People are different; that includes children. Some kids can advance in some areas faster than others. But to measure them all by the same ruler (by way of assumed potential) is dehumanizing. Love and raise your kid where they are.
I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old
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Re: I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old
#12I have two children roughly OP's age, they couldn't possibly be more different in terms of motricity, senses, intelligence, etc. Polar opposites. My first said her first words at 9 months old, "ba" for ball, bath, and 2-3 more meanings, and made a repeated sound pointing towards the object of interest, sound which cannot be described in words. Before the age of 1 we had amassed over 50 words, most up to 3 syllables,…
Yeah, one off examples don't really mean much when people talk about anything kids related. In this case additionally because hyperlexia exists. ( https://www.healthline.com/health/hyperlexia ) Maybe the methods worked, maybe you got lucky, maybe the kid learned despite what you did. Who knows.
I see this "yeah well that's an anecdote so let's just ignore it" claim a lot but it doesn't hold water in my opinion. Most glaringly, the article almost immediately links to peer-reviewed scholarly research about the effects of reading for pleasure being initiated at various times in development relative to the average. N > 10,000, not that big N is itself a positive measure but it certainly doesn't hurt.
There are certainly times where "this is an anecdote" is useful commentary, even though everybody knows what an anecdote is. But I don't think this is one of those times.
Re: I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old
#13I have two children roughly OP's age, they couldn't possibly be more different in terms of motricity, senses, intelligence, etc. Polar opposites. My first said her first words at 9 months old, "ba" for ball, bath, and 2-3 more meanings, and made a repeated sound pointing towards the object of interest, sound which cannot be described in words. Before the age of 1 we had amassed over 50 words, most up to 3 syllables,…
Biologically it's not double, you need to add 9 months to both.
Then it's not 12m vs 22m, it's 21m vs 31m. Still a big difference but not twice as fast, just 48% faster overall.
Brain development starts very soon after conception.
Re: I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old
#14I have two children roughly OP's age, they couldn't possibly be more different in terms of motricity, senses, intelligence, etc. Polar opposites. My first said her first words at 9 months old, "ba" for ball, bath, and 2-3 more meanings, and made a repeated sound pointing towards the object of interest, sound which cannot be described in words. Before the age of 1 we had amassed over 50 words, most up to 3 syllables,…
Is that just the phenomenon of subsequent children leveraging the benefits of a slightly older sibling? Combined with some training of the parents by the first child, and therefore a significantly different mindset being exhibited towards the second child. > The ability to teach your child to do something depends almost entirely on the child ... Is this a summary of your personal experience or are you citing research…
Nope, it's "just" genetics...
Re: I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old
#15But, why? Now the kid will be bored at primary school. You could have diverted him toward skills you aren't going to learn in school (checkers, chess, music,...)
I learned way more on most topics on my own than in school. Reading was the main skill that unlocked that, though things like PBS and (when somewhere with cable, and before these channels went to shit) Discovery & TLC played a role too.
Reading earlier means getting to start on that stuff sooner. Young kids have shitloads of free time.
Re: I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old
#16That was a very elaborate piece of marketing copy
What is it marketing? I'll admit I didn't read it super closely, but the closest thing I could find was the books that are only available in the US via Amazon but there doesn't seem to be a direct affiliation there. And the root page just seems to be a blog.
Re: I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old
#17That was a very elaborate piece of marketing copy
I think this is the underrated comment here.
This appears to essentially be a "pay for my course" post.
Very heavy on "my kid can read at 3!" very light on much useful information other than "this is for paid subscribers" and "you can buy it here".
Looks like it basically boils down to "We did spaced repetition with phonics".
Re: I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old
#18People are different; that includes children. Some kids can advance in some areas faster than others. But to measure them all by the same ruler (by way of assumed potential) is dehumanizing. Love and raise your kid where they are.
It's a spectrum. The OP's approach, with the wrong kid, could very quickly turn home into another (worse) school and wreck the kid for a long time. "Raise kids where they are," taken to the extreme, will teach a lot of kids to accept mediocrity.
"Dehumanizing" is extreme. Having goals and benchmarks is important, probably even required, to help everyone grow to their full potential.
Re: I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old
#19I have two children roughly OP's age, they couldn't possibly be more different in terms of motricity, senses, intelligence, etc. Polar opposites. My first said her first words at 9 months old, "ba" for ball, bath, and 2-3 more meanings, and made a repeated sound pointing towards the object of interest, sound which cannot be described in words. Before the age of 1 we had amassed over 50 words, most up to 3 syllables,…
Is that just the phenomenon of subsequent children leveraging the benefits of a slightly older sibling? Combined with some training of the parents by the first child, and therefore a significantly different mindset being exhibited towards the second child. > The ability to teach your child to do something depends almost entirely on the child ... Is this a summary of your personal experience or are you citing research…
I can second the OP. Children can be wildly different, and development can be influenced both ways. The age gap between children also matters.
Yes, children can piggyback off the achievements of their older sibling in social development and play.
However, I found that I am unable to devote as much time with my second child because my attention is split.
Re: I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old
#20obviously it's good to encourage an exceptional child but what about the average i.e. most children? I know some countries start primary education at 4 and others as late as 6 and learn reading at a later stage. I assume they very quickly catch up with their peers.
Is there any studies out there on adults to see what affect if any there is from learning to read at different ages. I'm not talking about someone who learnt at the age of 12, just the 4-8 age range.