I frequent a bulletin board geared towards toddlers who hit their milestones early.  It’s not so much that I think Sal is an early milestone toddler - I think overall he may be slightly ahead - but nothing like what some of the kids on this board achieve so early.   The real reason I do it is because I’ve found a lot of creative moms who are struggling to keep up w/ their bright kids - who have found things that have sparked their lil’ns interest.   Things like Cariboo, the Letter Factory, and Starfall all came from reading these boards.

A debate that I notice that comes up on the board every couple of months is what happens for gifted vs. hothoused kids.   Hothousing commonly refers to tactics that parents use to push their kids to learn early - unlike gifted kids who’s natural curiousity and brightness helps them pick up on many advanced concepts.  The mom’s on the board are clearly against hot housing, some relishing in the fact that hothoused kids typically lose their ”advantage” when they get to 3rd or 4th grade.

It’s an interesting line - when are you encouraging your child’s development vs. when are you artificially pushing them to “recite” concepts that they are not ready to understand?   I struggle with this since I want Sal to meet his potential and I know the area we live in is intensely competitive, yet,  when do you cross the line?

Right now we try to let Sal decide what he wants, but we definitely influence his choices and what he gets exposed to.