Author Topic: is she advanced, or is this all normal?  (Read 2539 times)

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Offline huby

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is she advanced, or is this all normal?
« on: April 28, 2011, 12:52:58 pm »
Hello

Just a quick question. I don't know much about milestones and haven't really checked whether she's on track, but comparred to other toddlers her age, I wonder if she's advanced. I really do wonder...and if so, do I just give her the same toys for her age range?

I don't think she's at all gifted, as I have heard kids at 19 / 20 months (she'll be 20 months tomorrow) know their alphabet and can talk in sentances, and she can't do that.

But she does surprise me. She walked late - but was actually crawling at five months and climbing up stairs at 10 months. She could walk really early too but point blank refused, using her knees instead until she got walking perfected.
She is now months and walks like an adult up and down stairs if she has a banister / hand to hold on to. She can also negotiate them herself if she wants.
She can draw and say the word spiral (the spiral isn't perfect, but it does go round and in concentric circles) and she can draw and say circle (again non perfect)
She fetches things like a bottle I've not used for ages and says 'bubbles' and she's right - it was an old party bottle of bubbles, then shouts 'pop' when she bursts them.
She recognises and can say hexegon, rectangle, square, circle, rhombus, diamond etc after showing her just once and can do a tricky wooden puzzle with tricky shapes in them meant for a three year old (again first time) same with duplo bricks - made a tower with two red, then two yellow, then three red and then three yellow bricks - they all have a pattern to them, never just random. If you put the wrong colour on, 'she says 'no' and takes it off and puts the right sequence of colour in its place.

She reads all the time, though doesn't know what she's reading - but always picks an adult book on steam trains (the square!). She loves books, and now fills in the gaps whereever I stop on her books. She can say things like sausages, bees, clouds, bus, car  catapiller and butterfly, daisy, dandelion etc ect and again, recognises them out and about. She can see a spider in its web and start singing insy wincy spider at it. She does all the relevant sound affects when necessary, e.g sees a bee and then buzzes, sees a dog and says 'woof woof', but also knows snake, zebra, elephant, rhino, tiger (and knows where their tails, ears, paws etc and all of her own body parts are too and is beginning to name them all too)
She knows lots of random worlds like sausages and when shes lost something she shrugs her shoulders and says 'where is it' and when looking for someone, she makes the sounds (but can't quite say the worlds properly, for 'where are you?)
She saw my mum use a shoe horn the other day, we walked into the hall and she was trying to put her own shoe on using a the same sho horn. She can brush her own teeth. She takes people their shoes and puts them on their feet, while taking off her own socks and literally sniffing her own feet and says 'stinks and cheese'. I DID NOT teach her that - I may add, though is hilarious!

She's able to draw really well. Dots, lines, circles, curves, etc etc and spends ages and ages doing so and also looking through her old drawings with intent concentration. She can throw and catch a large ball.
It's just little things, I'm sure other kids do it to and parents all marvel at it. Just wondered if she was ahead for her age. Just curious really.
The other day in the car I saw her raise one finger at a time and count to five. Going up steps, she counts to ten (though the words aren't that clear she makes the right sounds 'un, twoo, tee, ah, seven, six (sometimes a bit muddled, etc). At my mums, she watched my sister play tiddly-winks with two buttons and copied her correctly first time.
She makes all the animal sounds correctly, and buzzes when she sees a bee, goes 'bruuum' and shouts car when she sees a car etc, and sings wheels on the bus when she sees a bus etc. When I say I'm tired, she says 'shlepp' meaning 'sleep' then makes the sound of snoring.

Oh, last thing. She understands almost everything I say and can follow pretty complex instructions, like 'go into your sandpit and sit on your bottom, then bury your stone.'
If I say 'clean your hands and mouth and wash your tummy', she'll do it.
If I say 'go and find the remote control and switch the television off' she'll do that too. Seems to understand everything.
What surprised me the other day was, she was in the lounge on her own, I was in the kitchen and she was looking for her music CD. I thought, 'shell be fine for a minute. I came back in and she had put the CD in the player and pressed play and was listening to her own CD, which she had selected. I showed her how to do this once, but that's it! I didn't know she knew how to put it in, and find play on her own!

It was my mums idea to post here as she thinks she's bright, I think she is too, but don't know and feel a bit of a prat for writing this post to be honest - like one of those 'oh I do hope my child is clever' kind of mums. I'm just very curious about where she is.

Thanks!



Offline speechie

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Re: is she advanced, or is this all normal?
« Reply #1 on: April 28, 2011, 13:22:12 pm »
Hi there! If you pop on over to the growth and development boards you'll find info on gifted kids- read through these threads for more info on milestones:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=146363.0
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=168008.0

FWIW- your LO does sound very bright- and every gifted/bright child develops differently- there is no 'set pattern', but her identifying shapes, showing drawing skills and advanced vocabulary/comprehension are all important to note. I actually kept a log of Nick's development because I knew I would forget, and his milestones were very advanced and he just was 'different' from the other babies...you'll read more of my old posts on those links-
It was my mums idea to post here as she thinks she's bright, I think she is too, but don't know and feel a bit of a prat for writing this post to be honest - like one of those 'oh I do hope my child is clever' kind of mums. I'm just very curious about where she is.
Please know that I would never judge you- it can be quite isolating having a clever child, and too often people think parents of gifted kids are 'pushy' when in reality we are huffing/puffing to keep up and panicking at times because our kids are developing differently.
Hugs honey- be proud of your sweet girl's development and enjoy! IRL I felt like I couldn't talk about/celebrate all of his milestones because it felt like bragging, while all of the other moms would just happily chat away...Luckily I have a fantastic mom who gets it, and a supportive DH....
HTH and read through those posts- get more info on milestones, it IS important to be aware if your LO shows advanced skills,

OH- and I never gave/give Nick age appropriate toys- he was too advanced. So at 18 mos, he gravitated towards 3 yo toys, and yes! to the advanced books...
Hugs.
Cathie
                Nick spirited angel, born August 2, 2007

Offline ~Sara~

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Re: is she advanced, or is this all normal?
« Reply #2 on: April 28, 2011, 14:05:16 pm »
I think she sounds very bright, as well...and I totally get the fascination with all sorts of shapes and the uncanny memory (we're going through that, too).  It's important to be able to recognize all of this as it will help you nurture her intellect and creativity even better!

*hugs*  Don't feel like you're bragging; it's okay to wonder and to have a bright child :)
*formerly tersaseda*

 




Offline huby

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Re: is she advanced, or is this all normal?
« Reply #3 on: April 28, 2011, 18:52:12 pm »
Thanks ladies, I do sincerely believe she's not gifted, just bright to be honest. There's lots of things she's not advanced in, and she can make sounds for lots of words that she's not saying yet, for example, she has the pitch and sounds for words in a song, but doesn't say the actual words and she can spot any washing machine, but can only say 'da-ding dadine' meaning washing machine...so her vocab is still not gifted level, I feel, though she can say many, many words, many lack the correct pronouciation if you see what I mean...so I don't think she's gifted to be honest. B ut some of the things she does, do make me wonder if she's ahead - which I'm sure she is, and how to tackle this. If she can't do something she gets really frustrated with herself and throws said item in a rage. The tries again and again.
She does get things wrong too - when we're out and about she calls the sun the moon and vice versa sometimes, so she's not at the stage where you read about some gifted kids who are saying all sorts, and alphabet letters and sentances.
But her development does really interest me as she surprises me with little things every day. I would like to have a look at those milestones though and will report back...
Thanks for posting ladies, I'll be in touch x

Offline ~Sara~

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Re: is she advanced, or is this all normal?
« Reply #4 on: April 28, 2011, 20:35:00 pm »
I'm a firm believer that there are different types of intelligence.  Writers, linguists, musicians, artists, business, mathmatics, etc.  Anways, I guess I'm saying that people can be gifted in certain areas while not being broad-spectrum GT.

Personally, I love reading about how vocal she is!  Enjoy!  :D
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Offline speechie

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Re: is she advanced, or is this all normal?
« Reply #5 on: April 29, 2011, 07:20:54 am »
so she's not at the stage where you read about some gifted kids who are saying all sorts, and alphabet letters and sentances

errr, umm,...I can't really say one way whether or not she is gifted, BUT please realize that there are many different levels of giftedness- from very bright to extraordinarily advanced, so, even if she's not doing those things it doesn't mean she's not gifted...just my 2 cents worth!
do take a peek at the info on the threads and I'm curious to hear back ! :)
Cathie
                Nick spirited angel, born August 2, 2007

Offline huby

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Re: is she advanced, or is this all normal?
« Reply #6 on: May 09, 2011, 16:30:43 pm »
Thanks for all of that. Have had a wee look, not too much but a browse at the forums, and she does seem to be bright, though am comparring her to another toddler (as don't really have anything else to 'compare to') and he's also v bright (walking at nine months, saying LOTS and LOTs of words and speaking very early, and can now say things like 'carry me' and 'where's george' etc and knows all his body parts and can name them etc, so perhaps they're both bright?
Same age (now 20 months)
Although i do spend a lot of time with her one to one, she's now becoming verrrrry shy and intolerent of strangers and won't even look at them, and doens't like unknown people in her space, but does finally warm to them and then chats to them.
I tried an iphone application the other day where she had to touch the right shape they called out out of a selection fo five on the screen, and she got them all right. Same with colours and animal and also, haha food - but she kept scrolling to the chocolate bit and saying 'chocolate, hmmmm' haha.
We have a family of starlings nesting in our roof and next to her room - she's a v light sleeper and woke at 4.30am this morning and that was that. Am verrrry tired and have a feeling we have months of this to come now