Early reader/gifted reader?

[Warrick1]

Hmmm? How to write this without sounding first world/smug/awful? I will stick to the facts as far I can see them. My son was very standard in terms of his development milestones (walking/using a spoon etc) except that he both talked very early (quickly developed a very large, very mature vocabulary) and that he read very early (2 yrs old) and didn’t stop. Now he is nearly 4 (next week) and can read incredibly fluently. I am a teacher (but not early years) so know a little bit that reading before school is not unusual but also not common. However, what I’m trying to gauge (and think about what to do with the little man) is whether having a reading age (decoding - just reading a list of increasingly longer, more complex words) of 11 yrs old (according to a range of tests we've slipped him that we usually give my older kids at school) at 4 yrs of age and being able to pass the KS1 (for 7 yr olds) reading SAT (comprehension) comfortably at 4 yrs of age is in the sort of “nice one top of your class” camp or whether, as I suspect, it might be “nice one top of the the class two/three years older than you are” camp. The bit we are really thinking about is that both me and his dad were unashamedly nerdy (Firsts from Oxford, Harvard PhD) but neither of us could do much more than write our names and letters before we started our (state) schools. We don’t really want advice about “let him get on with it”, “round him out” or “don’t push him/make him weird” as we are both a bit nerdy/weird ourselves (‘18th century Flemish woodcuts’ is the current bed side reading) and know that it takes all types of people to make a world and don’t mind at all if he goes down the really nerdy nerdy route. What we really want to know is what fiction to give a boy of this age who can read beyond his years? His maths and writing are similar but that is easier to deal with as we just find him the next thing to work out/story to do. Also, has anyone had a similar child and how did your state school deal with him (just to make clear - we have no intention of telling school)? GParents are pushing for prep schools but I can’t see what the strictly academic advantages would be for the money? Has anyone “upyeared” their child in the state system? Good/bad consequences in the long run? When did you do it? Just one year? Two? I know, I know - it’s not a problem - but we just love seeing this little “hoover” so excited about learning (will read for an hour instead of faff about on the IPAD - by choice) and are wondering how best to keep him buzzing about it all for as long as poss. Thanks in advance for any advice/suggestions.

School wise state system has zero interest in moving them ahead, whether rightly or wrongly. Some schools put them in with older kids for selected subjects. It's not so bad for reading/writing able DD as it has been for maths-able DS, because there are more open ended writing tasks than open ended maths tasks. I am concerned about coasting though.

In reception they let DD read chapter books 1:1, though rather irregularly. School reading in years 1-2 has not really touched the sides. It seems to be really variable with the teacher.

I think the best thing we've done for DD educationally is get her going on music. She plays 2 instruments now, it's really challenging and diverts attention from getting even further ahead in school stuff. As a very able (gifted?) kid myself, music was how I learned to study properly, not school.

I don't really get the point of moving them up a year if I'm honest.

If the child is working at a level where moving up a year will mean that others in the class are working at around the same level, then they're probably not that exceptional and there will be plenty of other children in their own year group who are equally advanced. A year ahead is nothing, really.

If the child is working at a level where they are several years ahead of their peer group, then moving them up a year isn't going to resolve the problem. There is no point. You'd perhaps have to move them up five years or so to have them working at the same level academically, but clearly, that would be disastrous socially, and also for subjects like PE where they would probably be way behind.

Far better imo to keep them with their peers, to work on their all-round development and to encourage appropriate in-class differentiation in the areas where they're ahead.

My DS3 is an advanced reader although not as far ahead as that, about three years ahead. My view is that it was one less thing to worry about at school - he could concentrate on social skills, numeracy and other aspects of learning with one less thing to worry about. Even though he could read well he still needed to learn the phonics and grammar side of things. Some advanced readers perform poorly in the phonics check because they haven't needed to develop those skills in their reading. DS3 is in year 1 now and he is taken out of class once a week by the classroom assistant for some one-to-one support to make sure he is still being stretched. Another factor to consider is the emotional age of the child. My DS1 was also ahead of his peers on reading but there was a mismatch between what he could read and what he could handle emotionally. So even though he was capable of Harry Potter, he preferred Horrid Henry.

My daughter skipped a year (not our choice) and all seemed well at the time. All I can say is when she went to university it was not so easy. I wish she had another year at school. If he loves learning then surely he will love learning whatever? If it is that you think he getting bored” like many people say, then I don't actually think he is really ready.

Having just RTFT I would also suggest music lessons. He could start Suzuki violin or cello, ukelele, or piano if you can find a teacher (some piano teachers don't take under-7s). My DS3 started piano lessons a few weeks ago and he's loving it.

He sounds lovely, as do you, is he almost 5 or just 4?

Because the former I would think very bright, very advanced for his age but not to genius levels (unless doing something else that you’ve not mentioned?).

The former I would think more unusual.

My little boy, now 9, started school with similar ability in reading. He was absolutely brimming with enthusiasm for learning and I’ll be honest, school hasn’t been easy for him. He found it difficult to fit in with his peers. He was on a completely different wave length. Also, while he was advanced academically, he struggled with his emotions, he found reception incredibly frustrating and I got the impression that the reception teacher didn’t like him very much. He was very confident and a bit of a ‘know it all’ in their eyes I think.

He is much happier now in year 4, he is still top of the class and could quite easily do year 6 sats papers (his older brother currently revising for them). He has two ‘nerdy’ friends and they are a happy little group but quite different to their peers.

It’s not always easy being different. They have to learn pretty quickly that not everyone learns at the same speed and also to deal with a bit of boredom in lessons.

Just my experience, your little boy might be as emotionally intelligent as he is academic.

My 4 year old is currently reading Harry Potter and really enjoying it. She’s just statues reception and I suspect is significantly ahead of her her class in terms of reading/writing/comprehension etc, but she’s a 4 year old in all other ways so it wouldn’t occur to me to move her up a year. She’s very petite and I suspect would struggle with PE etc in an older year and the other children would tower above her!
She’s happy where she is, and I’m confident the school are meeting her needs in terms of her reading.

Sorry just read your op again, he is still 3? Yes that’s definitely unusually advanced. I would discuss with his reception teacher prior to him starting and work out a plan to keep him busy and also prepare him for times when he will have to listen to explanations of things that he already knows.

I didn’t mention it to her reception teacher but within a couple of days they’d called me in to discuss her reading as they’d soon realised what she was capable of!

A good children’s librarian is worth their weight in gold - I had very early and able readers and she found me age appropriate stuff. Lots of classics (the Ahlberg Happy Families series was a hit at that age, 10p each in the charity shop).

School won’t cater and you’ll probably need to bring books in. Butt that’s doable.

Really worth working on riding a bike, doing a forward roll, learning to catch a ball, climbing on a climbing frame etc - that’s all the currency of childhood and will help with making friends.

Also very good to get them in to music, they can go at their own pace, which is wonderful if (when!) school is frustratingly slow for them.

I didn’t mention it to her reception teacher but within a couple of days they’d called me in to discuss her reading as they’d soon realised what she was capable of!

We did mention in passing but without making a fuss. DD mentioned it too at her home visit and her "all about me" booklet. 4 yr old filling in her own booklet should have been a bit of a clue too... Teachers "hadn't noticed" at first parents evening after half term and hadn't heard DD reading once. So the baseline her progress in the school is recorded from is "can sound out simple CVC words". So I say make fuss, politely, but don't be coy.

Follow his interests. Take him to the library weekly and let him choose. Be led by him completely. This will retain his interest and enthusiasm long term. Concentrate less on level of book difficulty. I was advised that high quantity is better then high difficulty as it allows for a much wider range of scenarios and smoother reading progression. My DD was like your son. She always had her nose in a book and is now doing A levels. The complexity and range of her story telling is utterly amazing. Her language also

I would make sure infant years are all about play and good social skills. Academically you know it will be a walk in the Park for him.

I would definitely take the opportunity to learn another language and try music lessons - to provide a challenge for him.
Agree with others that moving up a class might not be the best idea. He would probably be the top reader in that class too, so not sure how much it would achieve academically anyway. Socially it could be very tough.

I'd try some of the older children's books with more complex texts and vocab but where the stories are at a more appropriate emotional level. Things like Beatrix Potter, the original Paddington Bear books and even Enid Blyton's Famous Five and Secret Seven.

My brother and I were the same. He was moved up a year and ended up going off the rails a bit in secondary school. I was not moved up a year and performed much better than him academically. I was big into non fiction as an early reader.

Would not advise moving up a year regardless of ability. The maturity aspect is important

As to the point of private education, I'd say it depends on your state options. I know schools which differentiate for the highers in ks2 by partnering them with mids and getting them to explain it/lead their table. Undoubtedly helpful for leadership and social skills and will deepen their own understanding to a point, but if you're not bothered about that and would prefer academic pushing, a good private school may be your best option as they have more ability to personalise the curriculum.

I don't think the school you are imagining exists OP. My friend's son goes to a very selective prep in a very education focussed area. The boys like sports and gaming just like other boys their age. Her son doesn't, and takes the stance that 'those things are stupid so you are stupid', and he is really struggling socially.

My DH went to Winchester, and whilst it sounds like they had a lot of high brow academic debate in class, out of class they spent their time working out how to get to the pub and where else they could get alcohol (and more) from, just like other teenagers.

If I were you, I would read up on how important social skills are for life outcomes. Put aside your 'well I'm weird and I'm ok' bias- it may not work out like that for your DS. I would also check you know your stuff about hyperlexia. Then I would find a school, maybe a Prep, where they have the strongest pastoral and social focus you can. That way they can balance out the development of those skills as clearly you are not going to particularly value them at home.

There is a boy at my DS's Prep that is well ahead of other children - particularly in maths. (Y2 working at Y5 level) The school take him out of lessons for maths and he works one to one with a teacher. However, the rest of the time he is in with the class and happy because he is still a six year old boy and needs to go through the same processes and interactions as all the children, and can still get a lot out of the lessons history/geography topics etc. He needs to learn how exist, be kind and tolerant and get on with his peers, and be allowed to mess about at playtime and all of those things! As far as jumping up school years goes the only people I've ever met who did this (at Uni) really struggled because whilst they were academically bright they were not as emotionally developed or experienced enough to really cope with all the social interactions and "life" generally. Being underage at Uni isn't really much fun when you aren't supposed to be drinking / in clubs and all the rest of it;)

Look at lots of schools and ask for advice and whether they can help him, and how they would do that. There's really not a great deal of benefit to jumping too far ahead, but eventually he may do some GCSEs earlier, it does happen as you no doubt already know - if he is happy just now - let him just enjoy learning, give him a wide range of topics fiction and non fiction & take him out to places that will inspire his imagination & support his thirst for knowledge & curiosity.

With regards to reading - as long as he's reading things he can emotionally & intellectually understand/ comprehend & don't scare him or deal with topics you'd rather he wasn't aware of yet (sex, drugs, rock and roll - because clearly it's not just about the act of reading/decoding!) then go with his interests. For example I tried to read The Hobbit at 8 and whilst I could 'read' it I couldn't 'access' it. One year later I could, loved it & got quite obsessed with TLOTR.

I think extreme giftedness is really a SEN so he will probably need an IEP. Take a good look at all the feasible school options and how they will support him, and don't forget music, sport, drama etc - all good avenues for learning however intellectually gifted (or not) you are! I know you said you are weird, but I know plenty of nerdy weirdos who do these activities so that's no reason not to let him try them.

That’s not great catkind. DD was listened to by her teacher on day 2 and on day 3 they called me in for a meeting to discuss how to progress. If they hadn’t have noticed within a week or so I’d definitely have mentioned it.

My 5 yr old is ploughing through a box set of Horrible Science books at the moment (with alarming alacrity ). There are also history and geography ones that I am aware of.

Fiction-wise we let him choose from the library. Seaquest and Mr Gum are popular, but don’t take him long to read. He’s too scared of Beastquest though - so we haven’t tried Harry Potter!

With regard to the school, we thought the same for our DC, put them into a selective, highly-academic prep (and pre-prep) and they'll thrive amongst people like them.
Unfortunately, that isn't what other children are like! The boys just all want to play football and run around like mad things at playtime. My 4yo wanted to talk about myths, or mountains, or mice, whatever he'd been reading about that week... but no-one else did. It's been a tough time for him until now in Y5 when some are beginning to mature and become more intellectual and interested in more academic pursuits.
On the plus side, he's learnt very well how to listen to others and fake enthusiasm in their conversations effectively.

If they hadn’t have noticed within a week or so I’d definitely have mentioned it.
If I hadn't already mentioned it I might have done! I did wonder if it was some handed down policy from the head about baselining low. Sounds paranoid maybe but I struggle to account for them not noticing something that was pointed out by me, by DD in my hearing, and by preschool at their handover meeting.