Is my 5 year old gifted?

[SayWhatNowYall]

Confused by the whole ‘G&T’ thing, as it doesn’t seem to exist in our area. However, DS appears to be extremely bright. At 5 y/o he is free-reading, his vocabulary and communication level is (according to his teacher) university level. His general maths ability (as far as we have introduced maths) is at least y3 level, but in some aspects (e.g. conceptual understanding) is at secondary level.

He has lots of friends, is very happy at school, and fits in well. The only area he struggles with slightly is handwriting.

I’m confused about what to do about year 1. He’s spent the summer reading chapter books and doing complicated division. Although he was given higher targets in his report (which he mastered by the second week of holidays) he will go back into a phonics group (top groups) and will doing fairly basic maths (number bonds and place value, etc.) as the school doesn’t appear to allow kids to be taught above their year.

Any advice?

Buy the kid a jigsaw. And relax.

At five I wouldn’t do anything. Let school start and after a couple terms see what the teachers/head thinks. But then what are your options? To accelerate would mean missing his peer group and I’m not sure what the ultimate success rate of doing this.
But I would slow down and just see what happens.

let him be a kid and enjoy school. I found school stupidly easy meaning I needed to do zero work and still came out with top grades. I'm glad my parents just let me get on with it and didn't push me in to doing constantly harder stuff. School isn't just about academics, it's about learning to be a well rounded person and get along with your peers. He doesn't need hot housing and coaching to foster his inner genius, he needs to just be a normal kid that happens to be bright

Slightly different perspective, My ds1 is very academically advanced (no boasting here it's just a fact - I am the least pushy aren't ever) and has sat his first lot of GCSEs at 11, he also attends a uni program and is home educated as school was not appropriate.
In your position I would talk to his teachers about the ways in which they intend to challenge and extend him basically to ensure that he progresses but I wouldn't do too much else. He does sound bright, but only time will tell whether this is 'exceptional' or ahead iyswim.

Leave him be until he's much older.

I’m confused about what to do about year 1

Let him be a year 1 kid 🤷‍♀️

His vocabulary and communication is university level? Ok...

My ds1 was like this. Got top marks in Y6 SATS in Y1, free reading at 4, properly scarily gifted. His writing really was at undergraduate level in primary school. There were some issues with boredom etc, but not as much as you might think, because he had some great teachers who were more than capable of differentiating.

I would advise you to stay calm on the academic front and concentrate on building social skills and emotional intelligence. DS1 was diagnosed with Aspergers at age 6 and has had a terrible time, especially in adolescence, with bullying, anxiety and mental health difficulties. He's predicted all 9s in his GCSEs (getting results next week) but in the event we were just relieved he was able to go into school and sit the exams at all. Academically he's incredible but he's also quite impaired in some respects and has needed as much support as any other child, just in different areas. Beware of teachers who get starry-eyed about your son's abilities and make silly choices that single him out (like the Y1 teacher who thought it would be a lark to put my ds1 through the Y6 SATS papers at 5yo and then told the Y6 students that he had beaten them, he really paid for that in the playground )

Question.. How has your ds gained university level vocabulary at age

Is he surrounded by highly academic family who talk to him like he's an adult rather than a child. I can't see how else he would pick it up

frasersmummy, in our case by reading. Voraciously. And yes, he did have the classic "little professor" very adult way of communicating that is often characteristic of HFA, so that is how we related to him. We didn't push, coach or hothouse him and his brother is completely different.

It's rare, but it does happen. I've taught one child like this as well (who was also pretty blatantly on the spectrum).

Forget the "stretching" and challenging and extending and all that garbage. He may be bright, but he is in essence just a little boy, who will not struggle with academia, but has other things he needs to learn that are just as (if not more) important to his future happiness.

It is so easy to see these children as mini-adults rather than the children that they truly are.

I have a GS like this - he goes to the local school and has learned to mix with so many children from different walks of life and of differing abilities. He is popular and happy in his own skin - the pother children affectionately call him "The Prof" and often consult him about things they do not understand. He has no sense of superiority - he is just one of the lads.

Stand back and forget the whole G&T thing.

I found mine liked to play with a fraction pizza:
Learning Resources Pizza Fraction Fun Game www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00009XNTF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_OFgwDbNHJCHE4?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

I think my ds will enjoy this which I came across in a shop - as he likes maps as well as numbers (there is a division and decimal one too):
Times Table Explorer Logical Learning www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006ZJSYLM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

He did like this iPlayer programme on infinity:
What's the Big Idea?, 29. Infinity: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01sfj5y

He also likes numberblocks and octonauts programmes and a board game called hive.

I home ed my ds, but if he went to school I guess I would just see how it went next year. He might be fine and be fascinated with other stuff there. If he acts up or is unhappy then maybe speak to a teacher? Maybe they will let him get on with other stuff once he has finished class work?

My main concern that he’s doing all this (self motivated, honestly) learning all summer, then hits the brakes on starting yr1 and is bored and demotivated. It’s amazing to see how he learns. He genuinely loves complex maths. And yes, his vocabulary is phenomenal. DH and I are both academic and have reason in our professional lives to use an unusually wide and descriptive range of vocabulary. He has obviously absorbed it, but uses it all accurately and appropriately (and can give definitions).

I have no concerns socially at all. Some really close lovely friendships, great engagement in social extra curriculars.

I have several other children who are bright, but with much more effort. Only on MN do I hear about G&T programmes and all sorts, so thought I’d ask!

Most children have some gifts. You mean academically able. Lots of children are bright; very bright. Luckily most very bright children can occupy themselves very well during times others are listening to easy stuff - they have a gift of imagination.
You don’t need to do anything at all. Whilst they are happy and engaged all is well. Their ability won’t disappear and whilst others may catch up they’ll still come out with good exams at an appropriate age.

I would think, looking back, we should have supported ours to fail earlier and support them to struggle with something. We should have not focussed on what they found easy but what they found hard.

It’s also important to remember they are still little children and need little children things - having stories read to them, glueing and sticking and silliness.

Like PP’s he also reads widely and has a memory for dialogue on TV etc. He can recite and discuss the Shakespeare he’s watched.

Cherry yes, we do lots of silliness and he is very ‘little’ in other ways.

I like the idea of being supported to fail. Lots of things in the more physical realm he does not excel at!

Watching Shakespeare at 5 yrs old

Solitude yep, it’s even on CBeebies...

He watches plenty of Netflix too, I promise you 😘

That was meant to be 😬

Try and somehow (I have no idea how) to instil work ethic. I was an incredibly gifted child who loved to learn. My ego however was constantly massaged and I was fed a sort of 'she's so smart she doesn't even have to try'
I then came across subjects I wasn't gifted in, or projects that required time and effort rather than just understanding and recall and I began to fail (dissertation for example). The people I know who have PHD's weren't necessarily the gifted and smartest children from the youngest age, they are the ones who learnt to be studious and learnt how to work hard even when things are tough. Look into the 'growth mindset' for learning and education

Yes we protected our eldest dyspraxic but very bright child from sporting failure by allowing her to focus on more intellectual stuff. In hindsight she should have been allowed to develop a sense of imperfection earlier. Finding she was really quite ordinary at medical school was a hard lesson that came quite late.

Ours had ‘stretch’ built in through instrumental lessons and practice and French from nursery age. Drama was also good. School was never an issue, as long as there was suitable differentiation. They bought books in or used the library. They did project based learning so could work at their own level.

Chilli yes, this makes sense. We try very hard not to instil the need to practise and try at difficult things. I can see the potential fragility in always finding things easy...until you don’t! I did well but worked extremely hard. Never had that facility.

*Try to instil the need to practice!

Mine had lovely friendships at 5 as well. It all got a bit stickier later on. I'm not saying your child is on the spectrum (I have no idea) but I wouldn't rule it out if I were you.