Raising a Verbally Gifted Child

As soon as our little guy was able to talk, he was able to talk well. He flew through development stages — speaking words, then groups of words, then sentences faster than we could believe. And now at three and a half he tells stories and has the vocabulary of an elementary school kid.

Though our son impressed us with his language at an early age it wasn’t until recently I began to understand what it means to be verbally gifted. He continues to impress us and excels at communicating his needs. But just like with giftedness in other areas of development, verbally gifted kids can show difficult behavior too. So I’m learning how to manage the joys and challenges of raising a verbally gifted child.

Characteristics of Verbal Giftedness
It’s important to understand the characteristics of verbal giftedness when considering what your child might need. So, if any of the following traits sound familiar, it’s possible you have a linguistically advanced poppy in your life.

Learns to talk and goes through language development stages faster than peers.
Exhibits above age appropriate ability to understand complexities of language such as double meanings.
Exceptional ability to learn a second language.
Proficient at grammar and spelling.
Learns letter sounds and begins reading earlier than peers.