Characteristics of Gifted Preschoolers
Identifying Intellectually Advanced Young Children
Oct 26, 2008
When a young child seems to lag behind his peers, nervous parents often turn to the lists of developmental milestones that appear in most parenting books. But what of the infants, toddlers or preschoolers who consistently meet most or all of their milestones months or even years ahead of the norm?
Parents of a two year old who spontaneously begins to read without instruction or of a three year old who can provide detailed directions to a dentist office he has only been to once six months before may also worry about what is involved in raising a precocious learner.
Unfortunately, however, parents of advanced preschoolers rarely find answers in parenting books or at the pediatrician's office. In fact, some otherwise well respected parenting guides and physicians will even dissuade parents from trying to identify a child as gifted, making parents feel feel obnoxious for asking.
Raising a Precocious Preschooler
In spite of this advice, parents who raise precocious preschoolers – like all good parents – will often worry about how a child who is markedly different than his age peers will fit in when school begins. They may wonder whether certain quirky behaviors are normal for a gifted child. They will also most certainly want assurance that they have accurately assessed child's abilities and whether they will be able to provide enough appropriate guidance and opportunity to feed the advanced child's school and social success.
Characteristics of Gifted Preschoolers
Since intellect frames the depth and intensity of every experience, intellectually gifted children will typically exhibit unusual abilities and behaviors from a very young age:
- Asynchronous Development: A gifted child's intellectual abilities may be at a dramatically different level than his or her social or emotional level. For instance, a gifted preschooler with an understanding of chess strategy well beyond his years may likewise have a very age appropriate emotional meltdown when he loses a game.
- Intensity: Many gifted preschoolers are unusually intense. They may have an insatiable appetite for learning and will often have an unusual attention span for areas of interest. Likewise, parents of gifted youngsters often report that their children sleep very little or that they have an inordinate amount of energy. When applied to academics, this intensity is sometimes described as a "rage to learn."
- Older Playmates: Advanced preschoolers often prefer older playmates whose intellectual ability may be more on par with their own. Highly gifted children may even find it more comfortable to hang out with an adult than with other children.
- Advanced Vocabulary: Intellectually gifted children may begin to speak during infancy and may exhibit an uncharacteristically mature vocabulary and sentence structure from a very early age. For instance, an advanced toddlers may use pronouns correctly much earlier than age peers and may show a remarkable understanding of abstract concepts.
- A Heightened Sense of Humor: Gifted preschoolers often delight in using puns and will sometimes exhibit a sense of humor well beyond their years.
- Early Understanding of Time and Calendar Concepts: Gifted youngsters are typically intuitive about time and dates. They may, for instance, understand the meaning of "yesterday", "tomorrow", "next week", or "next year" well before their age peers.
- Clear Connections: Young gifted children almost always make connections between seemingly unrelated topics and often show a remarkable understanding of cause and effect.
No two children will be the same, and some gifted children may not seem to fall on any milestone chart ever. However, it may be reassuring for parents of precocious preschoolers to know that their children are "typical," at least when compared to intellectual peers.
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