Hello
I would love to hear your thoughts on this. My DD6 knew all of her letter sounds shortly after her first birthday. She didn't have a huge interest in learning to reading until she was 5 but has always loved books, esp. being read to. She cannot walk by a book without reading it. It could be on any subject. They are all good. She often reads seemingly unrelated books simultaneously. She equally enjoys being read to. She often reads a different book while I read to her (which makes me crazy). Sometimes she sings while I read aloud (which makes me crazier).
She learned to read pretty much on her own. After we worked through a couple of lessons, she finished the 400 page book (which included the teacher's instruction) on her own. Within 4 months she has jumped about 4 grade levels in her reading level/comprehension, however, she's not great at decoding. She either knows the word and it's meaning or she doesn't. She doesn't want to take the time to figure it out. She's great with guessing, 9 time out of 10 she's right. She has really good grammar but I have not taught any grammar (she's homeschooled). What puzzles me is that she is at grade level for spelling. She can't handle making mistakes, esp. in spelling. She refuses to spell phonetically which would be developmentally appropriate for her age. She will only spell words that she has memorized. Even though she has an excellent memory, she hasn't memorized the spelling of very many sight words. She definitely is dealing with perfectionism but it doesn't explain the huge gap. Has anyone else experienced this in language development or in other subject areas? I look forward to hearing about your experiences.
Annaliisa
