Wonderful! That's funny to call anything related to the toilet "precious!" Only on this site. Now, if you can somehow turn this situation into a potty training moment... hmmmm ("every time you use the potty, you may examine how it works!") I remember at potty training time, we talked an awful lot about where everything went down the line. Ah, so glad these are only memories!!

Luckily, our potty training has been going very well. He said he didn't want to wear diapers anymore 3 weeks ago, so I put him in underwear Saturday morning. The daycare lady (who actually suggested we get serious about this when I told her about the diaper comment) was very leery when he showed up in underwear on Monday morning. In the 3 weeks he has had 4 accidents, 2 of which were while he was napping. We are still putting him on the toilet most of the time, but about 1/3 of the time, he is telling us when he has to go potty. I like your way of thinking though, forget sticker charts, just reward him with taking the top off the toilet!!

Hi Mamabird! I have a 2 year old as well (he'll be 3 at the end of July) and stumbled up on this place a couple of weeks ago in much the same manner that you have.

I'm still reading more than posting, but I am learning so much from just perusing the posts and looking at all the experiences the vets here have had. It seems like a really great place.

My son Graham is obsessed with books...words and numbers thrill him. Yesterday, he decided that the phone book was the new cool thing to flip though because of all those glorious numbers!

Anyway, hello from another newbie!

Love the phone book story!

Welcome on board Catherine!! I would love to hear more about your son. I love hearing stories about other "more than normal" kids that are the same age as my son. I think it helps to hear that you are not living in some strange universe and that, no, it is not normal for a 3 year to think that the phone book is an awesome thing. You will love having a place to tell your crazy stories that most people give you the "questioning eyes" for. Welcome, can't wait to hear stories of your smart little cookie!

Thanks for the kind words! As I am sure you can relate to, it's weird being Graham's mom these days.

I am very active on a "birth club" message board, filled with women who all gave birth in July 2005, so all of our kids are the same age. there are about 150 women who post regularly. My son is the only one who is reading. Not just recognizing letters, but reading whole books. Ten Apples Up on Top is a new favorite. His favorite toy is a calculator with big, over sized buttons that my sister-in-law bought for him.

It can be very isolating, but also very exciting at the same time. Every day and with every conversation I have with him, I come around more and more to the reality that he is a very different kind of little boy. And he probably always will be very different. As much as I want to unequivocally encourage his intellectual growth in whatever direction it takes him, I also REALLY want him to be happy, socially.

So I am feeling my way around as an advocate with him...every day presents a new challenge. Last week it was trying, without seeming boastful or delusional, to convince the children's librarian at our local library that I needed help finding early reading books for Graham. She sort of blew me off until she saw him sight reading with her own eyes. Her reaction made me laugh.

Mamabird, I know our kiddos are young, but have you begun to consider how you are going to handle school? I think about that almost daily and really wonder what the right thing to do is.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Hello to you and glad to see you here!

Yup. It's just that for GT kids, the intellectual growth is usually required for the social and emotional development to occur. These kids just aren't happy if they're not learning.

Despite what the rest of the world thinks, the kids who take calculus at 12 or whatever are rarely doing it because their parents are pushy stage-mom types. They're doing it because they HAVE to do it in order to be reasonably happy people who aren't impossible to be around. Most of us parents are being dragged forward kicking and screaming, not trying to make these kids go faster!

I know my long-term goals for my DS6 are for him to be a happy, healthy (emotionally as well as physically), productive member of society. But to be happy and emotionally healthy now, he must be challenged, and I am pretty sure it will always be that way for him.

It's good that you can smile at the librarian. I hope you continue to keep that great attitude. Some days it's easy and some days it's...not. Attitudes toward GT kids vary so wildly in the real world. Some people are downright weird about them. Even some people who should really know better.

Anyway, hi!

Hi Catherine,

I really like manipulatives for your son's age. We had these little plastic bears of two different colors.
There are so many ways you can play with them to develop number sense.
Your son will probably love to play math games using them.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I have. My son was born 3 weeks after the kindergarten cut off in our District. Previously they had been very strict about this date and wouldn't even consider early entrance kindergarten. Now however, they have a system in place where if your child attends preschool and there preschool will give a recommendation they can be considered for early entrance. At that point they would do testing more complex than the normal kindergarten screening to decide if they are indeed ready or not.

He currently goes to an in-home daycare, as I work full time. I have been looking into preschools/Montessori schools in the area as I think that early entrance is probably going to be the best first option for us. My son is actually very good socially and I am hoping this will help him in the public school system. He loves going to daycare and playing with other kids. At this point I am kind of taking a wait and see approach. It feels like he is learning new things all the time and asks such amazing questions and retains whatever it is that we give him for an answer. I still keep thinking that maybe it will slow down and I am worrying about nothing. (Anyone smelling some serious denial)

How about you Catherine, have you though about schooling yet?

<sniff, sniff>

Yup, that's what it smells like, mamabird!

I feel compelled to give my standard warning about preschools: they can promise you the moon to get you in the door, but that doesn't mean that they have any comprehension of GTness, that they'll recognize it when they see it, or that they'll give your child what s/he needs. They also tend to feel less compelled to actually teach a child anything because it's "just" preschool. The old saw "Just let him/her be a kid" is common in pre-K, unfortunately.

A non-academic pre-K can work well if the child has the time to explore academic interests outside of preschool. That means that half-day in a non-academing setting is probably better for most HG+ kids than full-day. Pre-K becomes social time, not "school" per se.

Montessori can work if the teacher gets the child and allows him/her to advance. Some do a wonderful job with this and are a great start to the school years. But please be aware that some say they start a child where s/he is, but they don't live up to their promises.

We had terrible luck with this for the first half of DS6's 4yo year of Montessori pre-K. DS was reading books quite proficiently and had been reading books for the better part of a full year, so I asked if they would start him where he was or if he'd have to jump through all the pre-reading hoops. They promised me the moon, but they started him at pre-reading anyway. I advocated gently for MONTHS! But it wasn't until DH joined me at the Jan. parent-teacher conference and insisted that they shape up that the school FINALLY got it and moved him up.

DS progressed quickly after that, but their midterm report on him is laughable to read now. They thought he was BEHIND in the area of language arts because he never did anything in the LA area. Well, no, not if you're making him do things he could do half his life ago! Duh! DH and I still call any hoop that must be gotten through but is far below a child's developmental readiness a "letter box," after the Montessori teaching tool that the school wouldn't let DS skip. It was a really frustrating year.

I'm not alone in this sort of negative experience, though some here love the Montessori experience for their kids, so it all depends completely upon the particulars of school and teacher. <shrug> Just be aware that any highly academic preschool could be trouble if they are unprepared for a child who is so far ahead of their curriculum. You need more than promises that they understand. You need them to deliver!

FWIW, I'd probably pick a non-academic half-day pre-K over a highly academic all-day one unless I was SURE my child's needs were completely understood and would be supported at the academic pre-K. If they don't understand LOGs, I think you'll have trouble.

Maybe that helps some...I remember how hard it was to choose that first pre-K program, and that was when I was still deep in GT denial. If I had realized that DS was HG+, I think I would have been just about paralyzed!

If we can help, just ask!