<p>So it sounds like almost all of us will be doing totally different college searches with each child! Glad I’m not alone. I’m on this board to get “up to speed” for my high school junior’s college search, but I’ve seen recommendations that I’m keeping on my mental list for the freshman (totally different from what my junior is looking for.) </p>
<p>Galwaymom, I sometimes think about none of my kids having the “total package” to be great students, but if you took the best qualities of each, you’d have a superstar.</p>
<p>Sibblings are so interesting…I was an only child, so I really appreciate the differences of my 2 girls, born 15 months apart.</p>
<p>D1 - Was a late bloomer, due to difficulty in diagnosing a learning disability. Has a very high IQ and could easily get by with minimal effort. Amazingly, last year she suddenly matured into developing good study habbits and seems to have carried them with her to college this year.</p>
<p>D2 - Also has a gifted level IQ, although not as high as D1. But this one has had an amazing work ethic since she was a baby. She will just keep doing something over & over until she masters it. She also has better social skills and street smarts. She had a brain tumor her freshman year of high school, but was so determined not to let it affect her goals that she had a remarkable recovery. </p>
<p>Thankfully they both get along pretty well, though there are definite moments of sibbling rivalry…the “me, too” syndrome and big sis raiding D2’s closet (oddly, not the other way around).</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see if D2 chooses to go to D1’s school. My husband and I are debating if this is a good idea or not. Any insight into that one?</p>
<p>S#1, tested into extraordinarily gifted range. Didn’t speak until after age 2, and when he started, spoke in paragraphs. Didn’t walk until about 15 months or so, and when he decided to do it, spent a whole day practicing, holding onto furniture, and that was it. Self taught reader-I didn’t know he was reading. Another mom pointed it out during nursery school. Aced all standardized testing, no prep, top of the class at ultra-competitive independent high school, virtually no studying, so no study habits to speak of. We don’t know where he came from. Much smarter than mom and dad, although we would never let on. Introvert. </p>
<p>S#2 (by one minute)-intellectual gifts probably similar to older brother, but totally lacking in self-confidence, so you would never know. Superb study habits and organizational skills. Perfectionist. Very social. Musical. Loves science.</p>
<p>S#3 (younger than #2 by one minute) Horrible study habits. Heir to the throne formerly occupied by S#1, King of All Procrastinators. A very smart kid, but probably not on the same natural level as his brothers. Received the entire load of self-confidence for the “twin group.” Could sell down jackets along the Equator. Loves history. Musical and extremely theatrical-have been told that he is “magic” on stage.</p>
<p>About 6 1/2 years separate S#1 from twin brothers.</p>
<p>Mine started talking at the same age. Since we lived in Manhattan and their world view was stroller height, the first word tended to be 'Bus!" with a finger point. They both mangled “Mo-gee-gye-ki-cal” but they both loved to see those zooming along RSD, haha. </p>
<p>Despite this early obsession with vehilces, throughout their childhoods/teens, they have both been unusually chatty for boys. They both love long discussions–esp over a lovely meal. They tell/write a good story and they like to hear/read a good story. We ask each other about new stories we might not have heard.</p>
<p>I can’t remember when they started reading–but it was a normal pace. They were among the early male readers in kindergarten. My favorite early reader experience happened just after we moved to a new city. I was at the dining table when they rushed through the door with a toddling three year old in tow. “He can read!” they shouted. “Pfffffft,” I said, holding up the New York Times. “What does this say?”</p>
<p>“School bode Pwesident Votes Against Expedichoor,” said the baby boy.</p>
<p>Not to detour the thread, but my ds early reader story is this:
(I knew he enjoyed books, but didn’t really know how much he was absorbing from our reading to him and older d.)</p>
<p>He was 3, and we’re in a big family anniversary party dinner at a nice restaurant, and he asked for the adult menu, which everyone thought was cute.
After awhile with a lull in the conversation, ds pipes up: “I didn’t know we were in New York!?” </p>
<p>I say, “We’re not- we’re in Boston.”</p>
<p>S says, pointing to his menu:“Then why does it say New York strip steak here?”</p>
<p>Now this is the kid who was the reluctant reader that I posted about a long time ago. Thankfully, he discovered the PLEASURE of reading finally!</p>
<p>All four of my kids are different.
D1(Sophomore in HS): Smart, dedicated, organized…Don’t have to worry about her (academically) at all. Very social.
S1(Freshman in HS): Extremely intelligent (skipped the first grade), slacker, disorganized…Gets by without doing anything.
S2(7th grade): Works really hard…Things don’t come easily to him like they do to his brother.
D2 (5th grade): Happy, go-lucky…Time will tell.</p>
<p>Speech was varied at our house:
D1:Quiet, started talking at about 18 mon. saying things that took some listening skill to understand. She UNDERSTOOD simple instructions, but had a bit of a problem w/her L’s and R’s. She read before kindergarden.
D2: Started singing at 10 months and never stopped. She talked and sang constantly and still does. People used to stop us in the store and ask how old she was. It was funny at first, but I got very tired of listening to her constant jabber. She also remembered her dreams, very vividly…Deliver me. My mom thought all of this was hysterically funny because evidently I was just like her. D2 listened to me work with her sister and learned to read on her own at 3 and a half.
S: Didn’t talk until he was almost three. Why should he, pointing worked very well when he wanted something and if that didn’t work, he had his sisters to talk for him. He read at the end of Kindergarden.</p>
<p>One of my sons walked at nine moths. He was holding on to a coffee table while I blabbed on the phone in the hallway and then…he let go of the table and walked TEN steps over to me. :eek: </p>
<p>Sarahsmom2 your D2 sounds like my nieces. I thought the first one was bad, until her younger sister was born. She’s just like her Dad was at that age, my Mom used to say she hoped he had kids that talked as much as he did, then he’d understand why are ears just needed a rest. Needless to say he understands now.</p>
Much smarter than mom and dad, although we would never let on. Introvert. </p>