My baby can read

[MamaTuska]

I am new and this is my first post. I just want to know your opinion. My baby is recognising words by following what is written such as she claps when seeing a word. I assume this is ordinary. My DD is 13 months (she is my first), we speak to her in two languages and I use flash cards as she enjoys playing with them a lot. We do not use them everyday but she plays with them quite often. Is there anything else I can do to boost this ability.

skipped it as far too long and difficult to read

I know a 3.5 year old that can tutor you.

Phyllis nights? Is that you and your world changing baby?

You need to introduce your baby to the one on here that has an aura and rides around on a toy horse.

She may be hyperlexic which can be a symptom of autism. If she likes doing it I don’t see the problem in encouraging her though, autistic or not.

@Mamatuska thanks for the update, it sounds like she's getting on really well

@Sparklfairy

People here can be so jealous horrible. I was reading very early, always miles ahead of my class in maths, and was even moved up a year. It happens.

You don't have to be spiteful just because your own child is distinctly average.

It’s not jealousy. It usually comes at a cost, the brightest child in my kids year 1 class is insanely clever, she is above and beyond the other bright kids but can’t make friends for love nor money. Who’d be jealous of that?

Read “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother”. That will give you a good steer on the kind of parent you want to be.

'When she was 2.5 years old, we installed her Gruffalo with tic-tac-toe game and she started winning without our help. I know it sounds like I was making it up, but I am not.'

This bit did crack me up, sorry

My child must be so far behind

**DaphneFanshaw

grin oh I do love MN.
I’d forgotten just how utterly batshit bonkers it could be.**

Oh you would so be my mate in real life

@TheInvestigator

I absolutely don't believe it. But if you're sure, then try writing the words into pieces of card (and do not read them out loud) and see if she can do the same with those. Then you'll know if she is actually reading the words or just recognishing he colours/images/style of each card.

We did this when DD seemed to be reading signs and yes she could read them written plainly. She was a few months older than 13 month, just before her 2nd birthday I think. She was reading books to the other kids at playgroup at 3 and loved books like The Secret Seven when she was 4. By 5 she was a voracious reader.

She mainly reads trashy novels now, her brother who was late learning to read did A level English, loves the classics and is a voracious reader now. He walked early unlike DD who walked late.

Some kids do read early, we reckoned with DD she'd been here before and someone hadn't wiped the hard drive properly, in the end the others all catch up. Fun party trick though, we had some funny occasions when DD would read obscure things at a museum or something and people would look very surprised. Looked even more amazing as she was very small for her age.

My two year old reads whole books aloud, Julia Donaldson etc. He definitely hasn't memorised the stories and the words that go with each picture..... (It is fun to weird people out with, DS read grandma a story 😁)

Your baby isn't reading.

Regarding reading, she recognizes whole words as no one is teaching her to read

This is a memory trick, nit reading.

It's a trick she's clearly good at, but if she came across a word she hasn't seen before, she wouldn't have a clue.

Does she have any idea that letters represent sounds, and if you change c-a-t to c-a-p would she be able to say it?

My baby had written her first novella before her first birthday. She’s working on a film script now.

@HarryHarryHarry3

My son at a very early age memorised his books so it looked very much like he was reading but of course he wasn’t. He’s 3.5 now and can recite The Gruffalo and many other books off by heart as he’s turning the pages. I think he just has a really good memory rather than being super smart!

A good memory is a great thing to have, most of us can learn to read but I'd love someone to teach me how to remember things.

@Diva66

My baby had written her first novella before her first birthday. She’s working on a film script now.

I'm an ex child prodigy myself. Didn't work out well...

Technically there's no reason a young child can't recognise words. In the same way they can recognise images because that's all a word is really. She won't be able to 'read' in the sense of sounding out the phonemes and working out the word but she could recognise a word in the same way she could recognise a shop logo etc

Honestly I see no merit in drilling children in these things when they’re so little. Every child will learn what they are constantly exposed to. If they are entering mainstream education they’ll be learning at a certain level and it generally evens out in the end. It’s great if a child is genuinely exceptionally bright but honestly I think it’s a bit of a curse as well as a blessing. I was always more advanced than my peers at school and it doesn’t make you friends easily. Even at work, unless you’re in a wholly academic setting, you need people skills and to communicate with your colleagues, operating a level above them doesn’t help you to do that, it’s more of a disadvantage. I want my DC to be the mid to upper level of intelligent, that’s the sweet spot IMO.

I'm not even sure recognising words at 3.5 is particularly unusual I think a lot of children if shown their name and words like mummy and daddy enough times can recognise them. My daughter can and she's no genius.

This will not end well for you OP. Mumsnet hates people ‘showing off’ especially mothers of child ‘prodigies’.

@Takemetothe90s why do you assume it comes at a cost for every child? I certainly had no trouble making friends, and the OP hasn't indicated this either.

It's like people here get defensive about their own children so make this weird presumption that intelligence 'must' be offset by terrible social skills or a miserable home life. It's not always the case, but if it makes you feel better to make shit up in your head, crack on. It just makes you look bitter.

There's nothing wrong with encouraging your child, hell, some kids actually enjoy excelling believe it or not.

i dont disbelieve you or think ridiculous. but.i am the mum who put labels on everything within my toddlers reach. "door" "wall" etc.. there is a point where the transition from recognition to reading takes place. .many a rainy day spent muddling the signs around and little one selecting where should go. you wont convince the masses,but that doesnt matter.keep up the good work

I'm deaf and could not watch TV, my parents used those read along tapes to help me learn sounds and words. I was reading fluently by age 2, my favourite present as a 4 year old was a leather bound Alice in wonderland book. That said I'm business and HR trained. An IT trainer and now cannot work due to the current climate 🤷‍♀️

Flash cards at any age aren’t great tbh. Surely this thread is a wind up?!

DC3 could read a little before 2. DC1 wasn’t even talking at that age so I’d have snorted and done a pfb eye roll if I’d heard about a child that age reading, until DC3 came along. (And DC3 has turned out fine, and is no more or less advanced than her siblings now she is Y6).

Well my dog can tell the time...She's a watch dog ⌚🐕