My DYS 11-year-old daughter did not read until she was almost 7 years old....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....
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.
Gabalyn... you could have written this about my DS7! They sound remarkably similar.
Over 4 months, he went from essentially not reading to reading at the 5th grade level. In some ways, this doesn't surprise me. He's always been the kind of kid that wants to work out a whole bunch in his head first, and then later, when he "gets it," demonstrate competence as if he's been doing it for years. Learning to read has only been the most recent thing he's set his mind to.
