[Sreevani Ramesh]

I have a son who is 5 , he can read books especially the car magazines and he has learnt about cars independently mostly without my help and he knows almost all the cars that are in magazine. I happen to see that he has already finished his lessons, he knows poems, stories without seeing the books. Maths he just knows to add and subtract and he loves it. He started telling his own poems since he is 4 1/2 and has told some 6 poems so far. He doesn't write much, it bores him but not fussy and he almost knows all the spellings that he reads and tries to memorise and never wants to forget. Everything interests him, he is very normal, mingles with every one. He is comfortable with his own age, small ones as well as older children. He is very normal in his school and he is in 1st standard. It's not that I want him to be a gifted child or so, I just want to know how well can I help him and how to encourage him?
His first poem:
CAT"S NAP
Cat is sitting on the mat
Then he put on the cap
To take a nice nap.

[ChihuahuaMomma]

Wow. That's an adorable poem. I would say he's gifted, but what does my opinion mean. Have him tested. Find out what his IQ is. He may benefit from advanced classes... is he in kindergarten yet?

[Unknown008]

Seems like a little genius to me! I muself never tried to make a poem, for fear it was so bad and my first one is when I was 14! Lol

[Clough]

You can help him by encouraging him, being there for him and also getting him tested to see if he is gifted in a number of areas. It does look like he is motivated on his own. That is one thing that would be necessary in order for him to be placed in gifted programs, at least in the U.S. As far as what the requirements are in other countries for gifted children to be placed in specific programs for them, I don't know.

Does he have any interest or drive to do things in the arts such as music or anything in the visual arts such as painting or drawing? Those would be areas that I have a special interest in. Have had a number of young students over the decades who have had a predisposition in various types of art.

But, the first and most important thing to remember, is that he is a child and must be able to spend the time being a child - exploring and learning things with his friends so that he has a sense of belonging without feeling that he is being pushed to do things that he really might not be ready to do.

I could say more. But, that is enough for now. Hopefully, there will be many others who will also come along to address your question in addition to the few that already have done so.

Thanks!

[KalFour]

He sounds like a clever kid! And the poem's very cute.
Encourage him to learn about anything, keep that enthusiasm going.
As for gifted... well, maybe he is. But he's also very young. Even if he is a child genius, I would advise against giving him any kind of label. Knowing he's clever is great! But labeling him as "gifted" puts a lot of pressure on a kid.
So encourage him, even get him tested if you want, but also give him some freedom to just be a kid.

Kal

[N0help4u]

Encourage him but never push him. Many parents push their kids to excel only to discourage them and turn what they enjoyed into some chore they hate, so keep things interesting to him.

[DUSTIN 555]

You child is smart you can help and encourage him by always helping him study if he needs help but it sounds like he does just fin on his own that's a great thing I agree with nohelp4u too

[Unknown008]

Yeah, pushing may result in making him unhappy, and the best gift is happiness, then comes knowledge!

[achampio21]

NOhelp4U is correct! I agree totally. Don't push it, recognize it and praise it.

(have to pass it around some sorry:D)

But that is very cute and he sounds very smart. Congrats!

[Wondergirl]

Right now while he's young, work on any negatives you see. You mentioned he gets bored easily. My parents encouraged me to always be able to entertain myself and to never get bored in school or while waiting in line or while sitting in a doctor's office. They also taught me to go the extra mile. If I wrote a story, then draw pictures for it. After I drew pictures, I colored them, sometimes with crayons and other times with colored pencils and still other times with watercolors. When I wrote a story, my mother helped me fashion it into a book. Then I made front and back covers for it. Sometimes I laced the pages together with yarn. And that was just when I wrote stories.

For each activity I did, I learned to do extra (to please myself, not my parents or my teachers). For my brother's and my plastic farm set, I cut up small squares of cloth, stitched them together into little bags, dried handfuls of grass from the backyard, and made bags of fodder for the plastic cows and horses to "eat." When I got older and made sugar or butter cookies, I decorated them with frosting and sprinkles in interesting and unusual ways.

There is always something extra to do to keep oneself from getting bored. I have never been bored my entire life and have tried to do all things--and extra things--well. That was the best gift my parents gave me, the freedom to do many diifferent kinds of things to not be bored. And after they guided me at first and I got the idea of doing extra things, they allowed my imagination to kick in to think of my own extra ideas. My mother never complained about any mess I made, but patiently taught me how to clean up after myself.

If he is gifted, it will become clear as he gets older. Then his giftedness will be a large responsibility, that he will use it in beneficial ways.

[Andrew916]

It definitely sounds like he's curious and definitely has a hunger for knowedge. Don't over encourage him. It can sometimes damage the desire to learn. As soon as he feels like he's trying to live up to someone's expectations, he might not find it quite so fun any more. So make sure there's no pressure and just sit back and enjoy the fact that you have a gifted son loves to learn! You have truly been blessed! :)