2.5 yr old intelligence-Is this normal???

[BrightEyes]

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

lmao kidlove!!!!!!!!!!!

[daycarewhisperer]

is he potty trained? How does he play with children that are younger than he is?

[mom-in-alberta]

At this time, I wouldn't "do" anything but nurture what seems to be a natural proficiency for literature. I don't think I would have him tested, at least until he is about to start school.
It's funny, we (parents and providers) worry when a child doesn't do something, and we worry when they do!

[Momof4]

At this time, I wouldn't "do" anything but nurture what seems to be a natural proficiency for literature. I don't think I would have him tested, at least until he is about to start school.
It's funny, we (parents and providers) worry when a child doesn't do something, and we worry when they do!

I agree with this post. We don't have to label our children. Let them play and have fun and be innocent as long as possible in this age of media and violence and sex all pushed on children way too young. It's sad. We should praise our little ones for their accomplishments, help them with their shortcomings and accept them as they are.

[bright sparks]

From my experience with a gifted LD child of my own and having done extensive research along with going through the motions of a Psych Ed Assessment, I would say the odds are extremely high that this child is gifted. Obviously with what you said his intelect level is but what is a done deal for me is the fact that he was a late talker. Most gifted children have a defecit. It is something they may overcome and may not even be obvious to those around him, but also it can be a 2nd exceptionality which would lead to Gifted with an LD. Don't be concerned. It's a waste of energy. Monitor and document everything closely so that he gets "picked up" as soon as he is at school. If you really want to help him and his family, recommend they get in touch with mensa. They are the worldwide organization for gifted folks. I'm sure they would have some resources that may challenge him a little in the meantime if nothing else.

www.canada.mensa.org

[Momof4]

If I may give an example from my own life to enforce my earlier post, my son is exceptionally gifted, huge IQ, but as a child he was a problem. He had ADHD and learning disabilities but his IQ was off the charts. So he's in his 30's now and goes to university for a hobby, taking a phsychology or political course here and there for fun. He makes a ton of money and keeps getting promoted at his job and he's having so much fun because he's a party guy who never intends to grow up! He's freaking Peter Pan!!! What's a Mom to say to that? He's happy, he's successful, I love him, but he's never going to give me a grandbaby, darnnit!

[torontokids]

Leave him be. Continue to praise and encourage him but let him be a kid. Let him guide you guys as to what he wants and needs to foster this gift. Testing is only necessary if you are looking to have him identified in any way for a gifted program/school. He is still young, not necessary at this time and labeling him as "gifted" can have its negatives in my opinion. Sometimes these kids only start to identify with "the label" and loose a bit of themselves.

[mimi]

If I may give an example from my own life to enforce my earlier post, my son is exceptionally gifted, huge IQ, but as a child he was a problem. He had ADHD and learning disabilities but his IQ was off the charts. So he's in his 30's now and goes to university for a hobby, taking a phsychology or political course here and there for fun. He makes a ton of money and keeps getting promoted at his job and he's having so much fun because he's a party guy who never intends to grow up! He's freaking Peter Pan!!! What's a Mom to say to that? He's happy, he's successful, I love him, but he's never going to give me a grandbaby, darnnit!

I think I envy him!

[KingstonMom]

is he potty trained? How does he play with children that are younger than he is?

He is potty trained, since 2.25 mos. He still wets at nighttime, maybe 2 out of 7 nights. He no longer naps at daycare, just requires a 1 hour lay-down in a dark room alone but will not fall asleep.

He would MUCH rather prefer older playmates than younger ones. He expresses this when the little ones wake from nap (even those his own age or a year older) he has cousins aged 5 and 7, he LOVES playing with them.

[daycarewhisperer]

He is potty trained, since 2.25 mos. He still wets at nighttime, maybe 2 out of 7 nights. He no longer naps at daycare, just requires a 1 hour lay-down in a dark room alone but will not fall asleep.

He would MUCH rather prefer older playmates than younger ones. He expresses this when the little ones wake from nap (even those his own age or a year older) he has cousins aged 5 and 7, he LOVES playing with them.

I've never met a kid who didn't prefer older playmates. The much older the better. Even my special needs kids highly prefer way way older kids.

For me, I would nix the short nap deal. At my house he would need to sleep for 2.5 hours EVERY day no exceptions. His possible intelect doesn't change that he has a toddler body that needs sleep.

I would also exclusively have him only play with the younger children for a few months. If you really want to see what he's made of you will see it in how he is able to bring the younger ones into his play and make do with what he has.

I encourage you to consider that he MAY be a child who has a lot of symbol recognition work done at home. He may have an adult spending HOURS with him doing cards, shapes, sizes, workds... etc. He may simply be a product of a lot of exposure and a lot of praise and adult.

You will know much more of what he is made of to see how he does with no adult and nothing coming IN... just what he puts OUT when he's in the worst case scenario... play with younger kids and on his own. THAT'S where you can REALLY tell.

He may not be resting because he's all jacked up in his brain from the amount of "in" he gets everday hosted by adult. You may find that he zoinks out and takes a LONG hard nap every day if you have him do the HARD work of playing with much younger children where he is the one who entertains and not the one being entertained. It's ALWAYS easier to be the one who is entertained which is why nearly every single kid on the planet prefers older kids.

I've had three total real gifted children in my 30 plus year career. I've had many kids go into the TAG program over the years but only three were able to sustain it into the upper years of school. When you see these kids you KNOW it. You don't know it by flash cards and symbol recognition and order. You know it by how amazingly adaptable they are to make any situation brilliant with little on their side.

I've also had kids who were able to do what your guy does at about the age of turning three. One in particular the parents spent endless hours with from birth doing symbols and TALKING to him constantly. He learned to talk really young and had a wide breadth of symbol recognition and words. He was quite jacked up and really really suffered when he was left to build, sort, free play, and interact with the other kids. He was very very adult dependent for his minute to minute. When left to his own devices to play toys he spent most of it just talk talk talk talk talk. Not interactive talk but terms of engagement talk to get the adult to "do" him.

He left my care and took a year to potty train. He went into parent care and the Mom had such a difficult time managing him that she had to go back to work and have the Dad stay home with him. They believed he was a genius but they had substantial issues with his behavior when they weren't pumping him with preschool work and crafts.

I never thought the kid was gifted from day one. It was a very hard balance for me to listen to and see what he could do (quite similiar to your boy) but then see in real life how disobedient he was, how jacked up he was, and how repeated proximal corrections were overlooked and he was unable to learn from past to apply to future. He was the second hardest kid I have ever had. I had two staff assistants during his run and both said he was the hardest. Yes he could read words and write... he could even do back wards words.... but he was really overstimulated and had WAY too much adult in his face. We choose to not do ANY preschool activities with him because he so desperately needed to just learn to entertain himself and play and follow directions. We focused on THOSE things because he really really needed them. His defecits in playing and following directions were profound.

To me, he didn't show any signs of giftedness from day one but he did show that he had adults playing with him and adults believing he was extraordinary. He had adults believe that he was far higher in thinking and problem solving then he was. I think nearly any kid with average intelligence could produce what he could if they had a team of adults from birth spending their awake time feeding the "he's gifted" machine like my little guy did.

Now he may be gifted... he may be one of the precious few who are. But for me... in my setting... it really wouldn't matter at all. I would look at him overall and say he will take a good deep sleep every day, eat well, exercise with the kids on the walk, and play toys with the younger child in the day care who needs to be mentored by someone who can talk well and play. I would not ever let him choose his playmate and I would always pick the youngest walker in the group to be his primary buddy. A few months of that and THEN you will see his true skill set. I also wouldn't do any school work with him. Sounds like the parents got that covered. (unless you love doing that then do it for you).