a couple of the orchard games when she was 3 and she knew all her numbers etc without us actually teaching them - she's odd, still is, very few works but knows everything, that's autism for you.

I have been trying to remember what it was about DS at 18 months that may have marked him as gifted. He was a late talker and needed speech therapy (well apparently I did as he was actually too young for therapy). He was over a year old when he walked, though he did crawl at the expected age.
What really stood out was his attention to things like letters and numbers, even as a tiny baby if he heard me counting all his attention would be on me. He started nursery when he was 12months and LOVED it! They had one of those noisy push button alphabet toys that gave the letter then said it phonetically, within a few weeks he knew his alphabet and sounds from playing with that. By age 2 he could recognise most early reader words from books and we realised that he was reading road signs when he got very upset that we were drinking water in the car after the sign had said ‘don’t drink and drive’.
I can’t remember when he learnt to count but I do remember playing simple adding and subtracting games with him to keep him amused on car journeys when he was 2ish. Things like ‘let’s count to 100 in 3’s!’.
He is a funny little boy, not odd but quirky. He isn’t ASD as far as I can tell. Although a number of people have suggested it as a possibility, especially in the early years (health visitor, speech therapist and reception teacher). As he has grown up it has seemed less and less likely as his only “problem” is his fantasy imagined world.

My ds has just got his report from reception and is exceeding expectations in 14 of the 17 areas.
As a baby and toddler he was very verbal. Spoke clearly and sang clearly from about 18 months (conversations, first word was 8 months). Could recite books at aged just 2 (I have a video of him retelling Stick Man to his sister when she was 4 months so he was 2 years and 1 month).
Also very friendly. Chats to anyone. And very particular. Doesn't like mess. He could feed himself with a spoon at 8 months, I remember his childminder commenting on it.

I was doing a storytime for work and at one point had a sole customer who looked about 18 months old. He fetched me Room on the Broom, obviously understood it and was reciting half the lines. I thought he was likely to grow into a bright kid but obviously I will never know!!

Both my dds could do what your ds can do at 18 months.

Dd1 is very good at school, always top of class through primary and top 10 in her year, probably, maybe higher in secondary. Will do well at GCSEs, school suits her.

Dd2 does averagely well at school, although at times seems brighter than her sister, just doesn’t strive for greatness or test as well. She will do what she does and get what she gets.

I wouldn’t say that either are gifted in any way, despite both being very precocious as little kids. I was the same and while I’m not stupid, I’m definitely no where near being gifted.

Just enjoy your little for who he is. I did find that being able to talk well meant they didn’t have so many tantrums at 1 or 2, but be prepared for a great vocabulary for constant moaning at around 3!

DD knew letters and phonics by two and could count to 100. She's bright. Time will tell how bright but working two years above at school. She's with her peers though socially.

We thought DS wasn't as clever but he's two and has an incredible memory for languages and can do 200 piece Jigsaws plus count to 50 and knows other numbers by sight between 50 and 100 but gets them in the wrong order. Can read CVC words and do some blended phonics but probably because his sister teaches him them and he's a sponge.

We are just throwing activities at them - swimming, gym etc. to teach resilience. I suspect their peers will catch up and we want them to be mentally prepared for it.

At 18 months Dd could spot our car by car reg (there were two identical looking cars). Also at 2 when we asked her "what happens when sun goes down" she replied "you see the moon and stars". She also remembered all her friends' house numbers. She's always had high observational skills and a very quick learner

My brother was g&t. You were able to have a conversation with him in 2 languages by the time he was 18 months old, and he would apply maths. It was virtually impossible, even at 18 months, to fool him or trick him when it came to accepting less of a share of sweets or cakes. Then when he was 3 it became obvious he had something special because he would help my older brother with his homework by doing seemingly impossible calculations in his head quicker than my older brother could use a calculator.

Throughout school my brother got the maximum possible marks - SATs, GCSEs A Levels and his degree.

Wow OP that is impressive. Must be amazing to see your child learn so much so fast. My little one is a bit older and although he is nowhere near doing all that it still is lovely to watch him grow.

At the age of approx 2-3: Briefly looked at the price of a tin of baked beans (amongst other things) in Sainsbury’s.....much later that day we went to Waitrose and she had remembered exactly how much they were at the first shop (also wasn’t told she’d need to remember this).

Being gifted isn’t a blessing. I could hold a conversation by 12m and identify letters by 18m, able to read at 3. Top in everything at school. Suffered from anxiety because I was worried I wouldn’t get top marks this time. Frequently just dumped in the library because I was already able to do what the rest of the class was learning. Or used as a teaching assistant to teach the other kids. By 12 I was writing at undergraduate standard and teachers were using me to help with their prep work. Bullied mercilessly for always being top and excluded by my peer group. Struggled to relate to people as an adult because the intellectual gap was too great. Completed a PhD which wasted years of my life when I should have been working and earning money to enjoy myself and pay into a pension. Subsequently rejected for jobs because I was regarded as too academic and overqualified. Employers don’t want to employ a brain box who they’re worried will show them up or take their jobs. They just want someone adequate who’ll be fun to hang out with at lunchtime.

Seriously, being average is a wonderful thing. Success, wealth and happiness isn’t dependent on intelligence - being too smart actually makes those things harder to achieve. Just enjoy your child.

DS1 is/was v bright. I can’t remember what he did at 18m but he could read fluently by 3.5, he’s 7 and in Y3 and has finished the entire primary maths curriculum, has a reading age well above his peers, is top of a top set (according to his teacher) at a London prep school and plays two instruments to roughly Grade 6 standard (we won’t be taking exams till next summer). You had to explain something to him once, especially in maths and he ‘got it.’ He has exceptional concentration and incredible work ethic when it comes to his music. I watched him work on a difficult piece for 25 mins today, he went over the same passage, correcting mistakes, refining it, writing down his own notes (which I read later and were notes about how expressively he thought the piece should be played). His knowledge of music theory is also exceptional.
Otherwise he’s a funny, sensitive, shy and lovely boy who has a huge group of friends. When he was a bit younger I worried that he was on the spectrum but he’s clearly not.

His brother is nearly 3 and not quite so virtuosic. But he can read simple sentences and add and subtract. He’s incredibly funny, full of joy and hugely popular in preschool.

Mine is still little, but at the end of reception he got 'exceeding expectations' in all 17 areas.
At 18 months he could recite Stick Man, the entire book, and sing lots of songs. He has a very good memory.

14 not 17 areas.