My DS-almost-7 learns differently from my other two kids. I wrote about him a little while back and many of you suggested that he's a visual-spatial learner.
To summarize, I thought he was having trouble learning to read. He was struggling with grade-level books and words that seemed simple.
Don't ask me why, but I decided to have him try a +1 grade-level chapter book written about a subject he loves (thought it was +2 at first but I was wrong). Surprise: he didn't have a lot of trouble reading it. By the time he reached the end of the book, he was struggling less. Now I've got him on a +2 grade-level chapter book and the same thing is happening. Harder at first, getting easier to read. He's incorporating new vocabulary words from the book into everyday speech.
He still struggles with simple words like "felt" yet he consistently aces many harder ones like "nudged," even the first time the word appears. Fascinating. He's also much, much more enthusiastic about reading now and can't wait to get the next book in this series.
I remember reading messages from people who say that some gifted kids don't start reading until relatively late but then ramp up quickly. If your child fits that category, I'd like to hear about how the child's reading developed. I'm trying to understand my son's learning style and am wondering if he fits into this category.
Val
