Can I wind the conversation back I am not sure how many pages to those of you who had precocious readers, such that they were reading before talking? Do you think your kids learned to read so early BECAUSE talking was harder for them (than talking)? My own kids are clearly not developmentally ready to read early (12-36 months being "early"), but were talking between 9-12 months and particularly the last two never really had a stage after that where they couldn't make their desires reasonably well understood (without resorting to spelling it on the fridge with magnets). I am fascinated about what leads one kid to be verbally precocious and another to be able to read and spell before they can talk. I honestly can not imagine my kids doing that - because talking seems so deeply fundamental to their reading foundations. I absolutely believe it, I am just curious about how that process even works and what might make one child take one path while another goes on a different journey...