Consider…

Dakota

Dakota, a very easy-going baby, was a late walker. By age 14 months, all the other children in her play group were on their feet but Dakota was still crawling. Her parents were quite concerned and visited the pediatrician to have her checked.  No problem was found and Dakota eventually got going at around 18 months. Dakota, however, was advanced in other ways. She was the first in her playgroup to be completely diaper-free at age 24 months and taught herself to swim at age 4.  

Hassan spoke early and by age two had very fluent language and an extensive vocabulary. He could listen to long stories and even remember some of them word-for-word. By the time Hassan reached kindergarten at age 5, most of the children in his class were beginning to draw figuratively and quite a few could write their names.  

Arlo had no interest in letters and his drawings were scribbles. He just liked to run around and pretend he was a dinosaur or superhero. When his parents compared his work to that of the other children in a class display, they began to worry about whether he would be ready for Grade 1.  

Rocky, age 5, has just started kindergarten. Recently he has asked to wear a dress to school. His parents took him shopping for a dress and bought barrettes for his long, curly hair. Some of the children have been asking the teacher why he is wearing a dress if he is a boy.