I know you seem to have settled this issue, but I just wanted to chime in on a few things.

I generally have a "live and let live" attitude, but that ends at my home and my children (and in professional situations when appropriate).

Of course, I don't know your relationship with your husband or how you feel about how others perceive you. I enforce rules in my home upon visiting children (and adults). In the case of children, that includes punishment (time outs, etc.) if their parents aren't around to do it. (I will also say something to children that appear unsupervised if they are acting out in a way that affects my children when out in public. I will also say something to adults and teenagers, too. I once yelled "Shut up. There are children around and I will call the cops" to a bunch of kids screaming profanities in a department store parking lot.)

I also have no problem saying who is not allowed in my home based upon their behavior. My sister invited herself and a friend over ONCE and never again. Everyone calls before they come over. No exceptions. It is a known rule. I am nice about these things once. After that, I may get ugly because I take it as a sign of disrespect (from adults as well as children), which I will not tolerate in my own home.

Friends are great, but my children are my priority. Luckily for me, my husband (a former Drill Sergeant) has the same feelings as I do on this subject.

I was considered "gifted" as a child and attended special classes. What I noticed personally about gifted children was more their creativity than their "intelligence". Gifted children seemed, to me, capable of seeing things differently than the average child or adult. This was, of course, coupled with a strong desire to learn, and an insatiable curiosity, either in specific or general topics. Gifted learners also tend to want to overdo projects, or in more common terms are over-achievers.

So no, I don't think reading at an early age determines giftedness. However, I do think that IQ can be improved upon or even determined at a young age. I believe I read once (no telling where!) that Einstein took an interest in his father's (?) physics journals as a child. And I have read many other articles lately (I really should bookmark these things) about how creativity may actually be a skill and not necessarily an inherited talent. If we look back at many of the geniuses, several had early exposure to that about which they became passionate. Oftentimes, it had to do with family professions and/or hobbies.

I don't believe that the term should be "gifted", but rather "exposed and intrigued" at an early age of course

Pokerdad,

My husband had serious ear problems as a child, and still has issues. He had tubes until he was twelve. He had surgery a little over a year ago, and it has been determined that he will very slowly go deaf in atleast one ear. He just got to where he could put his head underwater and "dive" head first into a pool last summer. He still has to ease himself into it, though. So my husband and I have an on and off struggle with the kids swimming.

Anyway, my point is that we avoided putting my son's head underwater and tried very hard to keep water out of his ears to no avail. He still had several infections within a year and wound up getting tubes. Sometimes, our precautions as parents don't help with the issue we are concerned with. They may only hold back the possibilities of growth. I am handling this very differently with my youngest.

I'm impressed! It sounds like daddy is on top of it! Pokercub seems a lot more cooperative than my newest addition was. She kinda has her own plans. So, you are doing amazing in my book!

Does everyone know about Hubbard's Cupboard? Lots of resources. I really like the simple sight word readers in particular:

http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/sight_words.html

There are word family readers, too!

http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/printable_booklets.html#WordFamilyBooklets

A common complaint from people outside of early learning is that our children don't get enough time to play and we, as parents, are stifling their creativity. I have experienced the opposite, however. Early learning has allowed meanongful play to crop up from the knowledge we have gained about various topics. I was wondering what other parents might have experienced? Would anyone care to share?

Today, we had one of those moments:

Josiah used some marbles and string to create a stomach with the marbles as the contents. He then imagined one marble traveling through the whole system and provided sound effects. At this point, mommy joined in and helped him find other stuff around the house to create the rest of the digestive system.

Peter Weatherall is the greatest!    I think many will agree! He also has DK The Human Body Book, which has outstanding diagrams! Be warned: this is not a children's book, but the visuals make it very kid friendly. And he is a little obsessed with the human body. The Human Body Book comes with a DVD that has three short clips on it, one shows how antibodies and white blood cells work together, another shows sperm racing to fertilize an egg, and the other shows how synapses work in the nervous system. And we have probably watched some stuff on youtube about reproduction as I was pregnant a few months ago Lots of stuff is out there... just approach it as anatomy. And Bill Nye has a show about genes that may have mentioned fertilization. A lot of Bill Nye by request in this house lately.

I saw a tutorial online somewhere for making one from popsicle sticks, pony beads, and wooden kabob sticks. And another made from a shoe box, beads, and string. Depending on one's budget and what one have on hand, I'm sure one could find alternatives if buying one isn't an option though. I wanted one now and didn't have any pony beads But I had faceted beads and jewelry wire left over from another early learning project.

I wish the TV teacher did cursive as that is what my son prefers (me too!). I am considering making something similar, though not as fancy as what the TV teacher has done, but with cursive... Let's see if that ever gets done    I am definitely going to get the drawing DVD that you suggested, it looks great!

I feel your pain! And your joy! I have a 3 year old that only likes to show me what he is capable of when he is ready. I get a lot of "No!"s followed by an eyeroll (from mommy ). I have to sneak around to see what he is really learning until he is ready to show me himself. Like today he walked up to me with a golf ball and a hair pin. He held out the ball, and said "This is an egg". "Well then, what is that?" I asked pointing to the hairpin. "This is a sperm." he replied matter of factly as he put them together to show me the egg was being fertilized. I can honestly say that I did not see that coming!!! But he was ready to tell me he understood!

I didn't know TmT was making a soroban! I made one last week out of jewelry wire and faceted beads! coincidences 

As long as a child understands what it means, then it should be okay IMO.

I have a tendency to ignore the nay saying of "experts", so I will be overlooking that much!    Preschoolers, toddlers, babies are capable of just about anything. Anyone who says otherwise is in denial, and it may be because admitting so would damage their self-perception professionally, as a parent, or otherwise. It is truly just silly.  >

Be advised: Although the writer is for early math education , she is openly opposed to early reading. 

Ahhh people....

I found this article and thought it had some great ideas for igniting that I-love-math flame.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Helping-Your-Pre-Schooler-With-Math---More-Advanced-Number-Patterns&id=6139672