Dd is just 4 (last week) and can read dick all, she starts reception in Sept...

[handlemecarefully]

Will she really be reading a bit by the end of Reception? I find it hard to imagine...

She seems like a bright enough girl (enquiring mind, good memory, intelligent questions about the world around her)

would like to add that I don't think the whole of the primary phase is as good as reception as it becomes far more formal in year one and this does not flow well for chidlren who have been taught to direct their own learning and learn through play. I think year one often comes as shock not because what the chidlren are doign is harder it is just presented to them in a much less natural way.

Have a bit to add to this: ds2 is G&T and yes, he went into Reception reading fluently. It took a week for the school to realise he wasn't doing it by rote, and then they found out he could play chess... funny thing was, he learned to read simply because it was a new skill and he wanted to master it. Once he could do it well, he moved onto other things and many of his peers caught up with him by age 9 or so (although his comprehension has always been way out west). DD4 started Reception today and cannot read a word, nor is she interested, depsite the fact that she is my 4th child and I can see that in almost everything else she does and thinks she matches ds2 in intellect. That's not a boast, as it is very stressful and that's why I normally stay off education threads. The point I am making is that IMHO early reading is not a sign of some great academic advantage, but of an approach to learning which may or may not be shared by other, equally able children. Interestingly, ds2 was never 'taught' to read. Having been taught his letter sounds at nursery he seemed to work out that black squiggles equalled words, puzzled for a bit and then off he went. I have a feeling that if we had tried to manufacture the process he would have just stopped being curious. I agree with the posters on here who say that it's stimulating children's curiosity that gets results in the long term.

Just read the whole thread - phew! Including Electrica's interesting autobiography. I recognised a lot of her experience as similar to mine - can't remember how I learned to read but I was writing little paragraphs about my day at 4 (have the notebooks my mum kept which is how I know) and although youngest in the class was always top. I didn't try for Oxbridge because I already had one brother in Oxford and the other in Cambridge and didn't want to just follow them.. so 'rebelled' and although accepted at Durham went to Leeds which seemed more 'real' (not full of Oxbridge rejects full of resentment).

I also got a degree without working and felt that 'graduating' (as in the ceremony which I didn't attend) was a farce as it mainly celebrated people who could bull sh*t they had read stuff they hadn't (ideal qualification for politicians and lawyers she says cynically) - I didn't know many students who had worked seriously, most had boozed away their three years. However life overall has shown me that like it or not, right or wrong, academic success helps open doors which help make other pleasant things happen (travel, house, security...). I sometimes wonder where I would be if I had tried for Oxbridge....

Anyway to cut this long story short my ds is starting reception in a weeks' time and is in a completely different 'category' if we have to label our experience. He has what they call 'global developmental delay' which means his language, motor skills and general cognitive development are 12 - 18 months behind his peers. He can recognise M (first letter of his name) and a few other letters but reading is not something I'm expecting for quite a while. I'm (desperately?!) hoping that it's just natural variation and that he'll catch up eventually. It's taken quite a while to come to terms with it (if I have?) even though there were early indications (he didn't say 'Mummy' meaning me till he was 2 and a quarter).

I totally agree with those on this thread who say that you can only help children to learn what they are already ready and equipped to grasp. It's fantastic when the two come together (a parent teaching and a child learning quickly) but if this happens it's not BECAUSE the parent is teaching only. It's a danger to think that what happens in one instance is what SHOULD happen.

An example of the pointlessness of starting too early in some cases is my experience with 'teaching' number to ds. I have done LOTS of number work with him because one of his nurseries told me he was good at maths and he could count in sequence accurately early on. But it was too early for him - he didn't have the concepts needed and when asked 'How many x?' he would count randomly (not stopping at the right moment). Now even his counting in sequence seems to have gone to pot!! I can now see that he didn't understand the basic idea of 'How many?' and so the words just triggered a learned response - 1, 2, 3, etc.

Anyway fingers crossed for all us mums with children going into reception that school will be kind to them, whatever level they're at. Thanks for this thread - so much wisdom and reassurance!

Interesting thread just thought i'd add my 2 pennysworth. Myself and most of my imeadiate faily have varying degrees of dyslexia.

I could n't write well before 11, my spelling is still appalling, my sister could n't read at all before 9. We were lucky enough to go to a wonderful hippy school, where we did tons of drama, sport and art. I didn't sit an exam before i was 11 and had no school reports. I am sure that had i gone to a more mainstream school i would have been regaurded as slow or sn.

I have 2 degrees from London Colleges (UCL and Kings) twice during my studies i was approached to apply to do a PHD. Which i chose not to and I have a job which i love. Had i gone through a system where I was given lots of academic work earlier (before11) I would have given up. As i was allowed to do it in my own time i was able to realise my potential.

My DS is only 2.5 and idea of teaching him to read rather than to climb, jump,swim, ride a bike and most importantly to share and cooperate makes me very sad. I doubt i'll feel differently next year.

sorry warned you of my spelling, it's late immeadiate family i am better than i was aged 11