Live data from Hacker News

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

theintrinsicperspective.com

91–100 of 104 posts

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

#91
post #78

obviously 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 lea…

pre-school started at 4 for me (it's 3 these days), and by the end of the first year, every kid could read and write. Some public school systems are better than others. Many countries outright suck.

My theory is that pushing a child to read earlier doesn't necessarily lead to a better educational outcome then giving them time and teaching them when they are a bit older. I'm not suggesting that one way is more valid because i have no idea. I'm honestly curious if there's more information on this.

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

#92
post #90

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 (…

What school system? Sounds like a great setup

As noted elsethread, it was adjudged to be an illegal system by the Mississippi State Supreme Court, so was dismantled.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44126175

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

#93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can relate to this. Grade school was hell. Learning cursive when I knew none of the adults in my life used it drove me up a wall. My dad worked for IBM and we had a 286. My mom was doing night classes for her degree and she always typed her papers.

Adults don't go to recess or play marbles either, were you mad about that too?

Yes, actually. It was like being locked in a prison yard. I was safer in a classroom.

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

#94

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.

From what you say it sounds a boneheaded decision, to deprive students from a good education because other students aren't ready for it.

The UK excels at something similar, where they are trying to undermine private schools and even higher level public grammar schools. This is because it's only privileged children who can afford to go to there, and the outcomes are way better then public schools.

There is a term for this: "the politics of envy", where it's better to funnel everyone through the same mediocre system so that nobody can gain an advantage. This was very much the logic behind the recent law to tax private schools, and it's an idiotic principle.

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

#95

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,...)

Why would you put a much smarter than average kid in an ordinary government school in the first place? That's like making a naturally athletic and fit kid attend 6 hours/day of occupational therapy to learn to walk

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

#98
post #19
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Your third sentence seems to agree with my suspicion - subsequent children get less attention. (Though I reiterate my belief that some of the apparent developmental difference is because second children don't need to be as communicative as the first child.)

The sibling comments here primarily echoed a similar sentiment, while agreeing that there's variation and assuming that's just random, while also tacitly confirming that 2nd-child tended to perform less well.

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

#99
I started reading when I was 2, and writing at 4. And in elementary school I was the one that read the fastest. As of 2021 (12 years old) I had read books ranging from 50 to 600 pages; approximately 270 books. Nowadays, I just read reddit stories, programming documentation, blogs, forums and chats; and to be honest, I lost track of how much I have read.

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

#100

Excellent. I remember we learned to read and write in one month in Finnish school. If this did not happen, one was officially classified as retarded (in 1950s). How long it takes average american to achieve errorfree skills? Grok:... In USA on average, achieving consistent error-free literacy might take 4-6 years of schooling (kindergarten through fourth grade), but this varies widely.

[deleted]
Post reply on HN