So glad you asked the question, as I am very happy to share my experience with this! My DYS 11-year-old daughter did not read until she was almost 7 years old. Her VCI on the WISC is 166. She always loved books, and even as a tiny toddler, would run to me with a book in her hand several times per day. She always wanted to be read to, and listened to many audiobooks from an early age. She was advanced in the kinds of books that she wanted read to her – sitting still for long periods even as a three-year-old to listen to chapter books.
We have always been relaxed homeschoolers, and I did very, very minimal phonics instruction with her, but not until later – maybe first grade. But she didn't pick up reading quickly. I mean, it wasn't like I showed her some phonics, and then she took off. She's a little tentative and perfectionistic by nature, and I think trying to read made her feel anxious. I began to push the issue gently as she neared her seventh birthday. I made her read some easy readers to me. She hated it. She is still the type of kid who doesn't like to do something that she's not good at.
By her seventh birthday, she was proudly reading frog and toad. Six months later, she was reading at a fifth grade level. But she wasn't early, and she wasn't self taught.
Sometimes I feel like the lone parent of a late reading gifted child. I think the fact that she didn't read early is in large part what made it hard for me to see her giftedness. I wonder how many more of us are out there!
Last edited by gabalyn; 07/11/13 09:44 AM.
