2.5 year old and reading

[Elfina]

DD is exactly 2.5. She's always been extremely keen with letters and numbers. Can across some "1a", b and c Oxford reading tree books. She's read them at first glance.

I'm sure MN will say it's nothing special and that all kids can do this , but I'm sure it's a bit unusual? She's not due to go to school til sept 2017. I'm concerned about her getting thoroughly bored.

[jwpetal]

I would say this is unusual. Though not unheard of. In regards to getting bored, as with most children, it is only getting the parents to up there game. Find interesting things to do outside and exploring and ensuring that she is emotional and socially secure. Personally, I would not push school early. let her explore learning naturally and try to keep up. I know there has been research that pushing gifted children too soon can backfire later in life.

[samsonagonistes]

It's rare, but not entirely unheard of.

But a good nursery should keep her entertained and challenged (in our experience, this was more easily done at nursery than in reception).

[theendoftheendoftheend]

Sounds extremely impressive to me! My DD is the same age and still holds most books upside down

[antimatter]

My DD had reading age of 8 when she was 4, started reading at the age of 2. She might have been described as g&t but her school was just differentiating (small classes of max 18).
The biggest challenge was to find enough books for her, we had hundreds of books at home but any new book was greatly appreciated.
We never really pushed her academically (apart from sitting GS entry exams), she is now sitting her AS's. Her best subject is history and she is very good at analysing and writing.

Because she was quite advanced we sent her to the only school in the are a which offered "school like" environment (it was the cheapest private school in the area) so from the age of 2.5 she was in full-time education but with her peer group. She did a lot of extra curricular activities together with her brothers out of which music and Musical theatre remained for both of them their main hobby. She is also doing AS in Music but decided against studying music. Her 2 other subjects are Maths and Biology but she is going to apply to study History at university.

She can't remember being bored at school, I know school kept books for her level on the shelf and they really liked the fact that she always read books when finished her school work.

I would say - let her read as much as she likes, my DD also developed her own fast reading pace and she reads 3x as fast as me.

[Elfina]

Thank you for reading!

Her nursery is going through abut if a rubbish patch; lots of staff changes, as well as an OFSTED that Knicks them down from good to needs improvement.

To be honest, we sent her to this nursery as they were warm, lovely and really close to home/station! All of her little buddies are summer born, however, and will be young up to school a year before her.

I'm not sure how to help her? DH and I are very academic, which I think has made me very keen by to push at all. I just don't want her to hate nursery because it's dull? Staff are gorgeous and emotionally in tune, but I don't think that "academics" are high on the agenda (which I was entirely happy with, when she started at 11m!)

[antimatter]

Just sent books with her to the nursery - what's boring for grown ups is not boring for kids.
Is she happy there?
My ex and I we are both very academic (for both of us English is our second language) too but I saw too many people who exceeded at school and haven't achieved much in life

[sanfairyanne]

i wouldn't really worry about this at her age. encourage lots of play and social skills at such a tiny age. let her read if she wants but otherwise i wouldn't bother.

[MMmomKK]

Well done to your daughter.

Personally, I do not like ORT Biff and Chip books - they quickly become boring and formulaic. You can let her read her normal picture books, or parts that she can make out. If you want to proceed with a reading scheme - look at Jelly and Bean and Bugs Phonics - nice phonics based books. Or you can subscribe to Reading Chest. Or look for early reading books in the library.

Kids rarely find nurseries dull. They don't have an expectation that it needs to be "academic". Research shows that this age learn best through play and need to discover things by themselves. Active academic instruction too early will do more harm than develop them.

Best thing you can do is to talk to her. And of course, read - fiction and non-fiction. When they were 3-4 both of my DDs used to like "science" books for kids.

[horsemadmom]

My DD taught herself to read at the same age. Fortunately, she was at a nursery that recognised her advanced development and she was sent to the reception class to read and do number work. This was a good arrangement until she was 3.5 years and it became clear that she was unhappy socially. Only one other girl even close to her level and lots of children who had no idea how to relate to her. We sat her for the 4+ at a very, very academic indie and it was the best thing for her. She was still one of the most advanced but no longer completely exceptional. The other girls were interested in the same things and played the sorts of creative and imaginative games she loved and understood perfectly that some playtimes it was nice to just sit together and read Harry Potter (in reception). She is now 16 and really enjoys school and feels 'normal'. I shudder to think what would have happened if we left her in a mixed ability setting.

[Elfina]

Hmm, schooling is a whole other issue. All local schools are extremely over subscribed. The indie route is too overwhelming to think about :(

[sanfairyanne]

it's really not a big deal. it is a very young age to be reading, could mean she will be academic, might mean nothing or something else entirely. honestly, focus on the play and social skills. nature is a great thing to explore actually, that you can include her reading interests in but gets her out messing around

[funnyperson]

Both mine read that early as did I.
Child development is also about social emotional skills and playing with other children and this is what playgroups, nursery and school are all about as well as academics
I learned not to irritate my teacher very early on by lying about the books I could read in school so as to fit in, and simply read what I wanted to at home and my mother took me to the local library to choose what I wanted.
By the time DC came along teachers were a bit more forgiving but not much more. It is only really at sixth form that anyone is interested in very bright children imo. Then only for a short while. The world of work hates bright people and it is easy to make enemies if one displays ones level of intelligence. I'm not remotely autistic nor are my chidren but there are plenty of envious people wanting to label us which used to be hurtful till we got used to it an developed armour. Therefore although it is a wonderful and very very useful gift it is a poisoned chalice best kept within the family to start with.
DC were signed up to NAGTY which no longer exists and there is a gifted and talented stream in every school now but be prepared for other parents of children to be horrible about it and teach your child not to be too open about it to other children.
Depressingly the UK really does not value brains.

[BathshebaDarkstone]

Luckily DD's class is very inclusive. There's one boy with learning difficulties, and then there's DD, yr 2 with a reading age of 12. Their teacher puts them together quite a lot, as she helps him. None of the children single either of them out, they're both very popular. I realise that this is the exception rather than the norm.

[madwomanbackintheattic]

Dd2 was the same, and has always been in mainstream. Don't overthink it, really. You need do nothing different - she's a perfectly ordinary child. She can just read - she hasn't got two heads or anything.

You don't need to 'do' anything. You don't need to change nursery, or look for indie schools, or anything.
Honestly. Just let her be a kid, and let her read. It's fine.

Dd2 didn't read at nursery. Nursery isn't for reading. It's for learning social skills, having fun with friends, and developing fine motor skills leading to writing. Not for reading. Payouts can continue to read her stories, she can read herself at home. No need to attempt to shoe horn this into nursery as well. She can get enough reading at home. It would be very boring to read at nursery, and completely unnecessary.

School? Schools just start at yr r. At the very least they go up to yr 2, which means they all have an adequate supply of decent chapter books under their roves that are available to all pupils. She will just get them from the yr 2 shelf (or up to y6 of it is a primary school). Here are a ton of books in every school, for all levels of readers. Your kid will find a ton of books to read.

Reading early is not a problem. It is no big deal. Honestly. Dd2 could pretty much read everything before she started school, and I can honestly say that she has never been bored as a result of this skill - in actuality, it stopped her being bored, because she could always sit and read a book.

Relax. Let her read. Let life carry on. Perfectly normal, and no need to panic. Nobody died.

[madwomanbackintheattic]

And despite my shite typing and random autocorrects, I'm reasonably educated myself

I get that it's new, and exciting, and whatnot. I really do. But honestly, you are in danger of causing issues if you start believing that she will need 'more', and academics in nursery, and private education, and that it is absolutely irrefutable that she will be bored.

It's just reading. Give her books. School will do the same. They are completely used to kids arriving who are competent readers. There are some in every single intake. Every. Single. Intake. As bath said above, some yr r kids are assessed as reading 7 - 10 years ahead. It's fine. We are all different.

But of course, she sounds bright, and lovely. Enjoy your toddler. Her reading skills are not the sum of all her parts.

[xing]

Have you thought about letting her learn music? If she can read, it is possible to learn piano or violin at 2.5.

[sw12]

Yes I agree with madwoman!

Like yours md DS suddenly revealed that he was able to read pretty well while in his first year of nursery. He was however rubbish at: sharing toys, playing nicely, holding a pencil properly, remembering to put his coat on his peg, doing as he was told etc... etc... Nursery is only a very small part about reading and writing but a big part about socialisation and steps towards independence. If she can read already then she is ahead of the game no need to push her further just encourage her love of reading at home so she stays keen.

School can be a bit more tricky - DS was able to read pretty much anything by the time he started and was assessed with a reading age of 12 in yr 1 so has had to be given different books to the others in his year but that isn't so hard to accommodate. He did spend a lot of reception year going through the steps to reading which they all did as a class - so lots of phonic sounds etc but this was needed for spelling anyway. He's year 2 now and while he is still ahead the gap is closing as reading 'clicks' for the other children too.

I'm not saying that your DD isn't exceptional (she is) but that it isn't completely unheard of and certainly not something you need to panic about.

[Worriedandlost]

I think she should not be bored at school by the time she gets in as she is supposed to be placed at the appropriate level, say level 7-8-9-10, but you have to make sure that the teachers know how advanced your dd is.

I would also start looking for an appropriate school now, asking all the potential schools how they are dealing with gifted kids, etc. I know it can be awkward to ask this question, but the more information you have the better choice you make.

[Kewrious]

DS is now 3.4. He has been reading since 2.7 as well, so about 7-8 months. I am an academic as is DH. We picked up on his interest in reading and numbers and have done the following:

• used songbirds and ORT Biff Chip et al with some Floppy Phonics. Instead of letting him race ahead I am making very sure that at every stage he can read fluently and confidently. Since he is reading early there is no need to rush. As long as he is not bored and doesn't find it a chore. The Usborne books where you both read together are a big hit. He feels very grown up reading 'with' me.
• he loves reading so we read first thing in the morning for 20 minutes or so. I make sure that I sneak in a spot of his reading every day. And obviously read loads TO him.
• other than formal reading we play word games, read signs on buses etc.
• he loves number workbooks so we let him do those. He can do basic addition etc. Again no pressure, do what you like. But I will sit with him, help him etc. And my golden rule is that if he says let's stop now, we stop.
• Assuming that if he goes to school reading ahead of peers we are trying to get him to do other stuff. So science kits for kids, or playing games with the globe or a map, or those lovely Orchard Toys games. Lots of music, plays for kids (we are in London), etc. Lots of museums and things like that. Stuff we would have done anyway but I almost feel like if he's reading of his own accord with minimal help then my 'job' other than to see him healthy & happy is to expose him to loads of stuff that he might find interesting.

[Kewrious]

And oh most importantly we have focussed on social skills. And other things like getting dressed, wiping his own bum, sharing nicely. All of these are harder for him than reading!


If he expresses an interest in something we explore it. He was train obsessed so we read the little Red Train books, went to the Kew Bridge Steam Museum, lots of playing with trains, went to the Transport Museum and did their trails etc. Then he had a rocket stage. So read space books, Science Museum, lots of rocket colouring sheets etc. He was obsessed about Apollo 11 and the Space Shuttle so we would do rocket puzzles and then watch NASA videos. Learn about Neil Armstrong, ie let his interest guide the way.

Right now he is in a countries and capitals phase and a plane and airport phase. So we took him to Cafe Nero in Termjnal 5 and let him watch planes land for several hours the other day. What I am saying is that the 'reading' is something we do on the side but what is much more fun for us is to expose him to stuff, have fun doing it (rather than in an earnest educational way) and watch his mind whirr away as he makes connections.

[Worriedandlost]

Kewrious is cafe Nero you are talking about at Heathrow?

[Kewrious]

Yes. I think it's a Cafe Nero or a Costa Coffee. It's upstairs in the departures lounge. Great view of the runway. We spend an hour or so there. Then go mad around the terminal. Then lunch at Carluccio's on the same floor. More plane watching and back home.

[Worriedandlost]

Thank you!