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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Ds can read a few words - is that unusual before 3.

61 replies

MNersanonymous · 21/05/2008 21:15

Ds can now sight read a few words and sound out a few more which he then 'gets'. He has known the alphabet and letter sounds for a long time so it's just a natural progression I guess.

I'm genuinely curious as to whether that's unusual - he'll be 3 in just over a month's time.

No sarcastic answers please - it's a straightforward qn - I'm not trying to ascertain whether he is a genius as I know most of them even out in the long term - I am just curious as to whether that's quite unusual...

OP posts:

Vivace · 21/05/2008 21:17

Yes, I think it is quite unusual, especially for a boy, but not unheard of, and while it's lovely it doesn't necessarily mean you can book that place at Oxford yet!

OhYouBadBadKitten · 21/05/2008 21:20

Sounding out is pretty cool
dd was recognizing sight words at that age and could read Dr Suess - I think that was whole word recognition looking back. I don't think MN is great for a sample of population though as I seem to remember that theres a high percentage of uni educated people here.

Original poster

MNersanonymous · 21/05/2008 21:22

He is a bit of a girly boy vivace ....not the won't sit still for two seconds type!

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Herecomesthesciencebint · 21/05/2008 21:23

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beansontoast · 21/05/2008 21:27

definitely prompt

he sounds smart for his age regarding knowing the alphabet AND knowing the sounds....i think that his attempting to read and having an interest in that sort of thing is also remarkable.

MabelMay · 21/05/2008 21:30

well my ds is only 2.3 so I'm not quite at your ds's age yet but that sounds pretty remarkable to me - I can't imagine my DS being able to do that in 6 months time - and he's a pretty bright chap. [she says, objectively!]

CHOCOLATEPEANUT · 21/05/2008 21:31

my dd could recognice some words before 3.Shes 4 now and v bright not just at nursery but her social skills are v advanced too.

I think you know if your child is different from early on.She was always quick as a baby where my 5.5mth ds is v laid back and I can see him being one of lifes plodders like his dad....

nellyraggbagg · 21/05/2008 21:33

I think it is unusual. My DS (just 6) was doing likewise at that age, and is now reading library tomes on cathedrals (again, definitely unusual). My DD (nearly 4) can't read any words - though it's quite possible that this is because I haven't put in the same amount of effort as I did with DS!!!

Enjoy your bright little boy!

GodzillasBumcheek · 21/05/2008 21:34

Oh...a high percentage of Uni educated people...no wonder i always feel like such a dunce then

morocco · 21/05/2008 21:36

sounds fairly advanced age for early reading but I guess if it is something he is interested in, he's putting the time in. ds1 (who is v bright) is still pretty basic reader aged 5.5. ds2 can already read better than him and he's just 4. but ds2 was always interested in letters and numbers, ds1 sooooo not interested

Original poster

MNersanonymous · 22/05/2008 09:41

Morocco - his level of interest in letters/ words definitely is a factor - he asks for me to spell things out a lot etc.

Nelly - on reading cathedral library tomes at 6....gosh, I can't imagine that makes for a hot topic of conversation at school?!

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FioFio · 22/05/2008 09:43

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snorkle · 22/05/2008 10:40

I think it's unusual in that once he's at school he's likely to be the only one in his class to have read that young, but not so unusual in that there's probably someone like him in most classes. Hopefully he'll go on to continue getting lots of pleasure from words and books.

cmotdibbler · 22/05/2008 10:47

My brother was a pretty fluent reader by 3 - I didn't read until 4.5, but became a much faster reader than him, and the learning curve was much steeper for me.

Mum - who taught infants to read for 40 years - reckons that it is just a switch that clicks to be able to read, and the time at which it does varies wildly.

Original poster

MNersanonymous · 22/05/2008 11:02

Snorkle - that would be a good thing as I'd rather he wasn't too unusual!

Also it will help that he has a summer birthday as it means hopefully he will be neither too ahead or behind iyswim.

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bubblagirl · 22/05/2008 11:12

my ds 3 has known alphabet and letter sounds since he was 2 can read some words and write some letters and numbers

can count to 30 recognise numbers up to 30 can count objects up to 30

but he is behind on speech and just got a HFA diagnosis

Original poster

MNersanonymous · 22/05/2008 11:33

Hi Bubbla - we've chatted about our letter mad boys before.
How is his speech - I know it's been a concern for you for a while?
Hope you are feeling ok about the diagnosis and that it means you can get more support and help for him.

Strangely ds doesn't seem to know any numbers written down from what I can tell....he can rote count well (to 30) and count items but for some reason he hasn't twigged re written down numbers in the same way as he has with letters but that's fine obviously!

OP posts:

cornsilk · 22/05/2008 11:47

I think it's unusual to 'sound out' words that early but from what you say probably a natural progression if he knows all his sounds. Did he talk early?

Original poster

MNersanonymous · 22/05/2008 12:27

yes and no cornsilk. He said his first words early at about 10 months but then didn't really get going and was a bit behind average I suspect until recently.
He now talks in proper sentences of typically 5 or 6 words sometimes up to 9 or 10 though, which I'm delighted about as I was as little concerned.

So if anyone else had a dc who started sounding out letters and sight reading words at this age, how long before they could read a very simple book e.g. one line per page.....I'm sure it varies a lot by each child but am just curious....presume it takes a lot longer to get to that stage than if they were say 4.5 when they started?

He did raise an eyebrow the other day when he spelled out 'P-e-l-l-e-g-r-i-n-o' on a bottle of water at home....he then said "spells water"...so he clearly hasn't got THAT far!! Now that would be scary if he'd read Pellegrino!!

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cornsilk · 22/05/2008 12:33

LOL! It shows he's also using the context as well though. My ds2 could recognise words by sight quite early and he knew his sounds, but didn't master actually sounding out words till reception. Sounds like your ds is on the right track anyway!

duchesse · 22/05/2008 12:42

Fairly unusual, he's some years ahead of the curve on that one. It might mean that he'll pick reading up a lot more easily. Does he know letter sounds or is he going on shape of the whole word (they did a study recently on three yr olds I think it was- found that fewer of them could recognise their own name than the logos of major fast food retailers. I don't know whether the study took account of the pictorial quality of most retailer's logos; to me it makes sense that a child would recognise a picture (which is what whole word recognition basically is sooner than being to piece together individual letters into whole words.)

Gobbledigook · 22/05/2008 12:43

At that age ds3 recognised his name and also his brothers' names and 'mummy' and 'daddy' but only because they were familiar and he sees them written all the time. He was not sounding out and 'blending' then (only just starting to do that now at 3.5).

Original poster

MNersanonymous · 22/05/2008 12:46

Hi Duchesse

He sounds out the individual letter sounds e.g. c-a-t says cat.

He really was only just making the link between putting the sounds together and the basic word in the last day or two.

That makes sense re logos - I mean the golden arches + McDonalds (which cutely ds calls Old McDonalds....only ever been once so far I must confess!) are much more interesting and noticeable to look at than the letters alone.

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bubblagirl · 22/05/2008 12:57

hi MN speech is coming along bless him can communicate so much better than he could put words together but still no full blown conversation but because of diagnosis he will now get all the help he needs and will come alongfaster

were ok though onl;y been a week since diagnosed so not sure what to expect but he'll only make progress from here so cant be too bad

anniemac · 22/05/2008 12:58

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