My baby is still 1yr 8months and she already recognises the letters in the alphabet. Normal for her age?

Question

When my 19 month old baby was able to say a few words, she would also point out the letters in her alphabet book and correctly name about 80% of them. That was 1 month ago, now she is able to recognize all the capital letters and some of the small letters. Some of my friends could not believe this but they could observe her reading the letters on the license plates of our cars, on shirts and even the letters on the computer keyboard. We didn't expect her to pick up this fast but we did read the letters to her since she was just a 4 month old. Is this so unusual for her age? I'm scared of the responsibilities dealing with a gifted child. Could any of you experts out there help me? Suggest some sites that I can browse. Help very much appreciated.

Answer 1

You seem to have a very smart little girl on your hands. Some children are able to pick up letters more quickly then others and they will have an easier time in school then some of their cohorts. However, they may also be bored and have a hard time socializing with their peers. I suggest continuing with your child's at home education and searching for a preschool that caters to literacy skills when it is time for her to go off to school. Make sure that she is socializing with peers her own age and gets to play with age appropriate toys, many parents with smart kids like to only buy educational toys and keep their children somewhat sheltered from normal childhood activities. Don't push her too hard educationally, no matter how smart she is remember she is still a baby. Let her learn an explore, teach her how much fun learning can be and how she can have fun in other ways too.
When she is in Kindergarten have her tested for the gifted program, but make sure she is not placed so far above her age level that socialization is impossible.
I have taught many wonderfully gifted children and with the help of parents they go on to live wonderfully gifted lives.

Answer 2

That's unique but not unheard of. I was the same way as a child. I was speaking in complete sentences at 18 months; was reading simple children's books at 4 and could easily pass an SAT vocabulary test at 11. While my counterparts were reading Goosebumps I was reading John Grisham. When my parents interacted with me they always exposed me to as much verbal stimulation as possible. They ALWAYS pointed to objects, letters and words and would repeat what the item was called. They pretty much did what you're doing. They also taught me how to file a tax return when I was 13.

A child with high verbal skills isn't necessarily "gifted". I have excellent verbal skills but can't do any math beyond high school algebra to save my life. In college I breezed through my writing courses but almost died in the math classes.

This type of thing is actually an indicator of good parenting. Wether your daughter turns out to be a genius or just an average person, you're teaching her well! Keep up the good work!

P.S. DO NOT push her too hard to learn everything! Bogging her down is going to have horrible effects, just let her be a kid and explore life, she'll learn more that way.

Answer 3

It doesn't necessarily mean that you have a gifted child, although that would be wonderful (and not carry extra responsibilities). Young children can learn the alphabet early on if their parents or caretakers spend the time trying to teach it to them. That's just how young brains work. I know a two year old that knows the alphabet and how much each type of money is worth. It just shows that you are a good parent that spends time with your child. If your child does turn out to be gifted, then when they are in school they will be tested for it. They will put them in a program for gifted students because the work in their regular class may be too easy for them. Depending on how gifted, they may try to skip them grades which you should only do if the child wants to because leaving friends could be hard on the child.

Try reading these...
http://giftedkids.about.com/od/younggiftedchildren/qt/infants.htm

EDIT: Try this website also...
http://parentcenter.babycenter.com/refcap/preschooler/pspecial/65003.html?ccRelLink=&url=%2Fnewpoll%2Fpreschooler%2Fpspecial%2F75382.html&xTopic=pgifted&bus=content

Keep up the good work.

Answer 4

I am not what you'd call an "expert" but I have experience with the subject - myself - early in my childhood my mother would do the same with me, read things to me, show me numbers and letters, etc. - by kindergarten I could read chapter books (from the children's and young adult section) - they put me in gifted classes where they started me out with phonics and higher grade math & reading - my mother pushed me the whole time(she too was gifted) - they ended up moving me up 2 grades and i graduted when i was 16 - socially it is tough to go through school as a "gifted" child - a lot of people don't accept the "Smart" people - but you learn how to live that life - I was made fun of early but later on I became well-liked and that made it easy to finish out high school - being gifted isn't all bad either , it makes most teachers like you because they don't really have to help you do anything - lol - even the teachers other kids hated b/c they were "mean" liked me and I didn't even want them to- but I am now 18 and I like the fact that I am already done and out of high school, i have started my life now, i used to hate it but now i appreciate the fact that my mother pushed me to be more advanced and nurture my skills, i feel more prepared to face things, it gives me something to remember as a child also (the lessons with my mother) ----- if the parents want they can rather influence the child before entering school and can
make it so they are more advanced than other children especially if the child learns quickly - i am posting a few websites below that may help you out with it - hope it helps!

http://www.ri.net/gifted_talented/character.html
http://www.renpac.org/recognizing.htm
http://www.misd.net/Gifted/parenting.htm
http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/parents.gifted.html

Answer 5

It's not unusual if you teach your child certain things. My daughter is 18 months old and she says a lot of words and loves to sing all the songs from the cartoons. She can also point out some letters because I have been teaching her how to. Don't get overwhelmed, you are doing a great job with her. My doctor once told me that I should get my daughter tested when she's about 3 yrs old to see if she's gifted. Talk to your doctor and see if they can point you in the right direction.

Answer 6

That sounds great!

One thing I used to advise parents of drum students I taught....DON'T get caught up with whether or not their child was learning at "the right speed". If they think Johnny isn't picking up on stuff fast enough, it's not going to change by making them practice for hours on end. Then learning becomes a chore.

What you are doing is awesome. Kids learn to read faster when parents read TO them. How's she doing with numbers? Try having her count to ten, then twenty, then 30....etc etc. All it can do is give her a great foundation when she starts in a structured learning environment( other wise known as school...lol)

The only thing I would suggest is that you don't go too crazy with it. If she's THAT far ahead of the other kids, she might get bored and have discipline problems.

Just don't start algebra until she's 6....;-)

Answer 7

Your daughter is advanced. Take that with happiness. My daughter is 17 months and she can call out the alphabet to the letter G. It's not really unusual for her age, she is curious and wants to learn. Thats a good thing.

Answer 8

Dealing with a gifted child is not that hard actually. Just care for her like any other baby, but do try to get her into a gifted class, if (of course) she wants to. If she doesn't, like I didn't (because of my friends), then just try to promote her learning in other ways, like John's Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. They give you exposure to things like the SAT at age 12-14. But some parents won't want that much stress on the child. Then just care for it normally.

Answer 9

I don't know if it is "normal" or not. It is very good! If you have a bright child, keep giving her options for growth. You will grow with her and learn yourself as you are teaching her.

Thank God she is gifted and Thank God you have read to her. Keep up the good work. Challenge her to do more things. Work with her and give her accolades when she is right. Just try again if she is wrong. Never make her feel bad when she is wrong, get her to understand we learn from our mistakes. She is just like the rest of us in that way.

God bless you and yours. Trust in Him and you will be fine.

On the Internet, search for intelligence, gifted child, genius and etc.

Answer 10

At 3 my son began to sound out letters on flashcards that he change into getting to understand at nursery college. maximum youthful children commence easily interpreting words at 4-5. it really is vitally uncommon for 3 year olds to commence interpreting without being taught letter sounds, it includes interpreting the phonetic coding by potential of themselves, as an social gathering i n g type ing and o and a have seperate sounds, yet type a clean one even as placed mutually in words like Boat and Goat. it really is made more durable by potential of the particular shown reality that English words are not to any extent further always phonetic. maximum youthful children can mimic the alphabet even as they commence to talk, and can want to even sing the track even as they see the letters mutually on a wall chart for instance, yet they don't easily understand what they mean till they commence getting to understand to study.