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I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old

theintrinsicperspective.com

41–50 of 104 posts

Re: I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old

#41
The problem of course is how does one continue such a trajectory?

Dividing classes up by reading level is a major factor in reducing problems in a classroom --- but it's only feasible where the number of classes offered and class sizes and school size/budget allow.

The best school system I ever attended extended that to dividing classes betwixt academic and social --- social classes were attended at one's age level (homeroom, civics/social studies, PE, &c.), while academic classes (math, science, English/reading) were attended at one's ability level, with a 4 grade cap until 8th grade --- after that, the school had faculty who were accredited by a local college and there was a mechanism to either bring professors from that college to the school, or to take students to the college for classes --- it was not uncommon for students to graduate and be simultaneously awarded a BS or BA or BFA along with their high school diploma.

Re: I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old

#42

But, 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,...)

What a stupid thing to say. If he's bored the teacher can advance his grade faster or at least give him personally more challenging material. Should we never teach anyone anything, just to avoid they'll be bored when they see something they already know? Is starting to learn at 6 objectively "better" than at 2? No, that's just how our system currently works. And what you're saying is you want your kid to be mediocre.…

And, in most places, your public school has the legal obligation to provide an education for all ability levels, including people who show up to their first year with the ability to read. Even in the United States of America, where the culture is only the bottom 20% of students deserve to learn, most school districts still have this in their bylaws (they just ignore it).

Re: I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old

#45

But, 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,...)

This is the same reason people don't take calculus in ninth grade, or organic chemistry in tenth. "What will you do if you run out of classes?" I don't know, learn on your own? And once you run out of learning, do your own reseach? You cannot simultaneously view school as a place to advance your child's learning, and also a place you need to hold off on their learning for. Pick one, and if you pick the latter, admit…

I actually attended a school system which had a system in place for that --- see my post elsethread.

Unfortunately, the Mississippi State Supreme Court ruled it to be an unfair and illegal educational system which conferred undue benefits to the students able to take advantage of it and that the lack of a commensurate compensation for students who were unable to do so was manifestly inappropriate.

Re: I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old

#46
post #4
post #2

I 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,…

Are they the same sex? I seem to recall a study where there are some - not huge, but statistically significant - differences in first onset of movement vs. language in boys vs. girls.

The common wisdom is that that girls often speak earlier than boys.

Re: I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old

#47
post #12
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

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Re: I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old

#48

My child is still too young for this at the moment, but I will for sure try it. Reading is probably the most important skill for children as a child that struggles to read will later struggle to study and learn anything else as well.

> a child that struggles to read will later struggle to study and learn anything else as well.

Back in my day that was more or less true. Accessible information was almost exclusively limited to textual form. But that is increasingly not the case. Where I had to pour over words when I was a child, the kids these days are turning to Youtube to learn the same. Especially coupled with other emerging technologies, this may not continue to hold.

Re: I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old

#49
post #8
post #2

I 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. I’m the older brother and I’ve always been further ahead developmentally.

Which is somewhat ironic because I’m the one that’s bipolar.

Re: I taught my 3-year-old to read like a 9-year-old

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the same reason people don't take calculus in ninth grade, or organic chemistry in tenth. "What will you do if you run out of classes?" I don't know, learn on your own? And once you run out of learning, do your own reseach? You cannot simultaneously view school as a place to advance your child's learning, and also a place you need to hold off on their learning for. Pick one, and if you pick the latter, admit…

I actually attended a school system which had a system in place for that --- see my post elsethread. Unfortunately, the Mississippi State Supreme Court ruled it to be an unfair and illegal educational system which conferred undue benefits to the students able to take advantage of it and that the lack of a commensurate compensation for students who were unable to do so was manifestly inappropriate.

By "unable to take advantage of it", do you mean:

- Unable to demonstrate prequisite knowledge, or

- Unable to go to a school further away?

I can get the latter one, which is why I think we shouldn't just have magnet schools, we should have free, government-run magnet boarding schools. Or, alternatively, how much would it really cost to provide a chauffeur service to kids who have demonstrated intelligence and need? If schools can provide personal aides to 1% of their population, I'm sure they have the budget to treat another 1% equitably.

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