Evaluation

My husband and I lived with my parents until my son was 3, so he was constantly surrounded by adults. By 18 months he was speaking in full sentences and by 2 he knew the alaphbet, numbers, colors, shapes, 1-10 in spanish, and how to hold a book to "read" (describe the pictures). However, socially he was jealous of other kids shy around them. We put him in preschool when he turned three, and it's been the best thing for him. There was a span of time of maybe 9 months when he seemed to plateau in his academic learning. He was still learning, but not at the rapid pace that he was before. But, he has come SOOO far with his social interaction and emotional control, it's amazing. And now that he's comfortable in his environment and with his peers, he's learning a lot again. He'll be 4 next month and can write his name and color within the lines and read and spell a few basic words.
So, he seems to be going in phases, and each phase has a purpose. People have mentioned to me that I should get him tested for giftedness, but I don't really want to push that on him. I know it's important to meet all his needs. I'm an elementary school teacher, so I know that he'll be challenged in school, and I also know there's more to school than academics. If kids can't get along with peers and feel accepted, they have a VERY hard time learning, no matter how smart they are.
This is just my experience. i hope it helped somehow.
Goodluck, and enjoy these fun times with your little one.

It's great having a very smart baby! But that is what he is still, a baby. Don't rush him at all. There is no need to find things like that out, what will you do if he is gifted right now? There isn't anything you can do at this age. Wait until he's in Nursery school, when he's 3. In Preschool (age 4) you'll truly find out what's going on with him, I'm sure. Even if he is gifted with knowledge, I woudln't push him into anything. He needs to stay with his peers, with kids his own age. I've have witnessed first hand a mother putting her son in higher, "better" classes due to her son being so smart for his age. He was picked on, pushed around, etc. Even in 1st grade! He eventually ended up staying back so he would be with his age group and he started to strive again. I'd hate to see another child go through that.
What ever you do decide, good luck with it. You know your child is very smart, that's all that matters.
Good luck!
~H.

Call your schools superintendents office They may have some leads.

Children's hospital in Boston may have some leads for you also.

Good luck

Good morning,
although he is doing terrific at learning, i agree with wendy. Don't rush him. Unless he is really into the letters and numbers and eager to sit and learn. He may be acting out in frustraion (the overly destructive i mean). If he is comming to you asking to learn more and not asking during the teaching to stop...keep going. As far as preschools go sounds like you are doing a great job already. But remember he will never be 2 again.. Good luck and best wishes..

Hi,
I'm so happy for you having such a smart little boy. My daughter at two could also identify all letters in the alphabet and was counting to 100 and able to identify shapes, colors, etc. When she got into preschool, though, she began to develop socially and that was the best thing for her, to be able to learn to interact with peers.
I agree with everyone, don't push your child. You mention he is destructive, you may want to actually look into that rather than pushing him further as that may only make that part worse. He may be destructive as a way to handle the frustration associated with the learning. Babies this age really should be playing because they learn especially well through play at this age.
Have fun, be proud and let the learning come!
Good luck.

Dont rush him! He's still a little baby!!! That's great that you are working with him, but let him be a baby for a while longer - it's such a short time... when he turns 3, you can enroll him in some preschool (Montessori ones would be my first investigation), but you are doing fine on your own. Keep up the good work, but don't push him into early academics - too much pressure! and maturity wise, he won't be able to handle it.

My first son seemed to hit every milestone either early or right on time. At about 10 months, he was highly verbal and could funtionally use about 3 dozen signs (I taught him sign lang.) At 14 months, he amazed me as we drove in the car and pulled up to the stop sign. From the back seat, I hear him say, "octagon!". I looked back to see him pointing to the stop sign. I was shocked and thought, that must just be a fluke - but sure enough, every stop sign we ever passed thereafter was quickly labeled "octagon" by my little 14 month old. By 22 months, he could go through every letter of the alphabet and say its sound. He'd say, "The A says 'Aaa', The B says 'Buh', The C says 'Cah', etc... all 26 letters without skipping a beat (and correctly identified both capitals and lower case). At 26 months, he could put together a 45 piece map puzzle and name every state. I'd take out a piece and ask him which state was missing; sure enough, he'd come out with the right answer.

You might think that I sat and drilled the poor kid hour after hour. Nope - not at all. I read to him as much as he requested (which was frequent) and exposed him to fun experiences as much as possible (park, playgroup, zoo, etc). I didn't really understand how he learned, he just seemed to absorb it from his environment. At 30 months, he could recite a 40 page children's book VERBATIM ("Caps for Sale"). My husband and I used to joke that he was "creepy smart."

I used to wonder about giftedness, but as a first grade teacher, I knew that there are no clear-cut "tests" for giftedness in children of young ages. The determination is generally made when children are school-aged and can be observed in a group of peers. Honestly, if there were such tests, I had no interest. In fact, I worried that he might be considered gifted down the line. That might sound strange, but having taught young kids for 13 years, I knew that TRULY gifted kids experience other challenges, usually socially. I just wanted my son to be bright (which he clearly was) and enjoy school once he got there.

I planned to get him into private preschool at age 2.9. As my search began, my focus started to change. Around that time, I really started to worry that there might be other things to be concerned about. He was using "scripted language" a lot - he would recite complete dialogues from a video tape as if he were watching it in his head. He had many lengthy books memorized and would repeat them as he played (without even looking at the book). I started to notice that some of his interests were more like preoccupations if not obsessions (always talked about lights and fans).

As time went on quickly, I called Early Intervention for an evaluation. They came to my house and confirmed my concerns. He was picked up for speech therapy. At the time, it completely confused me because his vocabulary was absolutely massive. The problem was the PRAGMATICS of his language. He had difficulty with reciprocal language. In other words, he could narrate anything, but could barely answer "wh" questions (who, what, where, when, why...) Couldn't really engage in the "give and take" of conversational language.

I talked to his pediatrician and asked about Autism Spectrum Disorders. It was one of the scariest conversations I've ever had, but I couldn't deny what I knew I was seeing. His doctor validated my suspicians and he wound up with a diagnosis of Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), which is an Autism Spectrum Disorder.

He's now in an integrated preschool (as if age 3) and is doing very, very well.

I'm just telling you to be grateful that your son is a quick learner. At the same time, look a little beyond that. Try to be objective and honest with yourself. Don't be in a hurry to give him any sort of label other than your adorable little son. Enjoy him and his wonderful talents and put your efforts into figuring out how to change and extingush his destructive behavior.

Best wishes,
S.
____@____.com

Hi K.,
I think that it is great that your son knows soo much but I, (in my opinion as a teacher/mom) would not push your son. If he is interested encourage him using puzzles and books and activities around numbers and letters. I think he is just two years old so let him enjoy being a 2 year old. He will be going to school soon enough, you want to make sure that he is appropraite in all areas (art, fine/gross motor skill, academics and social skills) not just academics because if he is very smart but lacking in social skills, it can be difficult with peers. Good luck and enjoy. You should be so proud of your son.
E.

As a preschool teacher (ok teacher's assistant) and mom, I agree with everyone else who is saying, DON'T RUSH HIM! I would be more concerned with his destructiveness than finding out if he is overly-advanced. Yes it sounds like you have a very smart little boy, but just take it easy, wait till he's 3 and then enroll him in a preschool program to learn socialization skills. And PLEASE don't expect too much out of preschool programs, they are not there to teach children to read and write, yes that is part of it but kids learn by playing. I would hate to have you go in and see kids playing rather than sitting and being taught and think that the teachers are not doing their job. I am currently reading a book that brings up some of these issues called "Your child's Growing mind." I would recommend checking this out and you'll see what I mean.