Mumsnet Talk

Today, my dc just turned 4 handed me my phone when it started ringing and said "Mum
It's Jane" and it was , there wasn't a picture and she didnt answer it to hear it was her iyswim.

Is she of Einsteinesque material? Do I need to enrol her in mandarin and sell her to NASA ? None of my others read until school iyswim?

Am not being boasty or pushy more mildly curious because it shocked me

I did this with DS1, it turned out that it was just that the person phoned at the same time every week

No idea if its G&T territory.

See this isn't a person who would normally phone at all. I'm sure she's a perfectly normal 4 year old but it did surprise me

Is she at preschool? Could they have started phonics there?

I learned at preschool age without being taught (but I did do a lot of asking what things said), and it happened to the son of a friend of mine (she only realised when he brought her an old torn-out page from a book (that had long since lost its opposite picture page) and read what was written on it).

Could it be that he's recognising the first letter, and "guessing" who it is. e.g dd (3y4m) can recogise letters, so if I ask her to "read" a word, and it's starts with "g" then she'll tell me it says granny, irrespective of what it says.

Maybe they've been doing letters at nursery and "j" is for jane?

Yes three of mine taught themselves to read. Two of them have ASD so their photographic memories helped enormously and the third is just clever. They learnt by being read their favourite books repeatedly and they just picked up the link between what I said and the words on the page.

she is mibbe phsyicic

It is possible for children to be able to read and recognise letters at 4 yes dd went to school being able to read things , she is no einstein just a really good grasp of reading and language, she is nearly 20 and a member of the grammar police though <rolls eyes>

According to my mum I did. One day I just picked up a book and read it to her. I've heard of other kids doing the same, seems to be just how it works sometimes. From personal experience, it doesn't make that much difference when you get to school, things soon evened out.

My DS1 was reading fluently before school. He just picked it up, I didn't teach him, but I did read to him a lot. I didn't realise how advanced he was until DD started learning to read.

He's still a good reader. I wouldn't say he's a genius or anything though!

She does go to preschool so they might be doing phonics, I will have to ask them. She does ask what things say, signs etc and can wrote her name. But I didn't think she really knows what she is writing when she writes her name. Odd

I don't really think she is genius material btw, that was meant to be tongue in cheek

Do preschools do phonics and letters ?

Does she have a friend or a preeschool teacher named Jane, or have they been reading a book with Jane in the title? If so she'd quite possibly recognise it on a whole-word basis.

DS taught himself at 3, started with reading out street signs and progressed to reading books. I knew how to read at 3 as well.

DD just turned four and she can write lots of names and some simple words but tbh I've never thought to ask her to read. Will do it now, I'm curious.

My dd1 was reading before school - just from reading with me. We put her into a school that was bilingual and when she formally started reading English in p3 she did very well.

I never taught her. I read books with my finger under each word.

School have agreed (after our testing privately) that she's borderline dyslexic. But she's been reading "chapter books" since p4.

She's now in s1 and doing well - she goes to a special spelling lesson instead of English once a week and it works. I'm convinced that my home-effort made this less of a problem. And my day-job is a literacy tutor to adults, so I do know what I'm saying!!

I was able to read a lot of words through whole word recognition before I was ever formally taught to read at school so it's the sort of thing I'd have been able to do. I think it's because my brain is good at recognising/remembering shapes and patterns.

Ds couldn't read before he went to school, but via phonics teaching he's probably around about the same standard as I was at his age (6).

My sister could already read when she started school. I was a year older and when DM and DD were reading school books with me she just picked it up.

When I asked how she knew it was Jane all she would say was dunno

in comparison dd2 couldnt read when she went to school and I did read to them both some just pick it up quickly

Ds1 still can't bloody read and he's 6 <<sigh>> so I agree it's so different for each child

keep encouraging her dog she will enjoy it

I learned to read aged three. I hung around when my elder sister was doing her reading practice with our mum, and picked it up that way.

I'm not a genius.

DS1 taught himself to read, by Y1 he'd read all the books in the infant library box

he's still very much an avid reader now at <ahem> aged 28

I wonder why some can and some can't I dont think early readers are genuises or is that genui