Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school asynchronous reading ability?

So my DS3 (almost 4) has been reading since he was about 2.5...at this point he can pretty much 'read' anything, aka, look at a word and be able to recognize it and speak it. Reading the words is easy (online test said somewhere around 4th grade, and preschool teacher also noted that he can pretty much read whatever you put in front of him.) BUT his reading comprehension is definitely not as high. My guess is that it's more around 1st or 2nd grade, and that is IF he is interested in doing the actual reading - which more often than not, he isn't. He is a math/science kid, through and through, and so, while he learned to read very early, it's really not his 'thing'. He does enjoy being read to, and sometimes I'll catch him reading through his books, but he is by no means voracious, or even close to it. I'm not convinced he quite realizes that reading by himself will unlock this amazing world to him (I admit, DH and I are avid readers and would love to see this cultivated in DS). But also, I don't want to push him - often we will just read to him, and gently nudge for him to read on his own (usually in lieu of nap, which is happening much too often for my liking!).

Anyway, this has become a bit of a ramble but I was wondering a couple of things,

1. does this seem normal, the ability to read but the comprehension not being as high as the word recognition? Again, I don't know how much of that has to do with his general disinterest in reading by himself, for the most part.

2. Any good ideas for encouraging more comprehension without pushing assessment tests on him or anything like that? We do non-fiction a lot, science books go over well, and DH and I will talk about the stories we read to him and ask questions about them...and he will go along with that for a while, though often after a few he sort of shuts down to questions ("I don't want to answer anymore" type thing.)

Thanks, and sorry for the long meandering post!

Our DS was/is like this.

Yes this is "normal". What you are describing is exactly what you should expect. There are certain kinds of things where an advanced kid can be more advanced (in years) than other things, even if they are the same percentile.

For example [made up numbers for illustration purposes] perhaps a 3 year old at the 99.9th percentile for reading ability, has the reading ability of a 50th percentile 9 year old, while a 3 year old at the 99.9th percentile for comprehension, has the comprehension of a 50th percentile 6 year old.

A 7 year old that understands maths like an average 14 year old, while rare, is going to be much more common than a 7 year old that understands Shakespearian poetry like an average 14 year old.

A typical kid will be at different percentiles for different endeavors, but even if they were at exactly the same percentile for everything, that same percentile would correspond to different levels of advancement (in years) for different endeavors.

In other words:

Asynchrony is normal.

1. Yes this seems normal. Learning to parse/read individual words, and learning to understand what is going on the story are two different things. My son could read almost any word at your son's age, but wasn't interested in chapter books till he was older. What he read voraciously at this age was non-fiction, books about dinosaurs, dragons, animals, bugs.

2. Read with him, I or my husband read to my kids every night till they were 11/12 usually reading books 2-3 years above their own reading level. Take him to museums. My son would walk around and read ALL the signs out loud and we would talk about them. Talk with him about everything around him. Look up answers to all his questions about the world around him. Let him explore the world around him. Encourage him to "write" his own stories with or without you. At this age my son would "draw" stories and an adults would take dictation. (His writing wasn't as fast as his imagination.) We loved to making this a game, and would often take turns progressing the story. Encourage him to play with other children. Watch a movie/tv show and talk about the story/plot, themes afterwards. Play games.. All of this will help your son understand the world around him and therefore be able to comprehend literature better.

Good Luck

P.S. I just re-read your post. Don't "quiz" him about the story/plot, try having a conversation with him about it. Relax and have fun with him.

His comprehension will catch up and is nothing to worry about, most likely. I would not quiz ghim unless it is a genuine conversation of interest.

He might just take a bit longer to get into reading. I think this kind of pattern is not uncommon here, especially for the very early readers. Sometimes hitting the "right" series book will hand them the key. Try lots of different books--anything that catches his eye. Even easy graphic novels.

Yes.


My DD was the oddball there-- her comprehension and reading level always seemed to be more or less in sync, but then again, she read relatively late (at least in this cohort), too-- she wasn't reading until she was four.

But yes, she was that unusual 7yo Shakespeare fan. It's very hard to accommodate-- and the kids are very very VERY rare.

It may be a temporary developmental thing-- as squishys notes. Because my DD wasn't reading high school level (and beyond) until she was nearly six, I have no idea whether she WOULD have been asynchronous if she'd been decoding at 2 or 3.

I also second the recommendation to just TALK about fiction with your child. Go beyond the summarizing and retelling to questions about WHY, and judgments about characters' actions or statements.

"How do you think that Little Bear is feeling right now?"
"Why do you think he is happy at this part of the story?"
"What do you think Jane is thinking about?"
"Do you think that was a good idea?"
"How would you solve this problem?"

At his age it doesn't matter whether he can read or comprehend anything. Just let him enjoy books and read to him without asking him questions. And my >99.9 percentile ds didn't read until he went to school at 5 and ds4 who has been able to recognise words for over a year shows no interest in learning to read either.

Thanks for the great responses, everyone. Your experiences and ideas are all great and helpful.

You know, I think sometimes I have moments where I forget I'm talking to/dealing with a 3 year old, because he so often doesn't act/perform/talk like a 3 year old, you know? and so maybe expect I too much or get frustrated etc. Luckily, I (or DH) usually realize and quickly go "oops!" while quietly slinking away into the naughty parent corner. In all seriousness though, I think sometimes we all just have to take a step back when it comes to kids like ours.

I will definitely try to take the tack of 'less questions', though it will take some fine-tuning on my part, to figure out the best ways to phrase and navigate a discussion without the quiz-like format. DS loves to draw, so having him draw parts of the story is a good idea.

In case this helps for future, there's a word for that: this stage of reading is commonly called decoding. Other stages of reading skill development include fluency and comprehension. These skills tend to develop over time, like walking before running. Vocabulary acquisition is important to developing comprehension.

Portia gave great tips and advice IMO.

Keeping a good quality children's dictionary handy while reading may be one more thing to try, if your child enjoys using it. This can encourage exploring meaning and context.

Strong decoding while fluency and comprehension are developing is not really an example of asynchrony. For thoughts on asynchrony, interested parents may wish to read the book Off the Charts: Asynchrony and the Gifted Child. (link- http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Resources_id_15952.aspx)

The relatively more rapid development of decoding skills as compared with comprehension skills may be reflected in the reading levels recommended for a student in school. Schools may stretch skills for decoding then take a step back and work on comprehension skills. This may take parents aback as they may wonder why their child regressed (in most cases the child did not regress in decoding skills which may continue to soar, but the child is now working to build foundational comprehension skills). Sometimes these stages are called "learning to read, and reading to learn".

Independent readers may be those who not only decode on their own, but also excel in fluency, vocabulary acquisition, and comprehension. Because students may acquire much vocabulary from the printed page their vocabulary acquisition may continue to benefit from reading aloud, hearing others read aloud, or using online pronunciation guides such as Forvo. For example, encountering the printed word colonel, a student may benefit from understating this word sounds like kernel.

The MAP test website (NWEA.org) offers a free downloadable RIT chart, sharing information which illustrates progressive reading skill development.

Once a child is in school, in some cases, such as F&P, a teacher may be able to share a comprehension rubric, the results of which are separate from the reading level letter score. Further conversation may lead to the Continuum of Literacy Learning, a book which the teacher may have received included in the professional framework, part of the benchmark assessment system.

Asynchrony

Interesting. DS3.11 also demonstrates strong decoding capability, without same level of comprehension. He's an early reader too (2.7y). Within the last few months he's picked out more emotionally complex reactions from characters in both books and movies. I'm sure his emotional maturation is related to development of comprehension. He's also started reading in his head. Don't know where this fits in but he seems tickled by it.
Good point Portia about asking for a description - I've been guilty of asking for same. I'm always surprised that a kid who can detail every sandwich eaten, shirt worn and activity and partnership from a day at school isn't able to consistently describe. Thanks for the reminder!
Thanks for the NWEA site reference and plus Indigo. I'm interested to check it out.

although I agree with all the comments about this development picture being normal (decoding first, higher comprehension levels later), I would suggest :
comic or manga type books, where there are pictures to go along with the words can be great for supporting comprehension, and upping the 'FUN!' quotient, especially if younger children's picture books are of less interest to your ds.
Vocab might not be 'super high' in these books, but story and entertainment can be pretty solid, and help to foster a true love of reading.

http://www.wired.com/geekmom/2012/03/geekmom-comic-book-corner-comic-books-for-kids/