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Original poster

At what age could you read/write... and what are your academic/professional qualifications?

147 replies

wonderingwondering · 18/05/2009 18:02

And do you think reading young is generally linked to greater academic/professional achievement overall? Whether that is because of intelligence, nurture, an innate love of or aptitude for reading/learning? Or are the two completely unrelated?

OP posts:
Lizzylou · 18/05/2009 22:06

My Mom regales us constantly about how I asked to learn to read because I loved my books so much(Amelia Jane books iirc) at aged 3. Apparently I could do both by age 3.5yrs.
I hvae a BAHons from a Welsh Uni, not an old Poly.
DH was later and has 1st class hons degree from a great Uni and was offered a PHD.
So far our firstborn is working out to be fairly average but very competitive....who knows????

Botbot · 18/05/2009 22:07

Could read at 3 and a half, and have got a not-very-impressive BA. My innate love of reading has translated into a career, though - I'm a book editor.

MillyR · 18/05/2009 22:08

Franca, I think there are a lot of things that children will learn to do in their own time. I remember my SIL getting really stressed out because her DS had not met some target for doing up his own coat at the right age. I am sure by 18 almost everyone will be able to do up their coat and it doesn't matter if they first do it at 2,3 or 7.

francagoestohollywood · 18/05/2009 22:09

Really? I also think that academic progress is linked to emotional progress, so it can def be bumpy, iyswim....

glucose · 18/05/2009 22:13

I have no idea at what age i was able to read, but I have always enjoyed reading.
I like some books and not others, I have enough qualifications to do a job I enjoy, earn enough to live, and is valuable.
Our local library is regularly visited by the homeless, and local Quakers take books out to the homeless in their library van.

francagoestohollywood · 18/05/2009 22:13

that was to your 22.04 post milly

plimple · 18/05/2009 22:18

I didn't learn to read or write til I went to school at 5. I have an economics degree, and a PGCE. Once I started to read I was getting my books from the classes above. My grammar in very imaginative stories I wrote in a book I have from when I was 10 is great! I don't think my written or spoken English ever got any better than at 11. I wish I'd been taught about colons and semi colons as I still can't use them with confidence.
I shan't worry about my DCs learning to read and write until they're 5 when they start school - apart from childcare reasons I can't see the point in starting children at school/nursery any earlier than this.

Laquitar · 18/05/2009 22:28

I was reading at 4 and i thought this was early for our generation but i see here that some of you did at 2 or 2 1/2 (so i had a reality check ). I have a degree and then came in UK and worked as a nanny. My DH had a family tragedy when he was 4 and didn't start school until he was nearly 7 so he was late reader. He now has better education than me, better paid job and speaks fluent English (it is second language for both of us) while i am still strugling a bit with english. He is intelligent, has bags of energy and he 's more driven than me. On the other hand i love books (my family did) when he doesn't (his family don't).So i don't know the verdict really. It is an interesting thread.

LovelyRitaMeterMaid · 18/05/2009 22:32

I could read and write when I was 3. Was at the time a PFB and my mum a SAHM and I was receptive to being taught.

I have a BSc, PGCE and am a Chartered Accountant, winning international prizes in two of my exam papers.

My sister did not learn to read or write before going to school - I am pretty sure my mum tried with her but she wasn't receptive to it. Through her first few years at school, she was seen as being a bit "slow" but when she was about 10, really accelerated. She went to Cambridge and did maths.

Will now read rest of thread

LovelyRitaMeterMaid · 18/05/2009 22:34

I do love reading and can read very fast - quite often get through two or three books a week. I don't think that is a sign of intelligence - just that you enjoy reading.

frustratedmom · 18/05/2009 22:35

I am dyslexic. I learnt to read and write at 9 years old but I have a BSc (2.1) and hoping to do teacher training.

Its not when you learnt to read and write but where your drive and wish to go takes you.

plus some of the cleaverist people i have meet in my life are people who failed at school.

P.s. my reading age is still way below my chronological age but i don't care!

minxofmancunia · 18/05/2009 22:36

Can remember reading at 3, school reports always said things like "exceptional ability" re literacy, had a reading age of 13 at age 8 apparently. Not so good at numeracy tho!

Have a HEdiploma, a BSc, a PGCert and a PGDiploma, but stupidly have never really grafted. Could wing it with flying colours when younger but sadly brain has fermented a bit now and it's all a bit of a struggle. Have realised I have to break the habit of a lifetime and actually apply myself! Plus i HATE academia, I have poor concentration and I find studying extremely boring.

chipmonkey · 18/05/2009 23:20

I could read at 2, have a BSc-equivalent qualification, have done a lot of further study in my field and will do a Masters and PhD when I get around to it!

Ds1 could read at 3 and was reading at the level of an 8 year old on school entry at 5. Unfortunately he has ADD so the classroom situation doesn't suit him at all ( auditory processing problems) so his great beginnings have not resulted in academic sudccess. I do think that he may do better in an environment where studying is done mainly by visual tasks like reading and computers as he manages to maintain good attention this way.

I am an optometrist and tend to worry about my young patients who read too early and too much as it almost inevitably seems to lead to myopia and in later years myopic eyes tend to be less healthy than "normal" ones.

hatesponge · 18/05/2009 23:34

My parents tried to teach me to read from 2 onwards, but I had no interest whatsoever. When I started school, I was one of the few chidren in the class who couldnt write their name.

I did however pick it up very quickly once at school, and by 7/8 I was assessed as having a reading age of 13+. I have an Oxbridge degree, and other professional qualifications. Of my friends from uni, many were reading and writing at 2, others - particulary those doing the more science/maths type subjects, seemed to have been a lot slower to read/write. So I don't know whether there is any real link between early reading and academic achievement.

TeenyTinyToria · 19/05/2009 00:13

I could read at 2, and could write independently (stories/poems etc) by 4.

I have 3 A Levels, an HNC in Childcare and an HND Acting, bits of OU degree courses, and plan to get a degree by open learning at some point in the future. Also have a Mensa level IQ.

I don't think any of this matters particularly, or is connected to early reading/writing. I am drawn more to arty kinds of subjects, so although I probably could have a university degree, I'm not particularly interested as my job (actor) doesn't require that sort of qualification. My early literacy skills haven't had much bearing on the academic route I've taken in life.

I do think that learning to read early is great though, and I'm currently teaching ds who is 2. It's just a game to young children, they pick things up so quickly, and it removes the pressure which is involved when formally learning to read at school.

PortAndLemon · 19/05/2009 00:23

I started to read by 18 months and was fluently reading and comprehending anything I picked up before I turned three. I don't specifically know about writing. I have an Oxbridge BA and an MA.

My brother didn't read or write until after he'd already started school. He has an Oxbridge BA and a MSc.

So, I don't think it matters particularly in terms of future academic achievement.

OrangeFish · 19/05/2009 00:24

Started reading nearly 6. I have a BA (1st), 2 masters (Distinguished Performance), 3 PG diplomas (honours), and about 7 certificates (all with a grade average over 9 out of 10)and... so what if I could join Mensa when I was 10? or could remember more than 60 numbers of Pi when I was young? I'm unemployed!

Tortington · 19/05/2009 09:55

i was 4 - i have a degree - not a good one, and i had to work hard for it

i am the definition of average. there is nothing i have, nothing i have done that couldn't be done by someone else.

Peachy · 19/05/2009 09:57

Could read at two, Mum was a big fan of earlyr eaidng and used to teach it in schools etc.

Quals- degree in RE though not gained until 30's; applying for a MSc next year.

reading early gave me a real love of words and books that i am certain was a plus, hwever I hve dyscalculia so overall wasn't outstanding at school.

I do beleive it gave me head start as I've always found essay writing, research very easy and I also suspect ahd I not been ahead in writing and reading i'd have been placed into the special needs calss ats chool- as it was I was for maths anyhow.

However, dh didn't read ntil late and has only come to enjoy books in the last two years or so, yet is a talented technician and about to do a very specialist degree. DS1 only caught on to reaidng at 8 but has now passed his reading age (he's reading at 9.9 month I understand), so clearly it's quite possible to develop at vastly different rates and have the same ability overall.

Peachy · 19/05/2009 09:57

Beore someone comments on typing have lost glasses and feeding wriggler LOL

spokette · 19/05/2009 09:58

Will also say that I did not bother to teach my DTS to read or write their name before they started school. Did not see the point.

They were able to write their name within a month of starting school and last week, DT1 wrote a sentence without looking the words up!

Peachy · 19/05/2009 10:01

(my last post completely backs up chimonkey's doen't it? I do indeed have both severe myopia and astigmatism, am borderline for driving).

Oh my degree is just a 2:1 but I had fairly unsuaully demanding circs (fourth baby was 5 weeks old, 3 other children with with asd whilst studying) so I am proud of that and try not to focus on not getting my first LOL

slug · 19/05/2009 10:01

I was reading and writing before I went to school, but then I had a bossy older sister who liked to show off her erudition so i felt compelled to compete. I have a BA, PGCE and an MSc, all firsts.

DH, on the other hand, refused to read till he discovered Biggles when he was nearly nine. He also has an MSc.

DD is a bit of a lazy reader at 7 years old, but my feeling is that she sees DH and I reading constantly at home and it is normal adult behaviour to constantly have one's nose in a book or a paper. I'm hoping she learns from our example.

spokette · 19/05/2009 10:50

I learnt to read and write in first year at school. Have a degree and PhD and spent bit of time in USA developing materials to be used in rockets for Space Shuttle!

Parents encouraged me to join local library which I used all the time. Now I read about 2 or 3 books a month. I have been known to read two books a week!

Consequently, my 5yo DTS love books too.

My brothers on the other hand are non-academic and do not share my love of reading. Similarly, one of my best friends hates reading books but he is academic with a degree, PhD and PGCE and now works at as senior manager in a technological organisation. So from my little world, I would say that a love of reading is more due to an innate love of books rather than intelligence or nurturing parents.

Litchick · 19/05/2009 12:59

I could read way before I went to school and have continued to adore books. I make a living from writing. That said, I'm not particularly intelligent.
DH on other hand is a total boffin and couldn't speak,let alone read until he was 3.5. He does read a lot now, but when I met him read almost no fiction.
DD was also an early and voracious reader. She's not particularly clever. DS was much later but his raw scores at school show him to be extraordinarily bright.