Reception dd getting 5/6 letter words on countdown

[TrappedNerve]

Hi my 4 year old dd is bright but I wouldn't have thought gifted and talented but has started to watch countdown with my grandad and loves it!
She is consistently getting words that haven't immediately jumped at me, I have a degree but am no means gifted.
She's always been ahead with things but wondering now if she has a new talent
Reading at very average level in school due to them reading every book in level but that's a whole other issue and is verbally very intelligent.
Any thoughts?

My ds used to be really good at countdown. I think he still is. (He rarely watch tv these days.)
Unfortunately, it didn't translate to great overall literacy skills.(He is top table in literacy, but I don't see any special talent in literacy.)
If you think she is gifted in that department, help her at home to stretch her talent. If she is still 4, she has so much potential.

I agree with Irvine. She's obviously a bright girl. Who knows how bright? Definitely something to encourage at home. We have the game, Boggle, which DD (aged 5, in reception) loves to play. Hadn't thought about Countdown, so thanks for the idea!

Regarding her 'average' reading level at school, do you read different books with her at home? If you feel she is being held back at school and she wants to read a bit more, there's nothing stopping you from taking her to the library and letting her enjoy reading at her own pace.

My DD sounds somewhat similar to yours. Advanced verbal communication skills, vocabulary, reasoning, reading, comprehension. Grasps maths (and everything else) easily, though it’s not our ‘thing’ as a family so she gets less natural exposure. No social concerns. Nursery thought she was gifted but school weren’t interested in hearing what nursery had to say, and we didn’t pursue it.

We haven’t seen the need to try to label her as gifted in any way. All the signs are that she has the potential to do well at school, but beyond being an early reader and generally ‘bright’ I can’t see anything exceptional as to need to label her G&T at this stage.

You never know though. It’s a privilege to see a child develop and excel at some things. Enjoy it!

Let her enjoy Countdown, my DD loved it when she was tiny. She would avidly watch Carol Vorderman, don't know what that woman had but DD was fascinated. She learnt her letters from it and even now at 20 years old she still enjoys the show occasionally, but it has never been the same since Carol left
FWIW she is profoundly gifted especially in languages and I have wondered if the show did have a good influence.

Get her signed up as a contestant.

Awesome! And ha Exit, that would be pretty cool; how is she on the maths ones OP?

And I'd complain about the reading books. That's rubbish and directly contrary to the NC requirement that they read books matched to their phonics ability.

We bought electronic dictionary for my ds in yr1. It makes a lot quicker and easier to look up new words he encountered when reading books. It also has thesaurus, encyclopedia, and game function, which include word jumble.
It's basically same as countdown. They give you some random letters and you have to find as many words as possible with those letters. My ds enjoyed it very much.

Thanks all :)
I've brought up the reading with her teacher but she says dd is reading at a much higher level in school during guided reading and they want the children to read at home with ease and are pushing the comprehension side which dd is excellent at.
She hasn't really bothered with the numbers game on countdown yet so may see how she gets on.
Funnily enough my dad was on countdown years ago when I was a kid and own and went onto the champion of champions, must take after him!

Sorry fat fingers here and my MN format has changed overnight and I don't like it, that should have said my dad won.

That's brilliant!

If she is showing an interest in language and words, I would encourage her to write stories. Being able to spell and recognise words is good, but it is a lot better if she is encouraged to use them imaginatively. I worry with the new curriculum too much emphasis is being placed on the mechanics of language and not enough on the creativity. After all, no one would say, "oh he is a really good novelist, he can type at 60 words a minute."

My ds loved countdown at that age and for years afterwards. Has a sharp brain. Very quick at quizzes puzzles and debate now at 20. But hasn't translated into high performance at school because he couldn't be bothered. Its a fantastic fun thing to do and so are any other puzzle or quiz show as she gets older. Its been my big bind with ds over the years even as a moody teenager.