2.5 yr old intelligence-Is this normal???

I have a 2.75 yr old daycare boy (Turns 3 in April).
He is very smart with numbers and letters.
He recently began asking me how to spell words such as his friends names, his pets names, words of objects such as milk, sock etc. He knows the sounds all the letters make and sometimes I will make the sound and he says the letter to spell a word.

I wrote down a little list of what he knows how to spell (perfectly, without error every time) and the list is up to 20. He can count as high as his attention will let, usually 40 or 50, and can also count backwards from as high as 30 when asked.
Today it freaked me out when he was playing with flashcards and he started placing them in reverse order on the floor. From Z to A perfectly. He can spell several words backwards already like his own name and his sisters name with ease.

Although hsi parents and I are very proud of him, I am slightly worried if this is 'normal' behaviour. His social skills are good, he has a preference which friends he likes or doesnt. But can play with and alongside with them,

His speech was delayed and didnt say much until about a few months ago, and now I feel that he is 100% on par with his peers his age.

Would this be this childs 'knack' and nothing to be concerned about in your opinion?

not sure if worried or concerned are the right words to use here, I would say he is gifted. IMO IF you work with a child of that age you can have a tone of intelligence blossom with ease, but if I am understanding what you are saying he can do and understand, he is far beyond where others his age are and seems to be a very gifted boy. If he is not socially okward in any way and makes friends and gets along well, he sounds like a very interesting and well rounded charactor. Good luck with his accomplishments in the future and give the parents a pat on the back...whether its just plain genetics or they are working night and day...intelligent kids are a breath of fresh are....most kids today can't do nearly what they are capable of. ;)

ha ha ! show him my post and have him proof read it, I made a few mistakes :)

My brother was like that growing up. He used to sit down with my mom and I when I did my homework and answer for me 50% of the time..! When it was his time to go to school, he had a hard time since he allready knew what the teachers were teaching in class. I think that might be where he will have a '' harder time'' with his gift!

does he have older siblings?

Wow! That's amazing! Since he is socially normal, I wouldn't be worried, but he does sound gifted. He will likely be bored at school when he starts. Maybe his parents should look into a gifted program somewhere. My daughter is only a few months younger and very smart, but she cannot do anything remotely close to what you are mentioning!!!

My youngest was/is a lot like that! Things come extremely easily for her. She's in grade 3 now and she works on "bonus" projects - which she loves - when she is ahead of the other kids! She is a sweet, social, athletic but most importantly,happy, girl! I'd say there's nothing to worry about!! :)

I just sent a child like this off to JK in the Fall .... she was gifted with a self initiated passion and knack for literacy ... she was not only recognizing but writing the entire alphabet by 2.5 along with a few familiar words and by 3 she was printing about 30 different words consistently and reading the short phonics book like the 'Dog plays in the bog' type things where the word are all simple.

Mom shared that in school what they have ended up doing to 'encourage' her to not get bored is she goes up to the Grade 1 classroom for reading/literacy time because she is more on par with that level .... I had her here the last PD dad and she was drawing pictures and writing a full page story underneath ~ it had spelling mistakes but it was phonetically correct ... meaning the words were all spelled like they 'sounded' to her ... so Princess was Prinses and so forth but she is only 4 most of her peers are still mastering their 'name' ;)

I certainly would not be concerned but if the child is gifted in one area as mentioned they will need to inform the school so that the school can put systems in place to support that and avoid the child having boredom or negative school experience because of it :(

Holy crap, I have a child that age in my daycare and he can't even speak clearly so when he sings the ABC's I don't even know for sure if he's saying them right, I'm just hoping. You have a little genius on your hands. I had a little girl that age with the academic abilities which was a good thing because she hadn't turned 4 yet when she started JK and she did fine. All children are different and we all have our own strengths and weaknesses. Just be proud of each child for their own special talents and don't worry.

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Originally Posted by kidlove

ha ha ! show him my post and have him proof read it, I made a few mistakes :)

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:laugh: That got me kidlove. I almost choked on my tea.

Yes he is quite amazing, and I cannot wait to see what he masters next! His parents used flash cards with him when he was young and he was always into reading books and puzzels, had no interest in TV or movies which helped. He does not have any older siblings, bnut I also have his younger sister who is 15 months old, we will see if she shares the same interest in letters etc.

Whenever me and his parents discuss his skills, she hints that she hopes it is not a sign of autism or aspergers or anything because she said she has looked into it and a lot of those diagnosis begin to look like 'just a gifted child'. His social skills comfort me and her that she has nothing to be concerned about.
Should she look into getting him any sort of testing now or wait until he is closer to school aged?