Reply to Parents of precocious readers: Why do I feel like I have to pretend my kid can't read?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We had an early reader and we never commented on it -- but we did get snide comments occasionally from others who had no reason to be snide (in CC MD).  She taught herself.  We read to her, but not constantly (in fact, I had a serious jaw problem and so we would listen to audio books/Itunes and I would turn the pages of the print copies because I could not read aloud to her).

A side note: our early reader hates to read (although her testing continues to be off the charts for her age in terms of comprehension [3rd grade]) and we are discovering that she has slow processing and it appears she also has ADHD.  I have watched her reading and am seeing that she is gravitating towards graphic novels or those that have very little plot/easy to follow, and in talking with her I'm fairly certain that this is connected to her challenges with focusing.

My point is that just because someone is an early or even gifted reader doesn't mean that s/he will emerge automatically as one who will love reading .....  I'm saying this in part because I think it's very easy for teachers and sometimes even parents to look at one side of an equation ("oh, she's such a gifted reader that we don't need to discuss or focus on her language skills) and not pick up on other aspects that might provide clues about challenges or opportunities ahead .....[/quote]

+1.  Is it something about CC MD?  We also live there and have precocious reader who is now much older but still loves to read and talk about books far above her age level.  Mostly people notice but don't say anything.  Sometimes people notice and engage politely, treating DC like an adult reader and sharing info about good books, asking questions about what she likes to read, etc.  But I definitely overhear snarky comments, which make me sad for her.  Since about 2nd grade she has known that she reads and is interested in things at a level that most of her peers are not, and she began to hide this aspect of herself.  I think it makes her depressed when grown-ups treat her the same way -- like she will never escape the circle of people who discourage thought.

Oddly, when we lived in DC in a less affluent neighborhood, socially, no one cared.  Strangers would often say something neutral and encouraging like "nice to see kids reading!"  Academically, teachers in DCPS were still a problem.

I really agree that if you have a gifted reader, people often think they don't need any instruction.  But, they do; they just need it at a higher level.

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