Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy expressive reader at 6 1/2

I'm wondering if it is unusal for a 6 1/2 girl to be very expressive in her reading aloud. I'm just amazed and delighted. She reads like a wonderful adult story teller with lots of emotions. I guess in some way it doesn't matter how unual but I'll enjoy it either way. I am curious to here other stories.

(This is a wonderful place. Thankyou Davidson. Everytime I read somebodies' post it makes me think about lots of things I wonder about and then I have someone to talk to about it. It's just great.)

Being able to read with expression is one of the educational standards for reading and stems from the ability to read a bit ahead of your voice, understand the text and anticipate the upcoming text. Even with those skill though some kids are natural actors and yes, isn't it such a delight?!

DD 3 1/2 reads with feeling, but it is not always appropriate to what she's reading. Sometimes she sing-reads whole books.

I think that's the thing that I'm impressed with the most with DS5.5. The fact that he knows which words to emphasize, etc. I love it!

It sounds to me like you should give yourself a pat on the back! Clearly these are children who have enjoyed and benefited from the enthusiastic reading aloud their parents have done. The kids are not only reading early but they are enjoying it so much that it is certain to stay a vital part of their lives. Kudos!

thank you for the comments.
Breakaway -I never thought of it that way. My daughter seems to be born for the stage. Loves to sing, act & dance. She and ds does show for my husband and I.

Both of my kiddos are very expressive readers as well. However, DD10 got very shy about reading aloud beginning in maybe mid-second grade. Not really sure why that is, but I suspect that as she listened to other children read, she became aware that she sounded different than they do and didn't want to sound "adult" or different. It is definitely pretty unusual for children in general (not speaking GT here) to be very expressive oral readers. Even those who are fluent readers tend to be flat in their read alouds--phrasing is good, tone generally matches, but the magic that makes books come alive is absent. See if she'll let you videotape her reading to a younger child, stuffed animal, etc... I really regret not capturing it when DD was younger!