To want to ask some comprehension questions from friend's DD

[maggotyhaggis]

OK so I'm being VERY, VERY Unreasonable. My cousin has just told me that her DD is currrently gripped to the Little Women series, Heidi and the entire Roald Dahl collection of books and cannot stop reading. The child is FOUR. My cousin always brags about her DD's extremely advanced reading skills. She is a lovely child, but doesn't appear particularly bright or able, so I keep wondering if my cousin is exaggerating or if the little girl actually understands . I am not surprised at the reading per se but that a four year old can understand and enjoy books like that independently. We are going to the park tomorrow, and I wondered if I should ask a quick couple of questions when my cousin is out of earshot.

I am not entirely serious by the way, so no slagging me off for interrogating the child or being jealous please, but isn't it normal to be a bit curious?

Sounds ridiculous to me tbh. Even with abridgements I'd be very surprised.

Maybe shouldn't question her though in case she tells on you! Just rest easy in the knowledge that the cousin's talking shit.

I doubt (although it is possible) that the child is reading the books herself. But maybe your cousin is reading the books to her, and she is enjoying them??

I might possibly possibly believe Little Women and Roald Dahl - but not Heidi.

I think she is having them read to her. My dd used to love having things far to difficut for her read aloud to her. I remember her lying in bed skiling and falling asleep to Pride and Prejudice - she didn;t understand it at all, but she loved the rhythms of the words.

I would ask her about the books she's reading - but I'm evil.

"I remember her lying in bed smiling and falling asleep to Pride and Prejudice" obviously!

yes, if she's having them read to her, it might be that - when DS is being a pest and stopping me from reading, I start reading my books aloud to him - he listens in an absorbed fashion then falls asleep.

just ask her who her favourite character is from the books - that shouldn't be construed as evil :)

I am afraid the DD will tell on me too!

Cousin makes it very clear that her DD reads completely by herself.

then your cousin is dreaming. :)
unless they're REALLY short versions with lots of pictures.

Ds could read very well at 4, sorry. He's always been very advanced though. I wouldn't have given him Heidi/little women (as he's a boy) but he could read all of the Roald Dahl/Dick King Smith books at 4. It really does depend on the child, ds wasn't exactly 'normal'.

I know a child who had a reading age of 9 at 4. It does happen.

My DD was reading Dahl at 4, independently. But she isn't exactly normal either.
Nothing wrong with discussing what the child is reading with her, just not an interrogation.
Why does it bother you?
I went to school at 4, able to read Andrew Lang's fairy books. I was told I was going to learn to read at school by the teacher, and being a good girl, I let her teach me to read.
I got rumbled around November when my mum had a chat with her.

I was reading pretty much anything I liked at 4. You can get Ladybird abridged versions of the stories you mentioned.

I was chucked out of Reception after my first day - the teacher waved away my mother's tentative 'She can read...' with a 'All children learn to read at the same time in my class!' My mother shrugged and left her to it. After pissing her off by telling everyone what time it was all day, it was apparently the last straw when I wrote 'This is a clown' underneath my picture and asked her if it was spelt correctly. She marched into the Head's office and refused to teach me, so my 2nd day of school saw me start in Year 1 instead.

I hasten to add that these flashes of apparent genius levelled out in the end - and I later learned some tact and other social skills that were severely lacking in my younger self.

What a cow though - as if any teacher would refuse to teach a child because they could read/write! She was absolutely ancient then - must surely be dead now.

I was a good child aswell though, Goblinchild - I should have just pretended, like you. See, no tact.

It's possible. I could read the newspaper at 4. Whether or not I actually understood world politics is another matter, but I could read the words. My reception teacher had a hissy fit over me being able to read too, apparently I complained that Janet and John books were 'stupid'

It doesn't necessarily mean she has a budding genius, I'm very very ordinary now - only got O'Levels and no A's.

I could read before school and my teachers were really encouraging. Didn't last as by eight I hated reading.

My dd is five and reads roald dahl independently - and her comprehension is excellent. This is her teacher's view as well as mine. She has an abridged version of heidi in which she has shown no interest so far, and I would not want her to read little women until she is a bit older. I do not think it's impossible for a four year old to read and understand any of these things.

My reception daughter got stuck into Y1 after Christmas because the school couldn't cope, she was still 4 at the time, and then into Y2 the following year.
Then we moved, and all was well with her next school.

I wouldn't see the harm in asking as long as you are asking in a nice way which wouldn't make the child feel put on the spot, for eg someone mentioned asking about fave character etc - whats wrong with that its just showing an interest. dont think the mum is in a place to complain if you talk to her dd about the books as she is the one who has been telling you all about it in the first place

'I was really embarrassed as I hadn't told other parents he could read so well.'

This is one of the things I detest about some parents. They are happy enough to hear if your child is struggling or has behavioural issues, but God Help You if your child is clever and too young or socially aware to hide it.
Why not just delight in the fact that a child loves to do something and does it very well?

I think Goblin because parents then do try to question/test the child and you wouldn't want your child to feel tested? DD, just 4, can write a little and I am sure has been asked to write something by another mother at pre-school (long story) to prove that she can. Other mother's DD cannot write (and nothing wrong with that at their age)so the mother spends a good amount of time listing loudly what her DD can do better than mine.

That's why I never talk about what DD can and can't do. Other people.

You'd be surprised, or maybe not, at how many people can cope with my DS needing support because he's an Aspie, but then are outraged if he outperforms their child in something academic.
Hard to hide in Secondary, if someone asks him his grade, he tells them.
DD learned very quickly how to Pass For Normal, without compromising her own integrity. Every now and then, with friends, she forgets and they don't mind or pick on her for it.
Other adults can be tricky, especially some teachers.

Thank you for the replies everyone. So it is possible then, though probably quite unusual.

As for comprehension, that would depends on how much they talk generally as a family and how they talk. Not to mention the maturity of the individual child.

When dd was 4 I read her Ballet Shoes and it was a great success (if she does apply to RADA, I shall blame that bloody book ). When she was 6, she pestered until I agreed to read her the entire Lord of the Rings (unabridged). So we ploughed through it evening after evening. I assumed that she wasn't following a word but just liked it because it was long and kept me by her bedside. After the end of the first volume she turned to me and said "do you know why I think the author made the fellowship break up here. It's because Frodo is the hero and if he is not alone, you don't really get to feel that." Further questioning elicited that she had pretty well total recall of the plot and all sorts of views as to why the plot had been structured the way it had.
This was the point where I decided I might as well talk to dd like an undergraduate. And also the point where I realised I was not going to get out of volumes 2 and 3 .

Dd (13) recently re-read the LOTR trilogy and said sadly: "I realise I am not 6 any more: I don't think this is the greatest literature in the world". One more illusion gone.

My mum tells me that when I was not yet 2, I sat by them as she read a chapter book to my 6yo brother (have since revisited this book and it is more densely written than Heidi or Roald Dahl). She was reading at 6yo speed as she couldn't imagine I could follow any of it anyway. After she had finished, I giggled and said "haha, pussy wet the bed". This was an incidence that had happened halfway through the previous chapter and most people these days would consider the book far too hard to follow for an 8yo, let alone a 1yo (I notice that attempts to read it to 7 and 8yo nephews have failed dismally).

So children are all different. I watch in disbelief as other people's children turn cartwheels or play the cello- but I don't question their parents. The fact that my children can't do something is no guarantee that no child can do it.

Just saw the last few posts. That is interesting (and quite sad) about what you two are saying about other parents. I hope I haven't come across that way, though I am aware I must have. I have a child who is very intelligent and I have kept some of her achievements from my own family as well (just so my sister doesn't hear about it and hate me), it's just that this is so outside the norm for me that I posted this question.

Neither of mine can cartwheel.