How did you know your almost four-year-old was very bright?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone who was identified as gifted as a kid, it's kind of a mixed bag. You can be very very smart but if you don't learn to work it eventually catches up with you. It's very common for gifted kids fo flame out at some point.

The other harsh reality you learn is that no one actually cares how smart you are, it's about your ability to apply it in ways that other people find valuable.

This was me, too. I was in a gifted program from 3rd-8th grade but through the local public school. My IQ has been tested twice, 138 and 142. I wish my parents had been supportive and involved, it could've made a huge difference. I struggled with undiagnosed ADHD and study skills were never taught to me. I hated hw so I stopped doing it. I was taking classes at the community college by 15 so that became my new crowd of friends. Long story short, I dropped out of HS and never finished college. I was a high earner in my 20s but found it hard to keep up by 30. Decided to SAHM and here we are.

You are my people. It’s been so long since I was “that smart kid” that people I’ve met well into adulthood, after I fizzled, assume my kid gets his brains entirely from his dad.

That said, I knew he was at least moderately smart when he’d taught himself to read at 3 and was doing algebra by kindergarten. But a school that has a posted iq minimum for admission doesn’t want gut feelings or anecdotal observations – they just want to see test results.

[Anonymous]

There are some kids who are advanced physically - athletic, coordinated, logical, have good depth perception - but are average verbally - critical thinking, verbal, tell a story in sequence - and vice versa.

Seems unfair your kid doesn't cross the threshold as "bright" even if they are strong (or superior) in other areas of typical 4 and 5 yr olds other than IQ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s a wonderful gifted school that’s near our home in Los Angeles. For acceptance my kids would need to be IQ tested (138 minimum) next year for kindergarten. How do I know if it’s even worth thinking about?

DS isn’t reading yet but knows alphabet and phonetics; his verbal abilities (vocabulary) are impressive; he can retell a story with a beginning, middle, and end; he is very strong when it comes to finding solutions and loves being read to.

He’s average and not really interested in puzzles. No second language. Seems normal in most physical areas.

I honestly don’t know if this school is even worth pursuing. His preschool teachers say he’s very bright but I assume they say that to all the parents.

A 138 may be a reach is he is really average at visual-spatial reasoning. Does he do any other kinds of visual spatial things besides regular puzzles? Maybe try some visual reasoning workbooks or block design/matching with him to see how he does.

[Anonymous]

My 3.5 year old is actually reading a ton (not kidding he reads people's shirts and signs at the store, I'd estimate at 100-200 words). I'm just gently supporting it and not making too much of it. What I find fascinating is he's working out phonics kind of on his own, he actually asks how to pronounce bits of words.

We never pushed him, neither did his preschool, he just did it.

But my focus is on keeping it fun for him and not reading too much into it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 3.5 year old is actually reading a ton (not kidding he reads people's shirts and signs at the store, I'd estimate at 100-200 words). I'm just gently supporting it and not making too much of it. What I find fascinating is he's working out phonics kind of on his own, he actually asks how to pronounce bits of words.

We never pushed him, neither did his preschool, he just did it.

But my focus is on keeping it fun for him and not reading too much into it.

Cool story but not the point of the thread. Is your child gifted? Did it turn out these were clues to his high IQ later? No.

[Anonymous]

Honestly a lot of these gifted things appear to be scams. The reality of IQ tests is that they're really designed to test for low IQ. Testing for high IQ is really a lot more complicated as slapping one single number particularly on a kid where normal development and so IQ, is so is sketchy.

The reality is you can also 100% prep a kid for an IQ test. The tests given to young kids involved some specific puzzles, you practice those puzzles the kid will score higher. So a parent who has the resources to prep a kid will also get them in.

So, really it's just a question of whether you think the school is worth the hoops and the money. That really is entirely dependent on the curriculum of the school, ratios, and programs.

[Anonymous]

Ruf's Five Levels of Giftedness includes a lot of anecdotes and a milestone reference list that may be helpful, OP. Early reading is associated with high IQ, and something Ruf discusses, but not determinative. Your kid could still score high enough for that school, OP.

If you can afford it, and you like the school, I would just test. These anecdotes can seem helpful at first, but I feel like a lot gets lost in translation when parents try to compare notes this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly a lot of these gifted things appear to be scams. The reality of IQ tests is that they're really designed to test for low IQ. Testing for high IQ is really a lot more complicated as slapping one single number particularly on a kid where normal development and so IQ, is so is sketchy.

The reality is you can also 100% prep a kid for an IQ test. The tests given to young kids involved some specific puzzles, you practice those puzzles the kid will score higher. So a parent who has the resources to prep a kid will also get them in.

So, really it's just a question of whether you think the school is worth the hoops and the money. That really is entirely dependent on the curriculum of the school, ratios, and programs.

Yes!

[Anonymous]

Early talking is what we had. We also had strong reading. I believe that correlates more strongly with “gifted ness “ than early reading.

[Anonymous]

At four? Read The Hobbit on her own and understood it. Helped her brother with his fourth grade math homework.

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OP, I think you should do the testing, unless $500 would really be a stretch for you. It is good to identify kids early and keep avenues open for them to take off faster than you would expect. There are likely other opportunities that will come up which you would invest in, if you knew, but might pass by otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Early talking is what we had. We also had strong reading. I believe that correlates more strongly with “gifted ness “ than early reading.

+1. Same. Early talking and extensive vocabulary. If he heard a word once, he would use it. Not a genius but 140 tested IQ.

[Anonymous]

For everyone on this thread who had a DC reading at 2 or 3- how did they learn? Did they just teach themselves? How does one even teach yourself how to read..

[Anonymous]

Your child is very bright, my child is very bright, my neighbor’s child is very bright, my sister’s husband’s cousin’s child is very bright, my hairdresser’s bosses child is very bright, my mailman’s child is very bright, my dog walker’s groomer’s aunt’s child is very bright.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For everyone on this thread who had a DC reading at 2 or 3- how did they learn? Did they just teach themselves? How does one even teach yourself how to read..

God, help us all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Sounds pretty bright. Testing would help you prepare. My DC was doing multiplication at age 4 and by age 7, algebra. Agree that it is good to know if you have a gifted kid so you can teach them study skills. At some point, they need to realize, they can't just wing it at school and actually need to apply themselves.