Gifted Child

Hello,

I am new to this site and I have a question pertaining to childcare for my 2 year, 8 month old daughter.  Sorry this is so long…

I don’t know if she is “gifted” or not, but she definitely has a great appetite for learning stuff and loves books.  She is a normal active 2 year old, but from about 6 months old, she began to pick up “book smarts” things much faster than others her age.  Currently, she knows all of her letters (capital and lower case) and knows the sounds to about half of the letters.  She is also able to spell her own name (Emily) and can write some of the letters within her name and other letters (although the handwriting isn’t great, you can tell what the letter is).  She can now count to 59 and can do very simple math using her fingers. (We ask her what 2 + 4 is and she uses her fingers to count to 6.)  She has learned all of this through play, us reading to her and her simply asking us questions.  We didn’t really try to teach her these things, she wanted to learn them and we didn’t want to stop her.

She is currently in a 2-year-old class within a center daycare.  I am overall happy with the daycare staff and the center as a whole. The teacher recently told me that while Emily is great at other points during the day, she is having some behavioral problems at circle time because she knows too much and answers all questions before other kids have a chance to answer. Some of the children in her classroom are still learning their colors & shapes and don’t know many letters.  The teachers are trying to work with her to not shout out the answer and give other kids a chance to answer questions, but it is difficult for a 2-year old to have that kind of patience.  They do want to move her to the next room ASAP, but the staff ratios are different for 3 year olds versus 2 year olds (6:1 vs. 10:1 in Pennsylvania). They don’t have room for her in the 3-year old room yet because her moving to that room would limit the number of kids allowed in that room (state laws requires ratios in the rooms to be based on youngest child in the room).  I was also told that they don’t believe even the 3-year-old room’s circle time will challenge her all that much.  With that said, Emily is well adjusted to the rest of the daycare day.  She plays with others just fine and is otherwise a normally adjusted child. J  It is just circle time that she has issues with behavior.   

I am trying to decide if it would be in her best interest to leave her in a daycare setting so that she learns to wait her turn (even if she knows the answer) or would it be better to put her in an in-home care setting where the person watching her could provide her a little more one-on-one time to allow Emily to go at her own pace.  I guess the advantage of the center approach would be that she could work on patience (something she doesn’t have) as she will probably need that once she hits public school.  The advantage of the in-home setting would be that she could probably explore her own interests a little more in dept and would probably learn about the stuff that interests her faster.   

I really don’t know what to do at this point.  I want her to continue to learn stuff that she wants to learn because she is so interested right now.  However, I also want her to have interaction with all types of kids her age as this is what she will have to deal with later in school and life.  I don’t know what to do right now.  What should I do?  Keep her in a center setting or move her to an in-home setting? (I would do my best to properly screen a potential in-home provider as there are good ones and no-so-good ones.)

Thanks for your help!

Karen, Mom to Emily

Can you check in to a Montessori or Montessori-based place?  They usually let kids be multi-age and work at their own pace.  My ds (now 17!) used to be in one from ages 2-4 and he thrived there, mostly being with kids a year or so older.  Circle time was with the older kids so he learned what was expected and did comply when he saw what others did.

Sue

Thanks for that advice.  I will have to check and see if my area has a Montessori or Montessori-based place near-by.  I know there are several about 1/2 hour from me, but that is a little far to travel each day.  Maybe I can find one closer.  Thanks again!

Karen

 

Karen, mom to Emily (dob - 2/3/07)

 

When my DD was 3 I tried putting her in a highly-rated day care center while I worked.  She didn't complain, but when I picked her up she was whiny and cranky and I knew she was over-stimulated (and under-napped).

I moved her to a home day care with a 4 and a 5-year-old girl for playmates and we were all a lot happier.  The home day care provider just had Catherine do whatever the older girls were doing, crafts or calendar or setitng the table or whatever. 

There was once, though, when the day care inspector made a surprise visit, and wrote the day care provider up for doing subtraction problems with my 3-year-old.  They were figuring how many light bulbs they'd need to get if four of the six lights in the chandelier still worked.  The inspector said it wasn't "age appropriate."  I told the DCP I'd testify on her behalf or even pay the fine if I had to, just don't stop doing what you're doing!

Thanks for your input.  I have an in-home care person in mind that told me that she works with the kids at their own ability and figures out projects they can do based on their ability.  I am leaning more and more towards in-home care.  She is full right now, but may have an opening in June.  Since I am comfortable with the center Emily is in now, I can wait that long if need be. 

Emily is the same way your child was in the daycare.  While she doesn't complain about the center, she does come home relatively cranky and needs her "alone time" for about 15 minutes when we get home.  She goes to her bedroom and either plays with her stuffed animals or opens a book and pretends to read.  It really does work well for me because it gives me time to start dinner. :)

That is funny about the subtraction.  I guess I would be written up for teaching my 2 year, 8 month old how to do simply addition. :)

 

Karen, mom to Emily (dob - 2/3/07)