Hi, I was afraid I might be in danger of hijacking others' threads, so thought I'd better start a new one.
DS6 still isn't reading (really, I mean). He's known letters/sounds for several years and I keep thinking it's immanent, but it doesn't happen. I posted a while back full of determination re what I flippantly called hothousing. It went nowhere at all - he'd pointedly stare at the wall rather than look at a word on a page. At the same time, the school sent him up a year for reading, and he's been quite happy to show off (quietly) at home and to his teacher about how he's the best, which he probably is - he reads out loud pretty well. What a wonderful arrangement - getting to feel so superior without having to put in any effort.
I know (I think?) he could do better if he tried. He hates being asked to sound out words, but can do it if I take the right approach - if I'm reading to both boys and ask who can "figure out" the word first he's onto it straight away. So important to beat your four-year-old brother.
So I think he could, but I'm just not sure - reading Harry Potter at five seems almost to be a prerequisite for claiming GT. And particularly when I'm angsting over school changes, I wonder if we're getting above ourselves pitching for a GT school. Not that I don't think he is, but perhaps not really all that much?
Which relates to my other ongoing wonderings about percentiles. Hoagies advises a lower level for HG on WPPSI than I generally see - is this right? Does it mean that the percentiles we were given after the test turned out to be wrong after further investigation? And what about those suggestions you see about there being more children than expected at the extreme high end? Does this mean 1:500 is really 1:3000, or that the bell curve concept it fundamentally flawed? I'd like to understand where my children fall in the scheme of things, and am not doing very well at it, particularly without the aforementioned Harry Potter reading.
Does anyone have similar experiences? Or profound wisdom re LOG? (Ruf's levels really don't work for us - we're all over the place) Or perhaps just a virtual shoe to throw at my head. I'm sure I should have more of a grip on this by now.
