FOCUSING ON MATH: 2 TO 3 YEARS OLD

So by the time Joey was 26 month-old, he could read words and books out loud (children’s books: 2-3 sentences per page) in both languages (but he reads better in English than French); could spell many 3-letter words and a few 4-letter words, including his first name and our nanny’s; could count actual things (up to about 25); understood the concept of addition; understood the concept of whole and half; could do 48-piece puzzles almost completely independently; could do many patternables on his own; could do Lego towers (and other more intricate designs) as tall as he was; change the settings on some electronic items (not toys) correctly; knew the days of the week, names of month etc by rote; was interested in the concept of time (knew which days he was going to school) and started telling the time  (whole hours and sometimes half hours) correctly on the clock. For this purpose, we used 'Telly the Teaching Time Clock' and 'Self-Checking Time Match-Ups' (Lakeshore Learning), as well as the 'Rock 'N Learn:Telling Time' (I hate this video, but it works). One of Joey's favorite games at the time was to use two sticks and arrange them like a on clock (without numbers) to tell you what time he made. Joey also knew all the major countries in Americas, Europe, and some in Africa; and had a well-developed sense of humor for his age.

Below is a video of Joey reading in class. As you can see, his diction had improved a bit in 3 months. 

In English:



And in French: 

Since we were cruising with reading, we decided to be more strategic with math. We continued with Syngapore Math, Learning Palette, (we started 1st grade material when Joey was about two and a half). We also added Meet the Common Core Math Standards Learning Center - Grade 1' and some big charts to start teaching the concept of fractions (Lakeshore Learning). A huge thing that had to happen that year for Joey to be able to progress beyond grasping the concepts of addition and subtraction was that he had to be able to actually count on his fingers, and then visualize counting on his fingers to solve simple additions. This visualization is really key, in my opinion. So we focused a lot on that. We got the 'addition and subtraction machines' and the 'Beat the Clock! Addition/Subtraction Facts to 18 Practice Board' (both from Lakeshore Learning). This latter meant that he started being able to write out addition and subtractions (but without carry over at this point). At the same time, Joey attended (1 hour a week) a math learning center because I felt that we needed a third party to work and report on his skills: over there, he worked with fraction manipulatives,  basic money skills (we were not really focusing on that yet because real money is so germy), patterning (but we had done a lot of that already), recognition of math symbols (include > and <), the concept of zero (which he knew very well already), rulers, balances, skip counting, among others. His attendance at this center was a really positive experience for us because it was the first time that I was getting true outside validation of Joey's giftedness. The lady was from Eastern Europe and she was just 'getting' Joey and what we were doing. She also provided a very nice reference letter. Getting references is SO important when you have a gifted child who is very young, as they are not reliable in displaying these skills in public until they feel comfortable in their new setting, so don't count on pre-school teachers oohing and ahhing after a couple of classes with your child at the beginning of the year... it is more likely that they will think you are delusional. 

Other skills Joey was learning was more Geography, thanks to the wonderful 'Geopuzzles'. Drawing with 'ART START Animals: How to Draw with Simple Shapes', and more writing/spelling with kids crossword puzzles (and having him write his own birthday cards). We also got him a 'Melissa & Doug Deluxe Magnetic Calendar' to continue reinforcing calendaring skills (the previous one we had was a hanging fabric calendar). Finally, we got him a Snap Circuits game, just to teach him to follow written directions (the concepts were still beyond him). 

In the meantime, Joey was making quite a bit of progress learning tunes on his little piano and swimming. See all videos below. 

Pre-school: pre-school is not, in most cases, a very good environment for gifted children. When Joey was placed with his age peers, they proceeded to study colors, shapes, and the occasional letters. Unfortunately, he had mastered these concepts about a year and half prior, and he was not interested at all in what was going on in class, so he was playing in his corner and occupying himself in ways that were not particularly responsive to what the teachers wanted from him. But this was more than just the curriculum. Joey was simply not interested in interacting with his peers. Don't get me wrong, he was extremely social one on one (with adults and children, any age), but there was something about the classroom dynamics and environment, which was noisy and had a million thing going on, that did not suit Joey well. We had a meeting with the teachers and director, and this was not a very good meeting. They implied that Joey may have developmental issues (and maybe autism ?, since he wasn't interacting much with the other children and often completely ignored directions), that he wasn't pronouncing some words correctly, etc, etc. But we stood our ground: 
1. We refused the dial 3 screening offered by the director, who was going to do it herself (something we perceived as a conflict of interest, since it seemed to us that she already had her mind made up about what was going on). Instead, I offered to have Joey screened independently, which we did. Joey passed this test (ASQ) without any problem.
2. We insisted that Joey had none of the issues they were hinting about. By that time, I had read extensively on gifted children and their behavior, and it was plain as day that Joey was exhibiting behaviors which were typical of gifted children who are not being adequately challenged. The teachers and director had no special training or knowledge about gifted children, so this was a difficult conversation.... of course there were other factors: Joey, as many boys, was neither socially advanced or naturally verbal like many little girls were in his class at the time; being bilingual, his total number of words was right on target, but his English vocabulary was about half that, which is perfectly normal; he was one of the youngest children in his class, which put him at a disadvantage developmentally; Joey is an introvert, at least outside of the house, and this is a personality trait that both I and my husband share; gifted kids are quirky and asynchronous in their development, so they might be able to master certain advanced concepts very quickly, yet be behind their peers in life skills... the fact that Joey is an only child and lives with three adults who care for his every need certainly does not help his practical skills.

So... after that conversation, Joey was moved to a smaller group of the same age, so he could get more attention, and the teachers started to bring him books he was interested in. That's how I learned that he could read at the 3rd grade level at two and a half. And in that modified environment, he started doing a lot better, warming up the class and his classmates. 

Then came the time to implement his acceleration (move him up to the next class), something I had insisted on when we signed up with the school. Again, this was a hard sale with the director, particularly in view of the issues he had encountered with his chronological peers at the beginning of the school year. Again, we did not back down, and pointed out that Joey would be more interested in the material in the older class, that he would be amongst children who were more mature and therefore in a calmer environment. We wanted to try it and did not take no for an answer. At that point, the director said she would not agree to it, unless he got the dial 3 screen. We said ok, but it had to be done by someone from outside of the school. This was done and again, Joey passed without any problem. He was moved the the older class... 

This saga will be continued in the next post: 3 to 4 years old. But I do want to add that despite our difficulties with the school, the teachers, and the school director, there is a happy ending in this regard. We were dealing with people who, while uninformed about gifted children, truly cared about Joey and doing the right thing, and were also intelligent. It took work, but in the end, they did 'get' Joey and were supportive. So the morale is to advocate, advocate, advocate: bring articles, documentation, letters from tutors, an outside advocate if necessary. Whatever it takes, but do not get discouraged or beaten into submission. While it is always possible that a child has a problem that requires extra-help, if in all honesty, as the parent, you do not see this problem in different settings (at home, or in social occasions), the problem is the environment, or the child's immaturity in adapting to this environment (not the same thing as a developmental delay), not the child. I think it is really unfortunate that nowadays, there is no tolerance for differences in personality or minor differences in maturity levels between children in the same class. The kids ALL have to be bubbly and excited about typical pre-school activities. Well, not all kids are, and that doesn't mean anything is wrong with them. Not all kids learn to put on their jacket on their own at the same age, etc... focusing on this kind of skill, which is so dependent on that child's circumstances (many siblings or only child; whether the parents care about teaching this sort of stuff) is plain misguided.