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Gifted and talented

Talk to other parents about parenting a gifted child on this forum.

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Original poster

Is my 3 year old gifted?

63 replies

user2021 · 30/01/2021 14:08

No one I can really ask IRL as I'm worried I'd come across a bit PFB.

My just turned 3 year old (3yrs 1 month), seems to be particularly gifted in mathematics and problem solving. She could count before she could speak. In fact her speech is behind her peers and we are working with a speech therapist to help her along, but her numerical skills are impressive.

She understands basic addition and subtraction, for example: 5+2 or 6-1
And her puzzle solving skills are next level - she'll sit and complete a puzzle designed for 4 and 5 year olds, on her own without any help from me.

She goes to preschool in the mornings and the staff there say she is doing puzzles far beyond her years and loves anything to do with numbers.

Does this sound "gifted" or in the realm of 'normal' for just-turned-3 year olds?

And can anyone point me towards maths apps for kids?!

OP posts:

GuyFawkesDay · 30/01/2021 14:12

Sounds pretty bright but normal range to me.

My DD was able to read and do maths like this at 3. She was doing jigsaws a fair way above her age level so 40 piece ones.

She's definitely very bright but certainly not "gifted". Just let your DC enjoy learning.

Original poster

user2021 · 30/01/2021 14:16

Thank you @GuyFawkesDay! Yes, DDs doing 40+ piece puzzles and if she's done the puzzle before and there are missing piece of the puzzle, she'll know immediately (just by looking at the jumbled pieces on the floor in front of her) which I find really creepy!

How old is your DD now and how does she get on at school? And can you recommend any maths skills apps for us to try?

OP posts:

wardrobesandthebackofthem · 30/01/2021 14:19

I think it's probably too early to say.

Smartick would be great for her.

Original poster

user2021 · 30/01/2021 14:19

Thanks @wardrobesandthebackofthem !

OP posts:

wardrobesandthebackofthem · 30/01/2021 14:20

That is really interesting about the puzzle pieces. Can you tell me more able the speech delay?

wardrobesandthebackofthem · 30/01/2021 14:20

about

Fastedbrownie · 30/01/2021 14:21

Probably not.

ElfHatOnPicture · 30/01/2021 14:22

Urgh

bestbefore · 30/01/2021 14:22

You could get some of the orchard farm games rather than apps? They do shopping ones etc which are maths based games

TierFourTears · 30/01/2021 14:22

Sounds a bit like my youngest.
Now, aged 9 he is bright, and maths is particularly strong. But he's not off the scale.

NRich is good, and they have an early years (3-5) and primary section. We like the puzzles and games.

I'd also look at STEM toys. Tesselating shapes, magnets, marble runs were always popular.

grassisjeweled · 30/01/2021 14:23

She could count before she could speak

How?

kowari · 30/01/2021 14:24

The puzzles I think can be down to practice. My DS loved puzzles and was doing 24 piece ones labelled 3+ at 20 months and 100 piece ones at just turned 2. He then lost interest and moved on to Lego.

Janaih · 30/01/2021 14:25

Definitely bright and way above average for her age.
She could be doing differential calculus though and people on mn would say she was nothing special.

kowari · 30/01/2021 14:27

@grassisjeweled

She could count before she could speak

How?

I could hold up the right number of fingers when told a number before I was two, mostly non verbal until three.

Original poster

user2021 · 30/01/2021 14:30

Yes @wardrobesandthebackofthem, I scatter the puzzle pieces on the play at for her and she'll immediately recognise all the pieces aren't there and then says she doesn't want to do the puzzles because there are missing pieces.

Her speech isn't great. She is stringing together 3-4 word sentences but they're difficult to understand and pretty basic. She can't yet engage in conversation with me, so I'd ask "who are you friends at preschool?" and she can't (or won't?!) answer me.

I've taken her to GP and also spoken to speech therapist about possible ASD but she doesn't present as such. She's sociable - goes up to other children in the playground and want to play with them, gives cuddles and kisses, loves pretend play and small world scenarios etc.

OP posts:

MechantGourmet · 30/01/2021 14:31

@grassisjeweled

She could count before she could speak

How?

Most babies can count before they can speak...but it's usually hard to spot it. Babies as young as three months can differentiate between one, two, and more than two.

Devlesko · 30/01/2021 14:36

I don't know, looking back there were signs with dd, she had speech therapy too. Her gift/ talent isn't academic though, so not sure about Maths.
But, there is such a wide range of abilities and development at this age everything/ most is normal.
All you can do is encourage her interests, and facilitate resources/ toys that she enjoys.

ShinyGreenElephant · 30/01/2021 14:36

I'd say well above average but within the normal range, the missing puzzle pieces thing is funny though, I've never come across that myself and I taught eyfs for years.

I thought my oldest was some kind of reading / writing genius when she was little - she could read brilliantly by the time she turned 2, her speech has always been phenomenal and was writing well by 3 - full stories before she started reception. Shes 11 now and while she's very bright and always ahead at school, shes definitely not a genius. She still makes spelling and grammar mistakes at times, her stories are lots of fun but not amazing and she gave up on reading Lord of the Rings last year and just watched the movies. I think its really normal to think your first child is the most incredible, unimaginably gifted prodigy ever but that's very rarely the case.

Usermn78 · 30/01/2021 14:39

Normal I think. My 4 year old could do quite complex multiplication and division in their head, and I'm not on the phone to NASA.

TheVanguardSix · 30/01/2021 14:39

She sounds like she has an incredible (photgraphic) memory which would be in line with being gifted in the area of visual-spatial learning. She sounds incredibly bright.
What are her drawing skills like (just curious)?

Lucieintheskye · 30/01/2021 14:40

@grassisjeweled

She could count before she could speak

How?

Speech isn't the only form of communication. She may have been using 3 apples and 3 bananas to show she understood they were the same amount, holding up fingers or even recognising numbers (seeing 4 bananas and pointing at a number 4)

TheVanguardSix · 30/01/2021 14:42

I recommend magna-tiles and the Melissa and Doug Pattern Block Board.

Mylittlepony374 · 30/01/2021 14:43

The puzzle piece thing is interesting and really unusual at any age, I couldn't do that now in my 30s so she definitely has some extraordinary skills.
I'm not sure if that translates as gifted though. At 3 my daughter could also add/subtract with numbers up to 10 i thínk. Shes pretty smart for her age but I don't think she's gifted.

KatyClaire · 30/01/2021 14:43

She sounds way above average for age - definitely worth nurturing her mathematical skills.

naptimeismyhappytime · 30/01/2021 14:47

Sounds very similar to my middle child. His speech has always been a bit 'behind' but can count over 100, do simple sums, large puzzles, etc.... He is now 4 and his speech is getting much better, he now has fairly good conversation skills. We are trying to nurture his math skills and are now working on improving his reading/spelling.

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