A very gifted reader

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Why does she need to do anything?? It's something she likes, so get her a Kindle, but I don't think reading is really something you can be "gifted" at. Anyone who reads enough will be good at it, and some kids progress faster than others, but it's not really a "gift" so much as just something you learn to do. I was an advanced reader at an early age, too, and frankly it isn't very useful. I now have multiple graduate degrees in literature and I've got to be one of the best readers in the world, and it's a completely useless ability. I think reading early might be an opportunity for her to do other things, since she is able to access information better than others her age. Perhaps it would be more beneficial if she used her ability to learn about another subject or to participate in some interesting activities generally reserved for older kids - i.e. plays (memorizing lines is hard if you can't read them!),

+1
Sorry...I know OP is serious and loves her kid and all. And it's great to be a proud parent.
But I read this post a little while ago and I'm still chuckling at the idea of reading being her "gift"...

Well, to be fair, there are people who are natural speed readers (like 4 novels on a cross country flight), which is a gift. There are also people who remember everything they read (I clerked for a judge who could tell you which page of which volume a particular holding of a case would be found!!). And I know several people who can recite a long quote from a variety of novels at just the perfect moment in a conversation - always freakishly on point and impressive. And many people are so widely read, with impressive memories of what they read, that you will never keep up with them in a conversation about books.

There is such a thing as a gifted reader.

OP: I am really appreciating the conversation.

DD was/is an advanced reader. I don’t think that is a “gift”, although one could argue it does open up opportunities to learn more at an earlier age. DD is also “gifted” per a psychologist. I also don’t think of that as a gift. She’s not a genius, nor is she good at everything (she was tested for LDs). But her ability to read the way she does (prolifically, at high levels, indiscriminately), her love for books, her effortless comprehension and mature analysis... It seems innate. Like a natural talent. Wouldnt we all want our kids to have this? (Not all my kids do.) seems like a gift to me.

It really is her one passion right now. I hate that it’s considered useless. I guess the whole point of this discussion is to figure out how to turn a gift that is a hobby into something more useful and celebrated. I’m hoping it translates to writing or a passion in another subject. I’ll encourage it. Thank you for all the links. I’m looking into everything.

Whatever. I was an early and excellent reader, and it was absolutely a gift. It's been a lifelong source of learning, entertainment, solace, and pleasure. It's different than being "gifted," but it truly has been a gift to me, and I'm thrilled to see my own child develop the same skills and enjoyment of reading.

It is also far from useless. Simple and kind of obvious examples: my DC reads so fast and with such incredible comprehension that standardized tests take him half the expected time; the reading part of homework is done in minutes so he has tons of time to pursue other things; if he spends the same amount of time on a research project as an average reader, he covers 3x the material. All of this adds up in increasingly significant ways as you get older.

I don't think the OP meant that being a good reader was "useless". My DD is similar, absolutely loves to read, has excellent comprehension and vocabulary and can read and discuss books at a very high level. However, she often feels she isn't "good" at anything. Many of her friends are accomplished musicians, strong athletes or fairly advanced in math. In her mind, these things are more celebrated than "just reading". She reads for fun, which is great and I think eventually she will realize that it is a wonderful skill and hobby.

Thanks for the writing links. My DD was just asking about writing contests (she loves to write, but needs to work on seeing a story through the entire writing process) checking out some of the links and hoping to give her that as something to work on. Would appreciate any other creative writing contests or places that will review/publish kids work.

[Anonymous]

Oregon has a "Battle of the Books" competition that some kids like. Your daughter might be interested in the titles and the format, at least.

http://www.oregonbattleofthebooks.org/

[Anonymous]

Mom to another avid reader. DS is now 12, but has loved to read for a long time so we've found lots of things to help keep his interest. As an obsessive reader when I was a child myself I'm happy he continues to love to read (as I know for boys especially that isn't always the case). He put together his own "March madness" bracket of favorite books for his classmates/friends to read and while he loves to write his follow-through is not the best. We have lots of unfinished stories. Once he discovered poetry he started to enjoy writing more (easier to finish a poem than a whole novel!)

We are big fans of Cricket media magazines. We did Ask and Click when he was younger, but starting at around 4th grade switched to Muse and Cricket. https://shop.cricketmedia.com/

You may also want to look into Duke's TIP program. They have an online book club and online magazine. My kiddo has no interest in doing the book club but it looks interesting. They also have some weekend camps throughout the year as well as summer camps and other online programs. Since you can submit standardized testing scores (we used CogAT scores from school testing) it's pretty easy to apply to the program. https://tip.duke.edu/programs/4th-6th-grade-talent-search

[Anonymous]

I haven't read all replies, but: OP, have her talk to the school librarian! School librarians often aren't thought about by parents when a kid is a strong reader. Yes, the local library is great -- ours has several kids' book clubs plus special events such as children's authors who visit, check for those things yourself -- but don't ignore the role a school librarian can play.

Our elementary librarian would compile lists of "If you liked X, try these books...." For example: "If you loved Harry Potter, try...." or "If you loved Black Beauty, try...." with lists of recommended books. Ask for recommendations for your daughter, or ask your voracious reader DD to compile her own lists and see if the librarian wants to post them. Other kids could get involved too.

A school librarian probably would be delighted to have a student say, "I love to read so much that I would like to organize a book club" or a book event of some type, with the librarian's help. Clubs may or may not be great for your daughter -- she needs to find other kids who adore reading -- and that's where the librarian can help identify kids whom the librarian knows also are strong readers. Your DD could take the lead in asking authors to come visit the school; authors LOVE to hear from kids who actually read their books and authors do indeed come to schools.

Your DD sounds great. I would definitely get her involved in sharing her love of reading with others. Also--encourage her to write, too. She might have stories of her own to tell. If you are in the DC/VA/MD area, George Mason University has the Young Writers' Program, part of the Northern Virginia Writers' Project at GMU; there are one-off Saturday half-day writing workshops for kids your DD's age in spring and fall, plus there is a two-week summer writing workshop (non-residential) for elementary through HS kids. She can meet other youngsters her age who like to write and who very likely read as much as she does. Just something to consider!

My DD is now a teen but did the NVWP kids' summer writing workshops for several years and loved them! She also was and is a very advanced, eager reader, like your DD. One of the best things I did to help promote reading was to volunteer at the school library myself. I got to know a lot of books to suggest.

[Anonymous]

I'm 17:51 above -- responding to the post at 1:00 about writing contests for kids and also to the post about the Duke program:

Before contests, consider having your child do some writing workshops or even just sharing writing with a teacher or adult or some friends, so others can read and talk about your kid's writing. Contests are fine but just non-competitively sharing writing with others is a good start. Contests generally are not going to give your child much feedback on the content but workshops and writing groups can do that. Nothing against contests (as you'll see below) but they are not necessarily a way for a kid to get much detailed feedback on a piece of writing.

Does your school PTA or PTSA sponsor the Reflections arts contest? It has a literature category (fiction, poetry, essays, scripts, etc.) and is open to grades K-12 but your school PTA must have a program to which your child can submit. Reflections is a great contest that is well known in many schools and other schools just don't have it at all because no adult has stepped forward to run it at the local school level.

Interested? www.pta.org/reflections

Then ask your school PTA if there is Reflections at your school. If there isn't -- consider being the parent who volunteers to run it. I've run it for years at several schools and it's frankly fairly easy to do.

Scholastic is the other arts contest many parents know. Your kid submits online directly to Scholastic, I think, but I would check this with the school too.

Re: the Duke program -- just to clarify, I mentioned the GMU writing workshops; unlike Duke they do not require any standardized testing scores for admission, just a very simple form and short writing samples. Just noting the difference.