At what age could you read/write... and what are your academic/professional qualifications?

[wonderingwondering]

And do you think reading young is generally linked to greater academic/professional achievement overall? Whether that is because of intelligence, nurture, an innate love of or aptitude for reading/learning? Or are the two completely unrelated?

[BonsoirAnna]

I could read at 4 and 3 months; I don't remember at what age I could write, but I was a year ahead at school at that age (despite my June birthday).

I have a first class BA and an MBA and a few other bits and pieces

[Portofino]

I learnt to read at just 5 and always was quite advanced at school. Passed the eleven plus and went grammar school but was an average student. Don't have a degree. I have a better than average job I think, but probably good have done better if I'd made more of an effort. I'm quite lazy probably and have never really pushed myself enough. Still LOVE Reading though.

[JackiePaper]

I could read at 2 and a half, I have a 2:1 from york, and am quite a 'booky' person - I easily get through a novel a week.

I think an early love of books develops into a lifelong love of books, not necesarrily academic success...

[OrmIrian]

Before I was 4. I have a degree, a 2:2, and haven't used it as such. Mum worked very hard with those flash cards bless her and sent me to a private school where I did very well, but failed to endow me with self-confidence to do anything much until I was in my late-20s. I like myself now, I didn't in my younger years.

I think that the love of learning is a valuable skill in itself. But there is so much more to it.

[Jux]

Can't remember ever not being able to read, but I must have learnt at some point! Bros and I could all read before we started school.

I have a BSc.

On the whole they seem to think that reading well means the whole curriculum can be 'accessed' more easily and so it does confer an advantage.

I would say, bugger the curriculum, reading books expands your universe.

[hellywobs]

I read before I went to school - like Jux, I can't remember learning. I have a Masters degree. But my husband learnt to read at school, remembers struggling, and went to Oxford! We are both bookworms and need a big posh house so we we can have a library (or at least one extra room we can use as a library).

[DarrellRivers]

I was early schooled in South Africa and we didn't start learning to read until 6, so I had a tutor when I was about 5ish to get me back in line for the UK, so learnt quite late, but always had my head in a book and an advanced reading age from that point
Have degree and a few post-graduate qualifications
DCs are bilingual though, so I expect them to be a little behind in their reading by comparison

[RockinSockBunnies]

I could read at aged 2.

I have a 2:1 BA from Oxford.
MSc from London School of Economics.

Currently doing law conversion and have a training contract with a Magic Circle law firm.

(All of the above done as a single mother with DD in tow - had her at 19!).

For me, academic success has been linked to my love of learning, being challenged and being extremely competitive. I always wanted to be top of the class and praised...

Books have been vital in learning. Everything that you read tends to expand your knowledge in one way or another, be it fiction or non-fiction.

[ramonaquimby]

who really remembers what age they were reading? I don't, but do remember having a voracious appetite for books all the way through primary school.

Have BSc, BEd and MEd.

not sure there is a strong correlation for the 2 things - though you can make statistics show anything you like!

I think it's the access to books and your parents putting a value on reading - regardless of the age you start to read - that is a key factor

[southeastastra]

i remember learning to read, so must have been about 5 or 6.

i have one o level

[Tinker]

I also think early readers are treated as "bright" and so respond accordingly. All that positive reinforcement.

[tigerdriver]

could read at 3.5

writing prob a bit later

Have a degree from Oxford (Lit Hum) and am now a lawyer.

Hope none of the reading early/success thing is really true as despite DH and me both being bookish, and having loads of books etc etc, and very encouraging to boot, DS (7) treats reading as if it had something to do with the plague and makes virtually no effort whatsoever

[notcitrus]

I was reading at 2, writing legibly by 4, and have MA, MSc and PhD. While access to books and info was great, using big words and talking about things other children and often the teachers didn't know about led to me feeling pretty alienated at school.

On the other hand, MrNC couldn't read until he was 12 (very dyslexic) and has a PhD too. He did have the advantage of being obviously talented at maths and engineering so didn't get written off as thick.

I'd like A to be somewhere in between! And I'll try to encourage his social skills as well as academic ones.

[Itsjustafleshwound]

I read sooner than my peers, but that was because my mum was helping my elder brother with his reading and phonics, so I think I kind of picked it up IYKWIM...

I don't think IQ or reading age has much of a bearing on academic achievement - I think it has a lot to do with personal motivation and emotional intellegence

[diedandgonetodevon]

I could read and write by the time I started school at 4.5.

BA Hons (1st) and MA

My sister learnt later as my mother had less time to teach her as she then had two to look after but she has the same qualifications as me.

[Tinker]

Be interesting to ask the question in Germany or Scandinavia where teaching reading is much later than here.

[BitOfFun]

I don't know exactly, but it was before school, as my mum was a teacher. I have got degrees coming out of my arse, but a combination of laziness and a disabled child means I work for minimum wage in a shop. Which is alright by me actually, but I suppose you could say I peaked in the warm-up and failed in the race

[MillyR]

I can't remember when I learned to read and write, but I could already do both when I started school. I have an undergraduate and 2 post graduate degrees. I don't have any emotional intelligence!

I think early reading is useful because it allows you early access to sources of knowledge and ideas about the world that your parents and teachers might not have chosen to expose you to. Having a reading age that is higher than your chronological age throughout schools opens up even more reading options. That exposure possibly develops the mind to think in a more complex, imaginative and analytical way than might have been developed otherwise. This may be useful to academic success in higher education, but maybe not in school.

Just speculating though.

[wonderingwondering]

I ask because I could read and write before school - I had a tutor from age 4. My GP's were teachers and very keen for me to start learning.

I have a law degree, am a banking lawyer. My DS is four and showing an interest in writing and reading. I'm mindful of the idea that pushing children too young (esp boys) can put them off, and I'm very happy for him to play at this age. he's at a Montessori school for that reason.

But I think back to my young childhood - having a tutor didn't put me off, I thrived on it and would read whole books in a day or two - Enid Blyton and so on - from age six. And write 'lovely poetry' as my mum is so fond of reminding me (think there may be some maternal pride colouring that view!).

And I wonder whether I ought to push (encourage?) my son more. I benefitted from being stretched. But boys are different, perhaps?

[smallchange]

I could read and write before I started school and was way ahead in literacy (numeracy, not so much) at primary and secondary school.

I've got an MA and MSc.

To be honest, I think I'd have been better off if I'd had to try a bit harder. I am a lazy sod and a hideous procrastinator. I find it difficult to push myself when something doesn't come easily to me. Maybe that's personality or maybe it was all the coasting that I did at primary.

Actually, it's probably personality as obviously I know a lot of bright people that are doing very well.

[Habbibu]

Refused to even contemplate reading before the age of 5, (also shoelaces until 12 and telling the time until 15!!) - have 1st class MA, research MPhil and PhD, all from Russell gp uni (fwiw), plus am studying for OU science degree.

I don't think early reading has any correlation with academic achievement in later life - Scandinavian countries do generally better than us, I think, and start to read later.

[notevenamousie]

I read at 2.10 (my mother enjoys to tell the story), writing - I'm not sure. I was encouraged and pushed, in equal measure. I have a first from Liverpool. And I wish I'd learned so much earlier that there are more important things in life than being the top of the class, iyswim

[Habbibu]

Once I did start reading, my reading age always outstripped my chronological age, though, so again I don't think (ime) when you start matters so much - it's how you take to it.

[MillyR]

I don't think boys are different, although stereotypically many boys prefer maths to english. My DS (10) was an early reader but he hardly ever reads fiction, apart from comic books. He only likes maths puzzle books, code breaking, logic problems and so on. So early reading does not always lead to a love of books!

I think early reading is less problematic than early writing, where find motor skills may not be developed enough to make writing enjoyable.