This "intuitive grasp of phonics" must have been what my son used. He is adept at using his intuition for other things so this makes sense.
At 2 1/2, when there was no denying that my son was reading on his own, without having been taught, I remember looking online for a reading test of some kind. I was very curious about how well he could read. I remember that I found an online test that showed pictures of things, for example a log, and the child was supposed to choose between three words for the word that matched the picture. He was able to do this and he was able to identify some words that were spelled out for him, so he had to have some kind of intuitive grasp of phonics. This was before he started watching Between the Lions.
I did read to him with my finger underneath the words, so I think that might have helped him learn to read, but I did the same thing with my daughter when she was 2 1/2 and she didn't start reading until she was four and she didn't have the vision problem that he had. His comprehension was also at a higher level than hers at that age because he has always wanted to know the exact meaning and different meanings of words that he didn't know. He says he has always been a word nerd and that is how he talked me into buying the book Word Nerd at our recent trip to Barnes & Noble when I thought we already found too many books. At least they gave us a homeschool discount.
