Very Verbal 15 Mo Old

My daughter excelled at a very young age. I was careful never to push her but give her things that she would find challenging. I never knew much of a difference until I was around other children her age. Since you are in education she probably watches you. I always gave her little books to read or magnets to play with. A Montessori pre-school could be very beneficial for her. We enjoyed singing together especially at bathtime.

H.,
My oldest son said his first sentence at 13 mos. I used to work as an early intervention specialist, so I knew he was way ahead on the developemental area. I just wish I had worked a little more with him about ways to control the talking. That is the only thing that ever got him into trouble at school (hes is a senior now.) Since things came easy to him, keeping him motivated has sometimes been an issue.
The other thing I was unprepared for was how early early he understood concepts like death.
But overall it was a very good thing. I really enjoyed the conversations we had when he was a toddler.
My younger son talked much later. But they are fairly equal in IQ at this point.
Victoria

It probably is too early to say whether your daughter's verbal facility is a sign of giftedness in other areas. I say just keep doing what you're doing. Obviously you're doing something right. Follow her lead. If she's interested in something, let her pursue it. Your daughter sounds like she's at an age where she's just absorbing everything that's going on around her, and it's important that she sees learning as fun as long as she can. Remember, that learning is not just academics. It's important to be well-rounded. Social, artistic, spiritual and emotional gifts are just as important as intellectual ones (sometimes more so).

I know a lot of parents of "gifted" children who try too hard to help their children fulfill their perceived potential. The emphasis on their children's giftedness, rather than their effort, actually ends up being a detriment rather than a benefit. I speak from firsthand experience. Two really good books that I found helpful on this subject are "NurtureShock" by Po Bronson and Ashley Merriman and "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell.

Just enjoy your precious and precocious child and let her be just that for now - a child.

My daughter was a lot like this and now she is in 1st grade reading at a 6th grade level and comprehending that level. They wouldn't test at a higher level since the test didn't go any higher. I have to do all kids of things to supplement her learning since she has not learned much in school except for social skills and she has always been very social. She was reading at 3 years old and figured it out on her own just by when we were reading books to her I guess. I got her into piano and singing and that helps to channel some of creative energy. I would recommend the Summer Bridge Activites workbooks when she gets older and just buy whichever level you think would challenge but not overwhelm her.

My daughter was JUST like this! She was speaking in full, grammatically correct (pronouns and all) sentences and had over 300 words by 17 months old. She also knew all of her letters, numbers and colors by that age (I found the paper that I wrote all of her words on dated at 17 months old). She basically hasn't stopped since. She just turned 4 and has been reading and writing many words now for at least 6 months. I have wondered what I'm supposed to do with her when she starts kindergarten because she is already so far ahead and still has a whole year of pre-school to go before she is old enough for kinder, so I can feel your pain about not knowing what to do. Her pediatrician when she was that age kept telling me I was going to have to find a "special school" for her because she was so advanced. She just had her 4 year checkup and they did some testing (she has a different pedi now) and they also told us that she is pretty well off the charts. I'm not sure where that leaves us except that we just encourage her to continue to learn without being pushy. She is a perfectionist, especially when it comes to her writing, so when she messes something up she starts getting upset. I tell her that most kids her age don't even know how to write and that we do it for fun and that if she isn't having fun with it, then we're going to put the stuff away for awhile until she is ready to try again without getting upset. The last thing I want to do is burn her out now and have her hate it by the time she has to do it in school, but she really likes writing, so I want to encourage her to get better.

I'm not really sure what kind of information you're looking for....I know you said you don't even really know. But, I just wanted to let you know that I totally understand where you're coming from. My answer to you would be to continue working with her and just let her live up to whatever potential is there. I keep waiting for my daughter to even out with the other kids and so far that hasn't happened, but it doesn't mean it won't. Now that my daughter is older, I buy her the kindergarten workbooks and she loves doing those. They help her practice writing and have a lot of other critical thinking skills in them that she can practice. We're taking it one step at a time and we'll probably wait until next year to figure out if I am going to home school her for kinder and test her into first grade a year early (which makes me uncomfortable since she would be THE YOUNGEST kid in the class) or if we're going to just let her stay on pace with the kids her age and watch for boredom.

By the way, it is kind of interesting now because I have a son that is 22 months old and he is just now starting to string 2 words together. It is such a different experience between the two of them and it has been hard for hubby and I not to compare even our own kids! My son is perfectly normal and probably actually talks a little better than normal for his age, but he is way behind where our daughter was at the same age. Again, not a bad thing, just interesting. We encourage him to talk just as much and he sure is getting the hang of it!

Just try to remember that they are all different. As for what to do with your daughter...just keep her talking! If she's anything like my daughter, they are just like little sponges and are soaking up anything and everything you tell them. It really is fun, but challenging to have a "gifted" kid (I hesitate to use that word as well, for don't really know what else to call it at this point). Just wait until the logic and critical thinking kicks in at around 2 1/2. You won't believe some of the things your kid will say! Just enjoy the ride! :-)

Hi.
Sounds like you are doing everything right! Great job Mama!
My daughter and son were both pretty verbal for their ages. I NEVER worried about them not hearing well or if they were delayed at anything as they seemed to do everything early and well. It really is too early to know if your daughter will be "gifted", but you can treat her as if she is anyway! Giftedness also has a wide range of what it means... as gifted kids are all different and gifted in different areas. The main thing being, that they pick up on things more quickly and with much less repetition... so that they can easily become bored with traditional methods of repetitiveness. They are ready to move on sooner to something else "new".

So I would say to enjoy being able to communicate with your daughter, and keep on teaching her through daily life and play. Don't break out the text books, lol. My own daughter came to me and asked me to teach her to read sometime around her 3rd birthday. If your daughter keeps on with her verbal skills, she may be ready to learn reading early also. I used a method called "Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons". It is a workbook. Each lesson takes between 15 - 30 minutes. When your daughter grasps the concept of "rhyming" and expresses an interest.. she will be ready.. my daughter started at 3 1/2 yrs. Was reading fluently short chapter books by her 4th birthday. And she still loves reading~!

When I was about one my grandmother said, "look at the pretty birdie, sweetie," and I said, "Grandma, that's a cardinal." My mom LOVES to tell this story. She says that she weaned me because she was tired of having arguments about whether it was time to nurse with someone who was speaking in complete sentences. My mom talked to me a lot when I was a baby - carried me around everywhere, even to work - and narrated everything she did. I'm no genius, and I can't spell worth a damn, but I do love to read and write and talk. Just keep talking. Talk about everything and when she seems extra interested in something talk a lot about whatever that thing is.
(Interestingly, my step brothers were all comparatively late talkers and are all far closer to genius than I.)

Our daughter was the same way. She was also very observant and has always been a very good judge of character so it has lead to some funny observations at not always the greatest timing.. HA!

But it is fun to know "they get it". It also makes you have to be careful about what they hear and what you are speaking about at all times, just in case.. The TV Radio everything is being absorbed, so keep that in mind..

At about the age of 3 she was talking so much, I had to "give her permission to not always have to talk." I told her "sometimes people can just be quiet and that is ok." She has used that on me. Little stinker....

My friend had her daughter three days after I had mine. They will both be 2 in June. Her daughter was WAY more verbal than my daughter much, much earlier. I'm a teacher and thought, "Oh great, what am I doing wrong!? I'm the one who is supposed to know how to "make" my daughter learn to talk!" But, they seem to be evening out. Her little friend is still talking more, but the progress is leveling out and my daughter is catching up. Her (the friend's, not my daughter's) pediatrician commented about it, but said that the range of "normal" is soooo broad, that you can't really see "giftedness" until at least preschool. So, I'd say keep doing what you're doing and see if it continues. That is so awesome, though - things are going to be so great for her! Good job, Mama! :) Hmm... Just an afterthought... What do you think about trying to teach her a second language??? Since she's so verbal, I bet she'd catch right on. Wouldn't that be awesome for her!? As if you don't have enough to do, I'm sure... But it was just an idea. :)

My daughter was the same way. It was hard because she started talking at 6 months with the usual "Mama, Dada, hi, bye", by 7 months it was "I go, Nana, PopPop, Gamma, Sue, Ear (for my niece, Erin whose name we shortened),etc" by a year she was saying full sentences and at 15 months she would point out the car window and say "Look Mommy, Stop and Shop, and Let's go shopping" and other sentences. The thing you have to remember is with your first child you are more in tune with them, you have more time with them as well and therefore they learn much quicker. While my daughter talked and learned to read much earlier than other kids she didn't walk until she was 13 months old and was delayed with her gross motor/fine motor skills due to orthopedic issues as well as an eye muscle disorder. She is now 27 years old and the apple of my eye, she is my best friend in the world and YES she still loves to go shopping. LOL
My first son sat up, stood up, and walked extremely early, I am talking he sat up at 2 1/2 months, stood at 5 months, and was walking at 8 months, but he didn't say a word until he was well over a year old, all he ever did was grunt and point when he wanted something. I also have 3 other boys all of which are very different from one another. For example my 4 child, 3rd son, walked on his knees until he was 2 years old. A friend of mine is a pediatric orthopedist down in Atlanta, GA, I called him about it and even sent him a video of it, he told me to leave him alone and that if things didn't change within a few months he would fly up and deal with it and within a few months Justin walked or shall I say ran. So as you can see kids all develop at different rates, your daughter my be just like mine, extremely bright and will excel in school, but not be good at sports and that is okay. I hope this helps. Let me know if you need an ear or shoulder.
Hugs,
T.

My son is also precociously verbal. He made family and strangers laugh out loud because there is just something so funny about complex sentences coming out of a tiny rosebud mouth - attached to a tiny chubby body - said in a wee baby voice.

At 15 months, just sit back and enjoy it. Read to her. Check out some of the Leapfrog toys and dvds. Maybe introduce a little Spanish and sign language. Take her to any special programs at your local library. There is really little you could do that would cause her to "lose ground". If she is gifted, then she'll stay that way.

Lol @ Paula! :) We are big talkers in my family so that made me giggle.

My son doesn't sound like he was quite as advanced as yours, but pretty close. And you're right, you can't exaclty discuss it with friends without it sounding like you are bragging. I know my son talks great, and I don't really take any credit for it. The ones with late talkers always seem to be able to talk about it and ask for advice and sympathy (also not their fault/doing, I think it's just the way your kid is going to be). But it is hard to figure out what is normal and what is gifted. I get newsletters from babycenter.com and there was an article about this recently: http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-to-help-a-gifted-child_67...

Just know how lucky you are, even if nothing ever comes out of her talkativeness. It is so nice to be able to know what your child wants and needs. I am watching my nephew who is 2 mos older than my son during the days right now, and he defintely seems to have a slight delay (most likely due to chronic ear infections) and it is so much easier when your child can communicate. I don't know if anything special will come out of him talking yet, he isn't even 2 1/2, but I definitely love chatting with the kid. :)

My daughter was the same way. She talked very early. The only thing that it's a sign of that I know is that she loved to talk.

I think it means your daughter is verbal... thats about it. :)

My oldest didn't speak an understandable word until he was almost 3. He was then reading by 4, and is in 2nd grade at 7yrs old and in gifted ed, reading and comprehending at a 6th grade level.

My youngest was speaking to us (conversing) at 9mos. He would say things like 'mama hungry' and I would say 'want to nurse?' and he would say 'yeah'. Or 'mama potty' and I would say 'ok go ahead' and he would say 'ok'. By a year we couldn't shut him up! LOL! He's now 4.5 and still speaks very clearly and talks all.the.time. But he has no interest in reading, no interest in writing. He LOVES having books read ot him, and he's starting to grasp some of the aspects of reading ,but he's just not as into it as my oldest.

My point is, don't categorize her just because she's an early chatter. It could mean she's a genius, could mena she's just a chatty kathy, kwim?

I had a lot of questions when my girl was doing this. (She's now three and reading, not simple books but books designed for K-4) I read to her and I modeled my own enjoyment of reading. We also do a lot of play with numbers, games like "war", "Ladybug Game", anything that will get her thinking in terms of add and subtract. I ask her a lot of problem solving questions "I wonder what will happen if..." and let her make the discovery. We don't have TV, no computer time, a lot of ART, MUSIC, time OUTSIDE. Most important for your daughter is NOT focusing on being gifted. Many who are identified early as gifted can slack and become so accustomed to the title, they forget to put in the effort. Praise effort, not result. Had to do a lot of research of my own in this area so any questions in the future, let me know: ) This is what I could think of in a quick type...

jen

Jen

She's probably really smart. My youngest was the same way. No, you don't have to do anything different. The really smart ones just excel all by themselves.