can early reading mean free private school?

[amidaiwish]

DD1 is 3.7 and has taught herself to read.

A friend told me to get an appt with the headmaster of our local private prep school (we are on the waiting list but have very little chance of getting in) and tell him that he will want her in his school as she is clearly very bright.

This seems very pushy and alien to me. However i don't want to let her down by not having the balls to do this.

Is it a crazy idea?
How should i approach it?

But IIRC your 6yo can read? You might be a far more dedicated mother than I am, but I'm really not sure that I would be reading geology books to my children. Would he have managed the same level of passion without being able to read? I can't imagine what ds1's life would be like without reading.

I suppose that I haven't come across kids who can read without comprehension - I agree that it sounds fairly pointless, but can't really imagine what it looks like IYSWIM.

The early readers in my family found school easier than the later ones but at university level now I notice no difference. Indeed I suspect position in the family - oldest, middle etc seems to have had the most effect on them and their lives and also time of year of birth - the ones born in Sept - Nov - which is 4 of the 5 have always had an easier time than the one born end of the summer.

It is quite common for children to be able to read without comprehension according to DS1's teacher last year. She had no such concerns about him, thankfully but she did specifically say that he was good at the comprehension part when many apparently better readers don't actually realise what they have just read.

I think knowledge has an awful lot to do with memory though. My DS knows a lot about about knights, castles and history and most of it was picked up before he could read properly from what we read to him, looking at pictures, school, tv and visits we made with him to various attractions. He absorbs it because it interests him.

I would agree that early reading is not a sign of being G & T any more than walking early is a sign of great athleticism (sp?). It is a useful step to learning, no doubt about it, but it is not the only way to learn.

I used to listen to children read in the infants and some of them could read fluently in reception without comprehension, one boy in particularly could read each word perfectly but he just sounded robotic.
My Ds now 12 was struggling at that time and did so until he was about 7. He still doesn't like reading very much. He listens to tapes for fiction and there are so many other sources of information out there, one of them was constantly asking mum and dad
His only really reads things like Top Gear magazine,horrible science, guiness book of records.We got to the library regulary but most of his books remain unread.
He has started reading the metro sometimes on the train to school, but he seems to take things in far more by listening. He managed to get 96% in his SATS science without opening a book.
My DD 10 was one of those children who absorbed reading, she read words like architecture when she had just started school, very quick witted and good at nvr and puzzles.
But she has never really acquired the general knowledge ds has.

"we are on the waiting list but have very little chance of getting in"

What do you mean by that? Why wouldn't you get in? If DD is bright enough then of course she'll get in.

Unless you mean that you won't be able to afford it? In which case you need to check out the scholarship position - but in reality the scholarship assistance tends to be limited and also unlikely at such a young age. They only happen at 11+ around my neck of the woods.

www.nagcbritain.org.uk/parents.php?id=96

giftedkids.about.com/b/2006/09/25/gifted-c hildren-and-early-reading.htm

www.gt-cybersource.org/Record.aspx?NavID=2_0&rid=11286

I think that a child reading fluently at 2 or 3 would probably be a good candidate for having a very IQ....but then again that doesn't predict anything!

I think that reading at this age is usual. I have four children and they all could read prior to attending school. A lot of it is a really good memory words relating to pics etc. From experience I would say don't push just encourage your child to develop naturally and with praise. If a child is clever they will be clever at any school. I think the worry with gifted and talented children is when they become teenagers as they have other interests!! At 3.7 they are very eager to learn and private schools are very expensive and demanding. There are a lot of gifted and talented children that achieve at your everyday schools. There is also a long way to go!

Thanks for the links, leapinglemur, I found them interesting to read. The small poppy one was particularly interesting. Thay all described what gifted and highly gifted children are like as young children. What the articles don't tell you is how many children who are early walkers, talkers and readers don't turn out to be gifted.

"we are on the waiting list but have very little chance of getting in"

i'm not sure if this is in reference to my original post - but if it is, it is because the school is oversubscribed. around here you need to register them at school on your way back from the maternity ward. i didn't.
there is no means tested private places at age 4, all just based on how quickly you got their name down.

i would be interested in hearing how you do recognise if your child is gifted, i don't mean a genius, just significantly above average. what would they be doing at age 3.5?

I have known many instances of children who are very quick readers at the early age being overtaken by slow developers in junior school- I was one of them myself (bohoo!), so would agree that reading early is not necessarily a sign of being unusually gifted. Or rather, you may be gifted, but then find that once the other kids catch up, your relative position changes.

My dd moved up from bottom to top set in the last two years of infant school- and of course during that process other kids were moved down from top set.

So I would recommend any parent just to enjoy what their kids can do at this particular moment in time, celebrate their achievements and teach them to regard learning as something that makes life more fun- but don't worry!

As a university teacher I see too many students burned out and weighed down by having been labelled geniuses at an early age. Others blossom late but impressively.

Even an impressive array of A levels is no guarantee that you are going to have a successful career. But a love of learning for its own sake is a guarantee that you are going to find life interesting, wherever you end up. And for that you don't need a great school (speaking from experience here!)- all you need is a family with the right attitude. If you've learnt at home that reading, understanding the world, enjoying the beauties of art and nature are great and exciting things, then the dullest school in the world won't be able to take that away from you.

Sorry to say but I found what I read in the about.com section a little odd. New Years activities for gifted children! Do they need special activities? Followed a link and was it suggesting sitting down with your child and watching Shrek! I took one of mine to see Shrek at 2 and a half and even he enjoyed it LOL

The Advanced Language Development section seemed to list lots of things that are completely umremarkable. Some parents have reported a first word even by 6 months, well blow me down with a feather both mine had a first word by then. Many of my friends children weren't that far behind.

"Gifted children, however, will be adding connecting words, such as and or even because. By age three, gifted children might also have added transitional words, such as however or multisyllabic words like appropriate ... and by age three ... they are able to use time markers, like now, later, first, and then"

So what? My nearly 3 year old child said to me yesterday "we need to go and to see the prehistoric monsters first" Does he qualify LOL Of course he's a clever boy, like his big brother ;) However I wouldn't say his language particularly stands out.

The other links seemed good but that about.com one reminded me of an article that another parenting website automatically sends to me every time my children hit a birthday. It's how to tell if your child is gifted but would probably make it seems as if every other child qualifies.

Apologies for some of those links, they are a little American! I think the US has a very different approach to G&T within their schools...e.g most are IQ tested at 7yrs and then if the IQ is above 130 then they qualify for G&T. 130IQ for me is not Gifted...just my opinion though.
My point was saying that a 2yr old that can read fluently (at a high level like one of the previous posters wrote) stands a very high chance of being a child with a very high IQ. To be able to read any text at the age of 2 or 3 certainly requires some cognitive brain skills! Recognising words just by sight is a good feat of memory and visual awareness. Being a phonological reader is a different league.
No early reading here in my child though, though she does like numbers!

Hope my post didn't come across as having a pop at you leapinglemur Some of the stuff on it made me giggle a bit, what you said about the US system puts some context to that site. The other parenting website I mentioned is also American.

Agree that yes reading so well at that age is very very good and must be unusual compared to even most early readers.