My just turned 3 year old can read and write

[Rockean]

This isn’t a brag post, although. I’m pretty sure it’s going to come across like one.

My son just turned 3 and he can write his name, write basic/familiar words that he can sound out (the letters are recognisable) and he can sound out words when we look at books together. He loves playing with his magnetic letters and puts them together to create words, he can tell me what they say too.

He’s taught himself this through watching Alphablocks and reading books with us since he was tiny, particularly a phonics book that had all the sounds and alphabet written out with pictures of each letter of the alphabet next to them,

I’m just wondering if this is unusual?

He also doesn’t really play with toys, even though he has plenty of them, he'd much rather look at books and line up his alphabet letters or make words out of them. He’ll also sit with his magma doodle or white board and pen and just write things out. He’s done it at soft play when other kids are playing and I’ve bought his magma doodle.
I want him to play with toys too and I try to encourage him, but obviously I don’t want to discourage him from the books/letters and phonic sounds , but equally he’s going to know much more than most of his peers when he starts school, so I’m worried it’ll be boring for him.

OP this isn’t a good place to ask this question because on mumsnet if you give the slightest hint that your child might have an out of the ordinary skill or ability, there will be a pile on of posters telling you that your child is completely normal and average, in fact probably below average, and you’re a delusional idiot for thinking otherwise.

I agree, and the answers on here clearly demonstarte this. Interestingly all the posters who work with children have said the opposite, so this shows that your little boy does have unsual reading skills for this age.

I could read at 3, but I am ony averagely intelligent. DD couldn't read at 3, but aced her GCSEs and A levels, and finished both her first and second years at an RG university with a first. (I hope she hasn't peaked too early)

OP, it's good that he can do those things- it shows he's a quick learner and is a result of the things you've encouraged him to do like reading with him a lot etc. It doesn't mean he's a child genius though but it does mean he'll have a good head start when he goes to school as lots of children aren't familiar with letters or numbers or books because their parents haven't bothered to encourage that.

I could read and spell at 3, was doing my sisters homework who was 2 years above me when I was in reception. I Was crap at motor skills, and I had really bad I sensory issues with noise, socks and leggings. I have adhd, which was diagnosed as an adult. I Don't know if there's any correlation between the two, though.

So could I and I'm autistic. This might not be the case with your son but the reason I wasn't interested in toys much is I have visual processing disorder called object blindness that is related to my autism. I cannot track the trajectory of moving objects with any accuracy at all, so I can't drive. But on the plus side I retain about 90% of what I read on a first reading (I 'hear' it in my head and I can 'play back' the recording whenever I want) so, swings and roundabouts. I will say if I'd been diagnosed earlier it would have made my life a lot easier.

Someof these replies!! so rude, so dismissive.

OP, no, not all 3yos read and write. Your little boy sounds very advanced in this area. But keep on as you are - offer him lots of things to do and play with, go for walks, kick leaves around, hunt for bugs, make sure he plays with other children.

If you have concerns about autism or anything else, contact your HV.

But enjoy your wee boy. He sounds great.

I don't really have anything new to add on whether your child is unusual or not. I do wonder, if you want to introduce him to small world play, you could try using magnetic letters as the characters in your own Alphablocks stories or carrying on a story from an episode from TV and see if he engages with that.

My son just turned 3 and he can write his name, write basic/familiar words that he can sound out (the letters are recognisable) and he can sound out words when we look at books together.

I was the same! I was very young when I look back.

He also doesn’t really play with toys, even though he has plenty of them

I read books and loved playing with toys. Does he have siblings? Is he well socialised?

My dd could read and I mean read anything you put in front of her by the time she started reception. In nursery she could read snippets too. I didn’t tell anyone as they would definitely have thought I was bragging. She once read a sign about removing shoes at a party and one of the mums there didn’t speak to me again . She’s 14 now and no SN but still loves reading.

My mum was doing teacher training when I was little and she taught me to read and write and do basic maths at 2 1/2, because I was really keen to do so. I was reading Peter and jane books well before starting school, and simple 'normal' books by the first year of primary. I am on the autistic spectrum, and reading and maths have been a passion all my life. My children similarly picked it up early. But they were interested to, so I helped them.

I don’t think this sounds normal.
Mine can recognise letters and loves books but can’t read or write and he is nearly 4.

He loves numbers and counting though. I have a video of him at 19months old counting his blocks. The blocks had numbers on them and he was recognising the shapes of the numbers and what they were rather than ‘counting’ them, per se. But he loves counting now and counts everything!

My 6yo is only just learning his phonics. He is in P1. He can't read yet.

There. Just for a bit of perspective. He plays with toys.

Hyperlexia, possible ASD/traits? The spectrum disorders cover a wide range or presentations. Eye contact and sociability does not exclude the possibility. Some of these factors only kick in later as their peers' emotional and social skills start to outpace them. Three is very young, but I'd carry on being observant.

My son was reading at three, fluent by five, but only got an ASD diagnosis at 30yrs after many years of social and educational difficulties. He was never extreme enough for services to kick in as a child, but was also impacted enough not to thrive to his fullest. I'd hope things are different now for children, but I suspect not.

I*’ve just had a quick look and I have suspected he’s on the autistic spectrum, but his speech is excellent and he always makes eye contact when you speak to him, he’s also very affectionate. He’s very sociable with other children as well.
So I’m not sure.

He has a fantastic memory too.

He does seem to have sensory issues, he can’t stand the hand dryer in public toilets and babies crying set him off too.*

You could be describing my youngest ds at the same age.
Taught himself to read at 2 by insisting I follow each word with my finger so by 3 he was reading books himself.

Very wide vocabulary.
Brilliant memory.
Sensitive to loud noise (eg would put his hands over his ears at the cinema).

However, I think he found school boring and too constraining and at secondary school didn't really fulfil the promise he showed in primary school.

Thankfully he's now a very well adjusted, sociable, caring man in his 20s, with a good job

Sorry - bold fail 🙄

How lovely that you can enjoy books and reading together.

I would focus on the pleasure you get from exploring language together - make it into a game. And don't forget that reading isn't the same as understanding.

If your child is hungry to learn, gently start introducing the concept of number. If reading gets a long way ahead of maths, it can cause problems. (I speak from experience.)

@Rockean

I’m glad to hear it’s standard and pretty normal. I hope he starts playing with toys a bit more soon. Like role play with small world etc. But I guess he’ll do it in his own time.

Actually it's not quite normal.

By the time they are almost 4, most children can read and write a bit, but not as many can when they've just left the 2's.

Some can, but not so many and not as competently as you describe.

I would follow up on your thoughts about autism if I were you.

It wouldn't be surprising with what you describe. It seems a bit obsessive, especially if he was more interested in it than the soft play (that is very unusual for a 3 year old).

How's his general communication and interaction with others?

Why does he have to be on some kind of spectrum? Can't it perhaps be that actually your kid is just really bright? If he likes learning and learns quickly then that's wonderful. The only downside really is that when he starts school he may become frustrated if he is ahead of his peers and doesn't find the work challenging enough.

He's too young to sit the Mensa IQ Test at the minute (I think he has to be 10 and a half) but you could get him in for an assessment with an educational psychologist and see what they say. They might be able to give some advice on where to take his learning next and what toys/games would help him to prevent the potential frustration I mentioned.

It sounds like you have a very bright and intelligent little boy ☺️

Lucky you OP! I wish my teenager had that attachment to books (instead of her phone!)

"He does seem to have sensory issues, he can’t stand the hand dryer in public toilets and babies crying set him off too".

I have several grandchildren and all of them without exception have hated the hand driers in public toilets. None of them have/had sensory issues

In Reception, zipping your own coat, toileting, lining up, playing with other friends and learning to sit on the carpet are just as important as reading and writing. He will get challenged where he needs to. I wouldn't worry.

My niece is 3.5 and can do this in English and Welsh (lives in rural Wales), most of the children in her class can do this too.

Some of these replies are hilarious. Mumsnet hates a tall poppy, particularly one under 5.

It's very unusual for a just turned three year old to be reading and writing. Some autistic children are hyperlexic, and show preferential interest for books and letters over toys. A little boy I cared for actually carried letters around with him (his mum had cut them out for him), and took them to bed with him. He was charming, adorable and totally fixated on letters and words.

Some autistic people make great eye contact and are socially motivated. For some years, I thought my DS couldn't be autistic because he adored food from weaning onwards, and has a great love for unusual foods. He's also socially motivated and very cuddly. I was wrong. All autistic people are unique.

It's not a problem that needs to be solved, but something you can enjoy together.

My youngest DD was very advanced with reading and numeracy too, much much more than her siblings who did not read before starting school. She was reading at 3 and loved numbers and letters (used to read the car number plates on walks). Number blocks was her absolutely favourite TV show! She's also obsessed with birthdays and has an extraordinary memory. But I have no concerns about ASD at all and not sure I appreciate how that WedMd link seems to pathologise behavior which is slightly quirky but otherwise within the realms of normal.

We lived in a country where they only start school at 6 and zero expectations of reading and writing before that, all early years education is play based and social skills focused. So this was totally child driven. At some point we did start giving her workbooks (from the UK) as she loved it so much but mostly tried to focus her activities on building up her motor skills where she was lagging.

Now she's 7 and has just been identified by the school as being more than 2 years above expectations in literacy and numeracy and in need of being challenged more. Again, no concerns of ASD or anything similar (and still obsessed with birthdays nonetheless!!). I'm glad she enjoys reading and school work so much but she's still behind in her motor skills so that's where we put our extra efforts as parents since that's also important for a healthy and happy life.

Personally, I'd say don't stress it. Three is very young and a lot can still happen.Unless you have other concerns about ASD, I wouldn't use this as being a worry!! He may need to be challenged more at school if he continues to be so advanced (especially since they start so young in the UK), the last thing you would want is if he gets bored at school and loses his love of reading and letters. But you have quite a bit of time until then if he's just turned 3 as he wouldn't be starting school until 2023 in that case.

@Flowersintheattic2021

Ask mumsnet to move it to the gifted section. Lots of other braggy mums on there :)

And a fair few spiteful ones on here.

@XelaM

Lucky you OP! I wish my teenager had that attachment to books (instead of her phone!)

Haha, I have a teenager who is more than capable of reading books but always on his phone!🤷