Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6

Original poster

To think people generally assume an early reader has been hothoused?

140 replies

Dinosforall · 07/03/2020 21:33

I've recently spent some time on threads about DC learning to read early as DS has really taken off with it before starting school. I often see 'obviously kids who read before school have been hothoused.' Is this just something people say, or will that be the general assumption? (He hasn't been, he's just picked it up, alongside some early phonics activities at nursery.)

Obviously I know bragging about DS' reading ability wouldn't win me any friends in RL, but I'm not going to pretend he can't if it comes up.

OP posts:

Lynda07 · 08/03/2020 01:55

Ozgirl75 Sat 07-Mar-20 22:22:41
It’s not too bad when they go back and read it again to get the bits they probably missed when they were younger. I clearly remember reading Animal Farm when I was about 8 and just finding it a interesting story, and then obviously re read when I was older and properly understood it.
.......
Same here! Also with 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe', and 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' :-). Innocence is bliss!

B1gbluehouse · 08/03/2020 01:59

People aren’t that interested, they do level out as children pre school have different experiences and circumstances. As such it’s not really an indicator of intelligence imvho. Reading lots of books to young children is to some extent hot housing, you’re educating them early. I’ve seen children fly at school quicker with a lot less support than those who started early with masses of support.

I learnt to read before school, ditto all of my dc. All of us to paperback level. I read to them a lot, probably more than most and they picked up basic phonics from an alphabet book. Plenty of kids with the same environment would and do do the same.

I have a degree but I’m no Oxbridge candidate.Too lazy. Work ethic and resilience counts for far more and I don’t think you can force that to some extent.

It won’t come up unless you bring it up.

BecauseReasons · 08/03/2020 02:00

Nah. I tend to think they've got involved parents and are fairly intelligent. Many of the more able kids start school able to read, in my experience (I'd argue that not all of them are actually more able, but the presence of interested parents stands them in good stead and the ability to read early gives them a jump start in writing, which often follows them through. Also, kids like things they perceive themselves to be good at, so being above most of their peers is a great boost to their confidence and thus engagement). Of course, some very involved parents don't try to teach their kids to read/are not able to do so, so it's not the only indicator of parental engagement.

biwinoone · 08/03/2020 02:00

We did try to teach our child to read but it only happened when it clicked. Problem is that we were going through phases and the proper way by teach phonics but once it clicked they now read and don't pay attention to the words, they guess the words and sometimes we have to break the words and force them to pronounce each sound to make sure they are phonetically correct. My child is one of those kids who thinks that because they think they know how to do something they don't need anyones help . They are very fluent in reading despite all this and on the top level of their class.

biwinoone · 08/03/2020 02:04

and I don't agree with people who say that children all get on the same level of reading once in school. Even if they are on the same level it's not the same because the child who sarted reading earlier will have read more than their peers, will have a much better vocabulary, better ability to express themselves in writing and probably more knowledge. And as @BecauseReasons said, a big boost to their confidence that they are ahead of their peers. I have seen that in my child. They love being ahead and keep trying to stay ahead.

biwinoone · 08/03/2020 02:05

apologies for the typos. Pressed the send button by accident whilst proof reading.

B1gbluehouse · 08/03/2020 02:07

Hot housing is educating early. Reading piles of books early( not always that common away from MN)alongside giving them access to phonics is educating and could thus be described as hot housing( nothing wrong with it though).

B1gbluehouse · 08/03/2020 02:13

Kids who read for the love of reading and not just to stay ahead read more.

They often really do level out. I’ve seen kids excel in reading further down the line having picked up books at school, learning to love it and clicking into that flying stage. Excelling at reading is a lot more than barking out print. I’ve seen early readers go off it too and taper off. Often when they see they’re not all that, which brings me back to the point about a love of reading being more important to keep kids reading.

BecauseReasons · 08/03/2020 02:21

Kids who read for the love of reading and not just to stay ahead read more.

Generally speaking though, if you've got a three year old reading, they do enjoy books. There aren't many reluctant readers starting school fluent in it.

B1gbluehouse · 08/03/2020 02:27

Not necessarily they may have been read to a lot and been taught phonics. It’s easy to pick up. Being good at reading is a lot more than barking out print. I’ve seen good early readers struggle further down the line. Comprehension is key, vocabulary yes too but all early readers aren’t necessarily those with the biggest and best vocabulary. Conversations and language at home, eating together, amount of screen time all contribute.

B1gbluehouse · 08/03/2020 02:29

One of my dc wasn’t as keen on reading as the other two. He was reading before school because it would have been hard not to pick it up in our house. He wasn’t as voracious a reader as the other two. He’s the brightest.

BecauseReasons · 08/03/2020 02:30

*Not necessarily they may have been read to a lot and been taught phonics.

How would you advocate teaching a child to love reading if not, 'read[ing] to them a lot'?

It’s easy to pick up.

Yes, if you're motivated to do so.

Being good at reading is a lot more than barking out print. No shit. But if the child has been read to a lot, as you have stated, they probably understand a fair bit too.

BecauseReasons · 08/03/2020 02:31

And has your final child slipped back in his studies as he has aged? Is he now a struggling reader and writer?

CorianderLord · 08/03/2020 02:36

What does that mean? I could read age 3 and was always ahead. Gave me great confidence as a kid when I struggled with maths and now I have an MA in English 😃

B1gbluehouse · 08/03/2020 02:38

Being read to is different to reading yourself. Not everybody who loves being read to( most kids) loves reading them self.

The comprehension expected is quite hard. Good teaching has a big impact. It takes more than just being read to. People vary how they read to kids too. Some ask lots of questions whilst reading, point things out, use expression and discuss others just bark out the print.

One of my son’s wasn’t that motivated( didn’t need to as I read to him so much), it was more by osmosis.

CorianderLord · 08/03/2020 02:38

Also wasn't forced, my mum just read to us (me and older sister) and taught her and I picked it up? She never made us dislike it or anything and I read the whole he 6 library by the age of 6... kids have different strengths

CorianderLord · 08/03/2020 02:40

@BG1 I found that the kids who's parents read liked to read. I'm a book addict though so maybe biased

B1gbluehouse · 08/03/2020 02:40

Said son not a struggling reader or writer but he’s lazy. Believe me further down the line you need to have a good work ethic to excel. It’s not all in the bag for him just because he could read before school.

B1gbluehouse · 08/03/2020 02:43

I’m a voracious reader. Two were voracious readers. All now teens and none ever pick up a book voluntarily. GCSE English has killed off any love. One getting back into it but it’s crappy YF. He was a free reader and left to read books from the library in reception. None of the parents knew. Why would they? It’s private.

B1gbluehouse · 08/03/2020 02:44

2 different sons.

BecauseReasons · 08/03/2020 02:47

The comprehension expected is quite hard. Good teaching has a big impact. It takes more than just being read to.

Again, no shit. But, being able to read already so you can focus on understanding the words rather than just decoding them is a big help, believe me.

It’s not all in the bag for him just because he could read before school.

Never said it was. Just that it tends to help them get started well, and that most kids who can read before school have involved parents and are at least moderately intelligent.

B1gbluehouse · 08/03/2020 02:55

The early readers are quite basic words, comprehension needs very basic . Once a kid has picked up the basics they can fly quite quick and it can/ does level out. Books and demands get harder and more complex. An early reader in reception is a world away from excelling at reading further down the line. So many other factors come into play.Intelligence helps with comprehension too.

BecauseReasons · 08/03/2020 03:01

The early readers are quite basic words, comprehension needs very basic . Once a kid has picked up the basics they can fly quite quick and it can/ does level out.

Ah, see you're classing 'early reader' differently to me. An early reader can read understand and answer questions about books such as the gruffalo aged three/four. An early reader is not simply someone who can decode CVCC words. It goes beyond that.

B1gbluehouse · 08/03/2020 03:11

Exactly an early reader does vary. An early reader reading and decoding quite complex books with expression and understanding concepts hidden in the text, the meaning of non basic vocabulary is a world away from one barking out text and not understanding the meaning of much of it.

An awful lot of 3 year olds can ‘read’ The Gruffolo it’s read to death. Often they’re reciting.

annabell22 · 08/03/2020 04:10

I'm a primary teacher but didn't teach DD to read at all. She attended a Montessori nursery on a term time only basis and they did some phonics and early writing activities. She has an October birthday. Out of curiosity I did a reading age assessment just before she started Reception and it came out at 8y 5m. Although a fluent and voracious reader in her early primary years, my stand out moment was her y8 parents evening when she got better results in Spanish than she did in English

Now aged 20, she is studying civil engineering at uni and reads about 3 books a year for pleasure, mostly when on holiday. I think she's just one of those people for whom reading cliched early on.

I've taught hundreds of children to read and with very, very few exceptions they all acquire the skill in the end, some as late as year 2. I say it's like learning to drive, some people just need more lessons, more practice and more attempts at the tests than others, but ultimately their driving licence looks just like everyone else's.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6