My child is not exceptionally bright. Maybe not even that bright.

[Anonymous]

WIth all this talk about incredibly bright toddlers reading at 2, etc, makes me wonder whether my kid is normal or 'slow.

DS always seems bright in conversation--he's creative and very verbal. But he's almost 3.5 and does not know all his letters (confuses B and D, for example) or numbers (if asked to count, he start yelling the numbers, in order, but notmatching them with the actual number of items on the page, etc, though I'm pretty sure he understands the concept of counting), and seems to have little interest in learning this stuff. He has little interest in learning most things the traditional way, in fact, though he has become fascinated with our globe (mostly because it spins fast). He resists being 'schooled' in counting, etc. Hates sitting and drawing, hates me "teaching" him, although loves books and stories.

He is home with a lovely nanny and his baby sister, so most of his day is spent in imaginative play, at the park, but she reads a lot to him (as do we) and he goes to the library twice a week for story time. He also exhibits many, many signs of ADHD (which I'm sensitive to b/c we have a strong family tendency) but he is too young to diagnose.

'

[Anonymous]

My child does not exhibit signs of being exceptionally bright or above average either. Not as resistant to learning as yours but doesn't pick up things quickly and does forget if not reinforced. 3 yrs.

[Anonymous]

My kid does not strike me as super-bright either. So I get a little irked when my friends are going on and on about how their kids are matching letters at 20 months or something like that - a twinge of jealousy plus a bit of "...and what am I supposed to say about that, exactly?" But hey - my kid is fun and I love her dearly. That's enough.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't matter. Being "smart" has little to do with future success. I would rather my child value perseverance and working hard than be a genius. I have cousins who are brilliant but are skating by in life and accomplishing very little because they don't have those traits.

[Anonymous]

Book smarts aren't everything. My mom ALWAYS worried about my youngest brother. He never picked up academics, always lagged behind, graduated high school by the skin of his teeth. Was the only one of us not to go to college and graduate school. But guess what? He learned a trade (plumbing) and now owns a successful business. In fact my husband who is a CPA did his taxes and he made 270k last year in a part of the country where that is SERIOUS money. Academic smarts are only one aspect of life and you can certainly achieve success in other avenues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WIth all this talk about incredibly bright toddlers reading at 2, etc, makes me wonder whether my kid is normal or 'slow.

DS always seems bright in conversation--he's creative and very verbal. But he's almost 3.5 and does not know all his letters (confuses B and D, for example) or numbers (if asked to count, he start yelling the numbers, in order, but notmatching them with the actual number of items on the page, etc, though I'm pretty sure he understands the concept of counting), and seems to have little interest in learning this stuff. He has little interest in learning most things the traditional way, in fact, though he has become fascinated with our globe (mostly because it spins fast). He resists being 'schooled' in counting, etc. Hates sitting and drawing, hates me "teaching" him, although loves books and stories.

He is home with a lovely nanny and his baby sister, so most of his day is spent in imaginative play, at the park, but she reads a lot to him (as do we) and he goes to the library twice a week for story time. He also exhibits many, many signs of ADHD (which I'm sensitive to b/c we have a strong family tendency) but he is too young to diagnose.

'

Tons of bright kids don't take to early instruction in reading or math. Even profoundly gifted kids don't uniformly take to early reading or early math. Don't worry about it. Just let him be himself.

[Anonymous]

OP, nothing you have said is concerning for a three and a half year old. They aren't expected to know letters yet and most experts would say spending the day playing and exploring is great for a child that age.

Have you seen any of these child geniuses in action? Sometimes parents are telling the truth and other times I find people exaggerate.

For the record my older child read very early and counted early, etc and it was a sign of a developmental disorder called hyperlexia and this "disorder" comes with developmental delays too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WIth all this talk about incredibly bright toddlers reading at 2, etc, makes me wonder whether my kid is normal or 'slow.

DS always seems bright in conversation--he's creative and very verbal. But he's almost 3.5 and does not know all his letters (confuses B and D, for example) or numbers (if asked to count, he start yelling the numbers, in order, but notmatching them with the actual number of items on the page, etc, though I'm pretty sure he understands the concept of counting), and seems to have little interest in learning this stuff. He has little interest in learning most things the traditional way, in fact, though he has become fascinated with our globe (mostly because it spins fast). He resists being 'schooled' in counting, etc. Hates sitting and drawing, hates me "teaching" him, although loves books and stories.

He is home with a lovely nanny and his baby sister, so most of his day is spent in imaginative play, at the park, but she reads a lot to him (as do we) and he goes to the library twice a week for story time. He also exhibits many, many signs of ADHD (which I'm sensitive to b/c we have a strong family tendency) but he is too young to diagnose.

'

Tons of bright kids don't take to early instruction in reading or math. Even profoundly gifted kids don't uniformly take to early reading or early math. Don't worry about it. Just let him be himself.

This. My kid is bright but was on time with letters, colors, numbers at that age. Now he's two grades ahead. Imaginative play is awesome.

[Anonymous]

It's okay, OP. My son, now 12, didn't show any signs of being particularly smart or bright or gifted or whatever you want to call it at 3 or 4 or 5 years old. But, he is smart, he just does things on his own time and at his own pace. He is also an exceptionally hard worker which I attribute, in part, to the fact that no adults were fawning over him and telling him how gifted he was (kids pick up on this even if its just said "around" them and I should know, my brother was profoundly gifted and has struggled to live up to his IQ his entire life). Well, DS just got accepted to St Albans, based on his grades, academic record and test scores. Don't sweat it. Your DS is 3. There is lots and lots of time for him to grow into academics. All I would say is keep reading to him as much as he wants!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It doesn't matter. Being "smart" has little to do with future success. I would rather my child value perseverance and working hard than be a genius. I have cousins who are brilliant but are skating by in life and accomplishing very little because they don't have those traits.

This. I have a genius IQ and I never had much luck in my career a d was lazy about school and work. Now a sahm. My 3 year old knows some letters and some numbers. Didn't know his colors until a month or two ago. He laughs easily, sticks up for his little friends on the playground, is very affectionate with DH, toddler DD, and me, and loves to sing and dance. I couldn't be happier with where he is. I have no idea yet if be will be smart, average, or below average, but I know he is an awesome kid!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's okay, OP. My son, now 12, didn't show any signs of being particularly smart or bright or gifted or whatever you want to call it at 3 or 4 or 5 years old. But, he is smart, he just does things on his own time and at his own pace. He is also an exceptionally hard worker which I attribute, in part, to the fact that no adults were fawning over him and telling him how gifted he was (kids pick up on this even if its just said "around" them and I should know, my brother was profoundly gifted and has struggled to live up to his IQ his entire life). Well, DS just got accepted to St Albans, based on his grades, academic record and test scores. Don't sweat it. Your DS is 3. There is lots and lots of time for him to grow into academics. All I would say is keep reading to him as much as he wants!

Ha! You just described my boy during his early years. My son is a little older than yours and he's also at STA and doing extremely well. He's smart and gets the job done at his own pace, as well. I wouldn't describe him as gifted or a genius. However, he's emotionally brilliant and can fit in among all kind of people and is a keen observer and problem solver.

[Anonymous]

I think my son is quite bright but he can't do any of those things either because we haven't taken an academic approach in his preschool years. It isn't an intelligence issue, we just talk more about counting / letters etc while out playing and in everyday life but we haven't done any academic training.

He is very creative, has a good sense of humor, reads feelings well, is well behaved, likes adventures and challenges, is a good problem solver and has many other qualities that will contribute to his success.

[Anonymous]

As a parent of a bright child who is now in 2nd grade, I can tell you I wish my son was more of an average child. He basically taught himself to read when he was 3 yrs old. So he was reading chapter books by the time he started K. The vast majority of other kids weren't. So he rarely was ever taught at his level. Well, he was never taught at his level. He has spend 3 years fooling around at school and getting in trouble for it. I'll take an average child any day b/c my son thinks school is pure torture. Not a good thing when you go everyday for many many more years.

[Anonymous]

Totally normal. Letter "confusion" is typical up to 1st/2nd grade. Sounds like he's getting what he needs-lots of love, free time, friends, etc.

[Anonymous]

Have you ever heard about regression to the mean? Most of the "smart" toddlers/preschoolers will end up being average.