Working my way backwards through this thread...
However, recently he's "read" words I've never introduced to him in any context (e.g., coffee). How do they (kids) do that? It's not really reading is it?
I once had someone argue that my DS6 wasn't really reading when he was 3yo because he didn't sound things out. "He just memorized the word and recognizes it when he sees it," she said.
Well, um, yeah! Isn't that the goal? I don't sound out every word I see! Most of them, I just know! Am I not reading?
I'm no reading expert, but I think there are a number of different ways to come to reading. Different kids require different strategies depending upon how they learn.
Even the pattern recognition stuff, I thik is reading. Unless they sometimes forget what they've memorized, I think memorization that can be applied in other contexts is reading. I mean, I don't somehow divine the inner truth of a word or something. I just have it committed to memory. I know it! That's reading.
Ann, I'd say that yes, what your son is doing is reading. If he knows the word--however he knows it--and he can recognize it and understand it when he sess it in other contexts, well, that sounds like reading to me!
I think sometimes we parents of HG+ kids try to persuade ourselves that what our kids are doing doesn't count. ANy other parent would count those things as reading! In fact, I think any other parent would count a lot of earlier stuff as reading! Honestly, I think this is GT denial running rampant!
