Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion When did your child start to read independently?

Annette,

DS read things like the Magic Treehouse at 2. By 3, he'd decided that fiction was a waste of time and started reading science books etc. It wasn't until he was 6 that he agreed to fiction again. The book of choice? Stephen Hawkings "George's Secret Keys to the Universe".

Mine doesn't read. �He occasionally reads a random word, phrase, or sentence out of the blue or says an answer out loud to a question that he saw written. �He says he can't read. �I say "I've seen you". �I think he means he can't read well yet, and I've told him so. �I would call him an emerging reader. �He's been reading stray words for well over a year now, but not out of books. �He does a lot of Internet & tv. He's making that same kind of leap right now though but with writing. �I quit telling him how to write each letter and instead just told him which letter to write, one letter at a time. � I realized yesterday he was bored. I started telling him groups of letters and whole small words at a time, which he's apparently ready to start doing some of. �Also, �he's memorizing more spellings than I realized. �Plus we do that "reading eggs" program. �We take turns doing levels. �I usually talk him into trying to guess answers on my turn. �If he doesn't answer quickly I click the answer quickly. �I can see that he's thinking about the answer and sometimes thinks of it just as I already answered. �I got that idea reading posts. �Teachers don't teach kids things they can already answer. �Now I know "zone of proximal development" means what they can easily do with a little help now is what they'll shortly do well on their own. � �Once he knows how to do it he pushes my hand and says, "no. �Let me do this level too.". Apparently somebody needs to work on manners. �Anyway, the latest is the game where they jumble the words and tell you the sentence and ask you to put it in order. He's asked to do that one several times in a row. �

I'll answer your post title.

My son doesn't read independently. But, he can read second grade level books.

To explain: He very rarely picks up a book and reads from it, yet he will read pages when my husband or I read every other one or if we prompt him.

Like your child, our son will read random words when we are out. The other day he read the word, "organic" at the store, for instance.

Many times my son will tell me he is too young to read yet and won't be able to until he is ten years old. Silliness or Apprehension? I don't know. I keep telling him he does read just fine, but when he is put on "the spot" sometimes he balks.

Oh, btw...he was able to read a typical Cat in the Hat book at 3.

DD6 was reading by 3. She could pick out different words at 2 but independently by 3. She still loves to read but there are times she wants us to read to her and we happily do it. Most times she reads to me or we take turns. They tested her and told us she reads at an adult level whatever that means. I find the hardest thing is to find books that she is emotionally ready for.

When did your child start to read independently?

Well it was a gradual process and I am not sure of the exact age. He taught himself to read. I think the process began at three, 4 he presented as an emerging reading but I think he could read better than he let on, at 5 he entered K reading well above grade level and left K reading assessed at least 4th grade level (not sure what level he can read now summer after K as his top instructional level but he reads chapter books listed as 3rd-5th grade levels independently).

I'm just curious. My then second grader, was reading Harry Potter and other grade 6 and 7 books. She was in Montessori, where they didn't really do "testing"...Then she went to public school and took a DRA. (Developmental Reading Assessment) Does anyone have expereience with DRA's? Because she wasn't used to letting someone KNOW that she comprehended what she read, she only got a beginning 5th grade level on this. Has this happened to anyone else? How good is this test? At the beginning of 3rd they put her at 3.8...in the middle, 4.2 and at the end...5.0

I have a feeling they just test "whatever" level and if they pass, the leave it alone. They told me that this was her reading level and the went as far as they could go...but each time, they only gave her one book...one test....and she passed...and did well...any thoughts? BTW...she was reading at 3...she was reading short books at 4...she was reading Junie B., Catwings and other chapter books at 5...she read all the American Girl books at 6 and at 7, started the Harry Potter series. At 9, she can read just about anything (under like a 10th grade level) and has many interests.

DD7 didn't read until age 4 and does not seem particularly interested in books as of late. I doubt she's read one in the last 30 days.

I think she got spooked in 2nd grade reading a few titles above her grade level, which I encouraged after being told her Lexile score was several grades higher. She also found the Guinness Book of World Records at school which really blew her mind, particularly the stuff about diseases and plane crash survivors.

So for summer at least, she's over this whole reading thing. Besides, what do high Lexile scores have to do with becoming a pop star? The focus now is finding the right pair of attitude glasses.

I have twins who are 5.5. DS repeated many stories from memory well before age 2, and figured out how to decode words around 3-3.5 years. By 4 he was reading easy readers independently, and between 4-4.5 he underwent a rather startling explosion of reading with very little instruction. At first he was just decoding, but now I would guess he is reading and comprehending at at least a 4th-5th grade level. He doesn't have as much interest in fiction unless the stories are short or humorous but will read transportation/ocean/space books for hours. He is not quite as mathy.

It has been fascinating, because DD (his twin), seem to enjoy math a lot more and adds/subtracts easily in her head, although she is just now starting to catch on to reading (easy readers) and really didn't have any sight words until around 4-4.5 so she was > 1.5 years behind her twin. DS seems HG+ to me and DD MG but but we are waiting for the WISC in December when they turn 6 and I think (and hope) DD will surprise us.

Because of the reading disparity, we requested they be in separate rooms for K in the fall although maybe it would have been better for them to have each other as peers. I am a little concerned about how it will go, and can forsee a grade skip but can't fathom skipping only one twin. Til then, I look forward to learning about the experience from moms of twins in this forum.

I had to check my notes for these developments. DS 5 (almost 6) began reading sight words at early 2. At 3 he started decoding 3 letter words but hated doing it. He learned how to read mainly by asking us to tell him every word he didn't know and then memorizing it by sight. He was able to read Frog and Toad by the time he was almost 4 and now can read at a mid 3rd grade level but much prefers to read at a beginning second grade level on his own. In fact he does not seem to be into reading these days at all as his school is pretty academic and he finds the structure a bit tough and has resisted against it. As a baby he would let us read to him for hours and it was all he wanted to do. Now I guess he has other things to work on which he feels are very important. I do make him read 10 minutes a day (minimum of what the school asks the kids to do) and it is a real chore for him to settle down on his own and read even though the books are easy enough and have illustrations. So I guess to answer your question ds at the age of almost 6 is still not really reading independently though he can and has been able to for a few years!

Dee, I am responding here to your interest in experience with twins. Mine are also b/g twins, and now 11.5yo, going into 6th grade. We also have some differences in ability - for example going back to the reading milestone, dd was reading by 2yo, and ds didn't learn until 3.5yo. Dd is still across the board academically stronger than ds, but they are still both hg+. They were in separate classes for K-2 (we worried about competition between them, and also wanted them to branch out socially). The school put a grade skip on the table for dd in 2nd grade but we opted not to take it or to make a case for skipping both kids, for a variety of reasons. Their school has a separate campus for 3-5, and the principal there put our kids in the same class for the purpose of clustering. The principal is a fierce advocate of the inclusive classroom, and is successful in making in-class differentiation work.

They will experience their first explicit subject acceleration this fall as they start 6th in the middle school - both have been placed in 9th grade math. We expect they'll be together for math, but otherwise in separate classes.