<span style="font-family:Georgia">Name:

Names and ages of your children (all):

Which child(ren) is gifted?:

Has your child(ren) tested gifted or do you just know?:

Does your gifted child(ren) attend public school, private school, or homeschool?:

Does your child have any disabilities or other issues that often go along with being gifted?:

Anything else you would like to share???:</span>

[Heidi77]

Name: Heidi

Names and ages of your children (all): Elijah (November 12th, 2001) and Ezekiel (August 11th, 2005)

Which child(ren) is gifted?: Elijah

Has your child(ren) tested gifted or do you just know?: no formal testing as of yet, just input from several teachers and people in the school system.

Does your gifted child(ren) attend public school, private school, or homeschool?: public, in the enrichment program

Does your child have any disabilities or other issues that often go along with being gifted?: no disabilities, but some social development issues.

Anything else you would like to share???: Elijah taught himself to read when he was 4, because I got tired of standing over him and reading all of his science websites to him. He now reads at a grade 4 level (just completed kindergarten and won't be 6 until November) and has a vast knowledge of science and computers. His favorite reading material is non-fiction science that is meant for 10-12 year olds. He tends to have a hard time relating to kids his own age and gets frustrated when they get things wrong or don't understand what he's talking about. He doesn't play with toys but loves collecting gadgets, tools, and random items like spark plugs and fuses.

Welcome!! Sounds like your son is very smart indeed!

[Lilysmommy]

Name:

Names and ages of your children (all): Lily (3 in Sept) & Thor (15 months)

Which child(ren) is gifted?: Lily

Has your child(ren) tested gifted or do you just know?: I only suspect so far

Does your gifted child(ren) attend public school, private school, or homeschool?: She will go to preschool next year and I am in the process of researching to fins the best school for her

Does your child have any disabilities or other issues that often go along with being gifted?: not that I know of

Anything else you would like to share???: Truthfully I don't know if Lily is gifted or not, she certainly is well above all the other children her age and I always get comments. She did all her milestones early and was talking in full sentences by 18 months. She potty trained herself (I have to admit mommy was not ready yet but she had different ideas). She knew her abc's at 15 months and shortly after 1-10...just after she turned 2 she came to me one day and counted to 10 in spanish...something I had never taught her (guess i can than Dora for that one!) Our family adores music and she seems to have picked up on that...she is such a sponge when it comes to music and song...she can hear a song once and sing it back to you. I am anxious to send her to school because I myself am no where near gifted and I really want to be able to let her talents grow and grow.

[annarector]

Hi All

Children: 4 Olivia 10, Kayla almost 7, Cari 4.5 Maddy 2.5

Gifted: Olivia is a low achieving gifted. She has recieved straight A's (probably only a few B's on any paper/test her whole life) and has aced almost every TAKS test( state assesment). In 2nd grade she received between 95-99% on every subject of the standardized test they took. However, she never studies, does not read very often, and shows a lack of motivation for doing any extra. If and when she comes to a subject she may have to actually study for she's going to be in big trouble! She is gifted in music as well-she taught herself how to play the clarinet when she was 8. She knew how to call grandma and could carry on full phone conversations before she was 2, and potty-trained herself at 16 mos.

Kayla is my scary-smart gifted one. She taught herself how to read when she was 3 or so. She reads anything and everything. She loves to write stories. We buy up as many of those spiral bound notebooks when they go on sale for 10 cents before school starts... She will go through 4 or 5 of them, She memorized her addition and subtraction facts with her sister (3 yrs older). When we lived in IL, you could test your children into Kindergarten early. The pyschologist report said that she had the most advanced reasoning skills she had ever seen in a child that young and estimated her IQ above 140. Unfortunately we moved to TX ,and they do not let children in to K early no matter what.

Caroline and Maddy-Caroline is definitely not gifted, she is actually a little behind where she should be. She just has had no interest in letters or sounds until very recently. Maddy is advanced in some things, but it is hard to tell at that age whether it is just the exposure she gets from her older sisters or if it is something more.

Disabilities? Kayla did not talk at all until she was past her 2nd birthday. We were going through all types of testing and speech therapy, and then one day she started talking. Literally at Thanksgiving you had to coax and prod her to say momma or dada, and on Christmas she was singing Christmas songs and talking up a storm. Maddy did not walk until she was 16 mos. and still does not talk clearly.

School-We are currently doing public schools with enrichment.

[AmAnDaMo]

Name: Amanda

Names and ages of your children (all): Ky is 6 and Kaybs is 2

Which child(ren) is gifted?: Ky (difficult to tell yet with Kaybs, but I think I have a classic example of gifted vs. bright with my 2 children)

Has your child(ren) tested gifted or do you just know?: There really isn't a reason to test her at this point. They don't take the children out of class for the gifted program until 2nd grade. Her kindergarten teacher suggested that I talk with the gifted teacher at our parent/teacher conference and after talking to her, we've decided it's not necessary right now. If she were tested gifted, the gifted teacher would just work closely with her regular teacher to help her figure out ways to challenge her. She's worked closely with Ky's teacher in the past and said she is excellent in that regard...and since she identified it and talked to me about it, she's aware and is giving her what she needs right now. Should her 1st grade teacher not give her what she needs, we'd consider it at that point.

Does your gifted child(ren) attend public school, private school, or homeschool?: started kindergarten in public school

Does your child have any disabilities or other issues that often go along with being gifted?: no

Anything else you would like to share???: I'm so glad I found this forum. I was browsing the site, found this forum, and am excited to share things with other parents of gifted children.

[Charizomai]

Name: Stephanie

Names and ages of your children (all): Jaden 5, Kalli 4

Which child(ren) is gifted?: Jaden , possibly Kalli

Has your child(ren) tested gifted or do you just know?: Not tested. Our state doesnt do testing before 2nd grade. Mostly from input from his preschool teachers, his Kindergarten teacher and his Sunday school teachers.

Does your gifted child(ren) attend public school, private school, or homeschool?: He is in public Kindergarten, Kalli is in our Church's preschool

Does your child have any disabilities or other issues that often go along with being gifted?: No

Anything else you would like to share???: He is quite talented. He picks up on things so easy and was logging onto and playing on the internet at 17 months old. At age four, He knew several square roots. His fave his the square root of 81. He loves addition, and subtraction and can do large numbers as well. He is reading on a 2nd grade level. On the Dibbles testing, the goal at his age is an 8 and he got a 23 on the first part and on the 2nd part he recieved a 57.

[YukiSumah]

Name: Gaya

Names and ages of your children (all): Mačva (almost 5) and Nadjat (almost 3)

Which child(ren) is gifted?: Mačva

Has your child(ren) tested gifted or do you just know?: She is not tested, but everyone that met her (including my SO and family) think she is very smart and gifted. Since she's my first child and I don't have any kids around, I couldn't realize that.

Does your gifted child(ren) attend public school, private school, or homeschool?: We Homeschool And she loves school!

Does your child have any disabilities or other issues that often go along with being gifted?: She has a lot of energy and have to "be stimulated" almost none-stop! Or she gets bored!

[mom-2-3-kids]

Name: Susan

Names and ages of your children (all): Sophie (6), Corey (4 1/2), Sadie (21 months)

Which child(ren) is gifted?: Corey

Has your child(ren) tested gifted or do you just know?: Yes, he was assessed by a child psychologist.

Does your gifted child(ren) attend public school, private school, or homeschool?: He is in preschool and will be in jr. K next year. He'll start public school in the Fall of '09

Does your child have any disabilities or other issues that often go along with being gifted?: He has behavioral issues, his preschool teacher thought he had ADD or ODD. I believe his behavior issues are around being bored and being frustrated. His fine motor skills and his gross motor skills aren't as advanced as his intellect is.

Anything else you would like to share???: I could never figure out why my son was different, he was never "normal" and drove his preschool teachers crazy. I was really starting to believe there was something "wrong" with him. I am so glad I got him assessed and found out he is just really smart and didn't let anyone label him with ADD or ODD or some other thing. But I also wish people would realize gifted does not equal easy - these kids are challenging!

[Mud235]

Name: Stefanie

Names and ages of your children (all): Gavin (5)

Which child(ren) is gifted?: Gavin

Has your child(ren) tested gifted or do you just know?: I just know. He is getting evaluated next month.

Does your gifted child(ren) attend public school, private school, or homeschool?: public school for now.

Does your child have any disabilities or other issues that often go along with being gifted?: He has some speech problems like substituting different letters for words (ex: thirsty is pronounces sirsty). I have fought for years to get him into speech therapy and just these past 2 weeks is it finally getting addressed.

Anything else you would like to share???: My son didn't really speak too much before age 2, but he was extremely mechanically inclined from about 8 months on. He loves to put things together and take them apart. But if you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up its " a dinosaur bone hunter (he can't say palentologist) and an olympic swimmer (something else he is talented at).

[ragmama]

Name: Kristin

Names and ages of your children (all): Rachael (4 1/2) and Amelia (8 months)

Which child(ren) is gifted?: Rachael...Amelia is a bit too young to tell, although she has always been very alert and has a few words already. Time will tell.

Has your child(ren) tested gifted or do you just know?: Never tested. We homeschool, and I've noticed that she's advanced in several areas.

Does your gifted child(ren) attend public school, private school, or homeschool?: Homeschool

Does your child have any disabilities or other issues that often go along with being gifted?: None yet...

Anything else you would like to share???: I'm more than a little intimidated about homeschooling an advanced child...I'm afraid I won't be able to keep up, or keep her stimulated enough, or not push her to do more than she's ready for. I just want to do things "right" for her.

[4wildflowers]

Name: Heather

Names and ages of your children (all): Jake 9, Shane 5, Brynne 2, Claire 9 months

Which child(ren) is gifted?: Jake

Has your child(ren) tested gifted or do you just know?: He was tested at the end of last school year (3rd grade), and placed at a 7th grade level.

Does your gifted child(ren) attend public school, private school, or homeschool?: Public

Does your child have any disabilities or other issues that often go along with being gifted?: No

Anything else you would like to share???: I've always known there was something different about him. He just seems wise beyond his years. Also, he never attended any preschool and was still 4 when he entered Kindergarten. He excelled immediately. Every year I'd get comments from his teachers that he gets bored easily, and constantly has to be challenged. Last year his teacher mentioned she had to find extra projects and lessons for Jake to keep him challenged. Jake excels in everything... not only academics, but in sports as well. She's the one who finally recommended him for the testing.

[maui13]

Name: Demi

Names and ages of your children (all): Georganne is 8 and Addison is 6

Which child(ren) is gifted?: Both

Has your child(ren) tested gifted or do you just know?: Georganne never slept as a baby she was incredibly alert to everything. She taught herself to read by 3. She has always been a perfectionist and very high achiever. In Kindergarten she was sent to the gifted teacher for enrichment. In 2nd grade they did formal testing and now this year (3rd grade) she is in a Gifted and Talented classroom. She is doing very well. Addison learned to read at about 4. Not as self motivated as Georgie but a very high achiever nonetheless. She is in first grade now and they tested her at a 4th grade reading level. She will not be formally tested for gifted until next year.

Does your gifted child(ren) attend public school, private school, or homeschool?: public

Does your child have any disabilities or other issues that often go along with being gifted?: none

Anything else you would like to share???: glad to be here

[Sirena]

Name: Sirena

Names and ages of your children (all): Gabriel, age 7. Michael, age 4

Which child(ren) is gifted?: Both. Gabriel seems to be inclined more towards reading, science, math and philosophical debate. Michael tends to be inclined towards reading, language, math and understanding how things work.

Has your child(ren) tested gifted or do you just know?: My oldest child has been tested but I always knew that he was gifted. I have a degree in Early Childhood so I saw many of the signs in both of my children at a young age. Gabriel is a very deep person. He has a drive where he needs to have everything figured out. He can't know just the basics, he needs to know everything. He is an excellent debater and he has a lot of questions. At three he became obsessed with redemption theory and told me his job on earth was to redeem everyone. When he was 4, he became intrigued by volcanoes and learned everything he could about them. Then he went before a grade 6 class and taught them about volcanos, which they were studying. The information was so accurate the teacher gave a pop quiz on his information. He was tested in grade one and performs at 1 to 5 grade levels above his current grade depending on the area. Most of them were at a 3 to 5 grade level higher. Michael has not been tested but he started identifying letters at the age of 15 months. At two, he became obsessed with the milky way and began learning everything about galaxies, universes and space. He can label all of the arms in the milky way galaxy. He has a very good memory and can recall things from when he was 2 and he is very good at figuring things out. Taking them apart, rebuilding them and so on. Both of them were having full give and take conversations with 3 to 5 word sentences by 15 months of age and their vocabulary at 18 months was well into the hundreds.

Does your gifted child(ren) attend public school, private school, or homeschool?: Both of my children attend Catholic School.

Does your child have any disabilities or other issues that often go along with being gifted?: Gabriel has a slow to warm up temperament which has led to some problems and many people believing that he has a disability, however, a developmental pediatrician says that he has no disorders. He does have a problem conforming to what people expect and, in the words of the pediatrician, "He doesn't feel like he needs to listen to anyone that isn't smarter than him and unfortunately very few people are." Michael also has a slow to warm up temperament and he doesn't have any disabilities but he does have obsessive compulsive tendencies when it comes to washing his hands. We are hoping that he will grow out of it but again, the pediatrician wasn't surprised by us having two gifted children.

Anything else you would like to share???:I'm glad to have found this forum. I often feel overwhelmed by everything. My oldest has a hard time with change and he also has had a difficult time conforming to school life. Add to that all of their theories on how life should be and the never ending research just to keep up with them, I often feel like I'm failing somehow.

Edited to say that Michael is also musically gifted. He picks up on beats very quickly and at two he was humming classical songs accurately.

[BensMom]

Name: Chrystal

Names and ages of your children (all): Ben (3 years), Daniel (2.5 mos)

Which child(ren) is gifted?: Ben, possibly Daniel

Has your child(ren) tested gifted or do you just know?: Not old enough for testing yet. I recognize things because I was in the gifted program and because I have an education degree. (K-12 music with science minor)

Does your gifted child(ren) attend public school, private school, or homeschool?: Not old enough for school. Ben was in an accellerated preschool for 4 months last year, but he was bored so we took him out. We haven't decided what we'll do about kindergarten yet.

Does your child have any disabilities or other issues that often go along with being gifted?: Not sure yet, but maybe a touch of social anxiety. He does get bored easily in certain settings, but he usually has a great attention span and can come up with something to do on his own.

Anything else you would like to share???: Ben said his first word at 4 months and had about 10 words by 6 months. Daniel has already said "I love you" and "mom" just as plain as day, but it's not consistent yet. Ben knew all his colors, numbers, and shapes at 18 mos and started reading at age 2. He potty trained himself shortly after age 2. He's very musically gifted, but his dad and I are both musicians as well. He's very imaginative, and he has an incredible memory. He's not over-the-top gifted, but he's definitely gifted.

[Wichapi]

Name: Wichapi

Names and ages of your children (all): VineButterfly (23), LunaFrog (21), LaughingHorse (18), WinterBear (16), StarDancer (9)

Which child(ren) is gifted?: They all are, in different ways.
VB - Communication, Spirituality, History and Arts
LF - Acting, Arts and Spirituality.
LH - Athletic, Natural Sciences, Spirituality
WB - Music, Natural Sciences, Digital Media
SD - Multi Talented - All of the above and more we haven't discovered yet.

Has your child(ren) tested gifted or do you just know?:
Yes, but we quickly discarded the paper trail and let our kids just be themselves without test scores.

Does your gifted child(ren) attend public school, private school, or homeschool?:
We started homeschooling with our oldest. Each one has attended different education models.
Currently, The youngest is homeschooled and attends an alternative school part time.
Our 16 year old attends the local high school in an alternative program for "bored" gifted kids.


Does your child have any disabilities or other issues that often go along with being gifted?:
Food allergies made some of them appear to have ADHD, ODD and Bipolar symptoms, however, once we recognized what they were and only eat organic foods, those symptoms have gone away and they are now mostly calm zen like kids who are a pleasure to be around.

Anything else you would like to share???:
not at the moment.

[lilian1976]

Names and ages of your children (all): Erin is just over 2 years old

Which child(ren) is gifted?:

Has your child(ren) tested gifted or do you just know?: She hasn't been tested yet, not sure what we need to do

Does your gifted child(ren) attend public school, private school, or homeschool?: She is too young for school

Does your child have any disabilities or other issues that often go along with being gifted?: no

Anything else you would like to share???:


Hi I'm new here, this looks like a great place for help and advice.

Erin is 2 years old, she is able to read over 500 words now, knows alphabet, colors. she is advancing very quickly.
here she is
my little darling

We aren't sure what our options or path we need to take with her education as she gets older

[HS&Fsmom]

Names and ages of your children (all): Hugo, 14 mos. now- expecting baby brother Sergio in October!

Which child(ren) is gifted?: I'm posting here for advice for Hugo.

Has your child(ren) tested gifted or do you just know?: Hugo always hit milestones significantly early; now at 14 mos. his vocab. is somewhere at 75 words (English and Spanish), several signs, and he identifies some numbers and letters. I logged on here today after he identified how to spell frog, dog, golf and Hugo. He is definitely going to be an early reader and I want to keep up with his learning needs. He already "reads" books aloud via signs and simple words and has for months.

He also does very well with both gross and fine motor (climbs well, throws, walks backward, unscrews small tops- even childproof ones ), has done pretend play since about 8 mos., and has a sense of humor that I would call advanced. (i.e., asks me "Blow" on his whistle, then stops up the hole so it won't make a sound, and laughs. ) I would say he's much more like a 2-year-old than a one-year-old in all areas. He is also potty training.

His dad and I were in advanced classes in public school as kids- we will have him tested for those when it's appropriate, I'm sure.

Does your gifted child(ren) attend public school, private school, or homeschool?: He stays f-t with a nanny (his grandma) who is a retired teacher of pre K through 3. I feel that's where he's getting a lot of his stimulation- right now he's at home with me b/c I work a 10-month job with year-round breaks.

When he's older we're hoping to put him in the Spanish immersion public school.

Does your child have any disabilities or other issues that often go along with being gifted?: None known.

Anything else you would like to share???: I feel like a bit of a freak in other forums where Hugo's skills are advanced compared to other kids his age. Even his peers (who are high functioning kids from educated families) don't quite have the same skill levels and have not throughout the first year.

I definitely don't push him and definitely don't flashcard him, and we also seriously limit TV- most days I do not turn it on and I could count on one hand the number of times I have let him watch a limited amount of PBS. He does a lot of free play and reading.

I don't want to label my own kid, but feel that he probably will fit in on this forum! Thanks for any help and advice- especially as baby #2 comes along. I am sure their needs will be different just as their personalities will be.