Early Signs that Your Child is Gifted
The common practice that many have known since before, is that a child manifests the traits of being gifted not until he reaches school age when he notably excels among others. Traits of giftedness can actually be seen in toddlers and in infants too! Thanks to advanced research and studies, we now can identify the early signs of giftedness in our babies.
If you think your baby shows some interesting traits that are not quite common at his or her age, you can refer to this article and read some gifted baby milestones and gifted baby signs so you will know how to support your baby and nurture the potential he or she has.
Levels of Giftedness
Gifted children possess their own abilities and intelligence differently, thus, knowing what level of giftedness your child is, is important to know what kind of academic support is appropriate for him.
The below ranges may have a negligible difference but there is a very great range of abilities between gifted children. These figures are from the Gifted Education Research, Resource and Information Centre (GERRIC) which are all research-based information.
| Typical IQ scores (S.D.=15) | Frequency | |
| Moderately Gifted | 130-145 ( 2 to 3 S.D. from mean) | 1:40 |
| Highly Gifted | 145-160 ( 3 to 4 S.D. from mean ) | 0.458333333 |
| Exceptionally Gifted | 160-180 | 1:10,000 |
| Profoundly Gifted | 180+ | 1:1,000,000 |
Gifted Baby Signs to Watch Out For
As a parent, you can’t help but to compare your child with the other children sometimes especially when you’re caught in a parental-talk conversation with other parents. You may have wished for your baby to be less fussy just like other typical babies but if you knew these signs of a gifted baby way back then, you will fully understand why your baby cries more often or why it’s difficult to leave him alone even with a toy, and whatnot.
According to Carol Bainbridge of verywellfamily.com, one key sign of a possibly gifted baby is the need for mental stimulation, and that it is not unusual for gifted babies to get fussy and even start to cry if they aren’t provided constant stimulus.
Other signs of a gifted baby according to her may include exaggerated characteristics like:
- Constant stimulation-seeking while awake
- Earlier ability to mimic sounds than other babies
- Extreme alertness or always looking around
- Hypersensitivity to sounds, smells, textures, and tastes as well as an unusually vigorous reaction to unpleasant ones
- Lower sleep needs than other babies
Gifted Baby Milestones
It’s a good thing if you are reading this while your baby hasn’t come out yet or at his early childhood stage—so you can take note of the below gifted baby milestones and list every milestone he achieves in actual, every month.
General Motor Examples
| Ability | Normal Age | Gifted Age (30% Advanced) |
| Sits up alone | 7 months | 4.9 months |
| Stands alone well | 11 | 7.7 |
| Crawls upstairs | 15 | 10.5 |
| Walks upstairs | 18 | 12.6 |
| Turns pages of a book | 18 | 21 |
| 30 | 33.6 | |
| Skips with one foot only | 48 | 33.6 |
| Throws ball | 48 | 33.6 |
| Skips with alternating feet | 60 | 42 |
Fine Motor Examples
| Ability | Normal Age | Gifted Age (30% Advanced) |
| Plays with rattle | 3 months | 2.1 months |
| Pulls strings adaptively | 7 | 4.9 |
| Holds object (Finger + Thumb) | 9 | 6.3 |
| Holds crayon adaptively | 11 | 7.7 |
| Scribbles Spontaneously | 13 | 9.1 |
| Folds paper | 21 | 14.7 |
| Draws a person with 2 parts | 48 | 33.6 |
| Copies a triangle | 60 | 42 |
| Draws a person with neck, hands and clothes | 72 | 50.4 |
Cognitive-Language Examples
| Ability | Normal Age | Gifted Age (30% Advanced) |
| Social smile at people | 1.5 months | 1.05 |
| Searches with eyes for sound | 2.2 | 1.54 |
| Vocalizes 2 different sounds | 2.3 | 1.61 |
| Says “Dada” (or equivalent) | 7.9 | 5.53 |
| Responds to name and “no” | 9 | 6.3 |
| Looks at pictures in a book | 10 | 7 |
| Has vocabulary of 4-6 words | 15 | 10.5 |
| Follows directions to put object on chair etc. | 17.8 | 12.46 |
| 3-word sentences | 24 | 16.8 |
| Gives full name | 30 | 21 |
| Counts objects to 3 | 36 | 25.2 |
Conclusion—What You Should Do as a Parent
If you are a parent of a formally declared gifted child, what you should do is just support your child the way you are already supporting him or her. A parent’s role cannot be disregarded to be one of the factors why their child develops that way.
Gifted children develop differently and excel in different areas. If you notice your child is more inclined into numbers, buy him a toy that has numbers and mathematical expressions in it to stimulate more learning and development in this area. If he or she’s good with vocabulary or excels in language skills, get him more books to read with.
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Book sets for kids:
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Just remember to keep your child challenged. He will most likely get easily bored or frustrated over one simple task when repeated. They need constant stimulation to encourage and bring out the best in them.