Anonymous wrote:OP, where do you live? It sounds like the people you are around are bitchy. I have an early reader and nobody accuses me of drilling her.

Anonymous wrote:NP here. I cannot imagine strangers making such comments. I have a very precocious child who was advanced in many ways including reading from a very young age. Many people commented but Not once did I hear anything that I would have considered snide. So like PPs, I agree that this seems so odd.

Anonymous wrote:Ehh. I have an early reader. I know it means nothing in the long term, but yeah, I feel smugly proud about it. My kid is doing something cool. I bet you feel the same way, just be honest.

If your preschool teachers haven't noticed, but strangers in a waiting room (when you're present) have, you're almost definitely being show-boaty about it and having DC read out loud in public. If s/he was doing this on his or her own all the time, the teachers would definitely know.

People are reacting to YOU. Just face it. It'll stop soon enough when all their kids read too and it's nothing to notice. For now, just try saying something like "Yeah, I find this reading stuff really crazy. I never read early and s/he just gets it and it's neat." It'll make you look more human and less faux-blase.

Anonymous wrote:Ehh. I have an early reader. I know it means nothing in the long term, but yeah, I feel smugly proud about it. My kid is doing something cool. I bet you feel the same way, just be honest.

If your preschool teachers haven't noticed, but strangers in a waiting room (when you're present) have, you're almost definitely being show-boaty about it and having DC read out loud in public. If s/he was doing this on his or her own all the time, the teachers would definitely know.

People are reacting to YOU. Just face it. It'll stop soon enough when all their kids read too and it's nothing to notice. For now, just try saying something like "Yeah, I find this reading stuff really crazy. I never read early and s/he just gets it and it's neat." It'll make you look more human and less faux-blase.

Anonymous wrote:Sorry you are getting bad vibes OP! We had an early reader here too who would always read aloud in public. We experienced nothing but kind words! Perhaps pointing out what their child is good at (and yours is not) will help melt the tension. My DS is not the sportsman so I always comment positively when someone else's kid is excellent at throwing, kicking, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever strangers notice our three-year-old can read fluently like when DC reads part of a book out loud in a waiting room because DC has a question, they make snide comments about how we shouldn't push kids this age this hard and basically assume we are bad parents. When our pediatrician asked us how our three-year-old is doing developmentally we said ok and when she pressed about whether DC knows the alphabet we mentioned that our child can read. Pediatrician did not believe us and made a comment about how it's great DC is trying to learn the sounds of letters or something like that.

Thankfully the topic does not come up at our preschool as it's play-based and I don't think the teachers have noticed. One parent who we're not really friendly with noticed at a recent birthday party that DC could read some signs at the venue we were at and told us that it means nothing and that all the kids will catch up and exceed DC's abilities soon enough and that studies have shown that drilling kids with flashcards, etc. at this age actually hurts them. I was speechless as all I had said to her previously was basically, "Hi."

Well, first of all, we didn't do anything except read a lot. DC just happens to be one of those kids who picked up reading very fast and very easily. It's not uncommon. There are a lot of these kinds of kids.

Second, we know it doesn't mean much in the longterm and that the rest of the kids will catch up in early elementary school.

Besides, I don't know why it is anyone's business if other parents do drill their kids at this age? Personally, I applaud them for being dedicated parents and making the time to do this.

Why is there this weird culture in the Washington area where parents are so judgmental and they make a big deal out of something that isn't a big deal?

Odd. We have a precocious reader, too, and all anyone does is heap praise upon him and us – all of it, IMO, undeserved. Yes, he read super early, but it doesn't mean he's Einstein. It means his reading-wiring hooked up a few years before most kids', that's all. If I don't blame him for his late talking, why praise him for early reading? It's all just the developmental lottery.

Anonymous wrote:Whenever strangers notice our three-year-old can read fluently like when DC reads part of a book out loud in a waiting room because DC has a question, they make snide comments about how we shouldn't push kids this age this hard and basically assume we are bad parents. When our pediatrician asked us how our three-year-old is doing developmentally we said ok and when she pressed about whether DC knows the alphabet we mentioned that our child can read. Pediatrician did not believe us and made a comment about how it's great DC is trying to learn the sounds of letters or something like that.

Thankfully the topic does not come up at our preschool as it's play-based and I don't think the teachers have noticed. One parent who we're not really friendly with noticed at a recent birthday party that DC could read some signs at the venue we were at and told us that it means nothing and that all the kids will catch up and exceed DC's abilities soon enough and that studies have shown that drilling kids with flashcards, etc. at this age actually hurts them. I was speechless as all I had said to her previously was basically, "Hi."

Well, first of all, we didn't do anything except read a lot. DC just happens to be one of those kids who picked up reading very fast and very easily. It's not uncommon. There are a lot of these kinds of kids.

Second, we know it doesn't mean much in the longterm and that the rest of the kids will catch up in early elementary school.

Besides, I don't know why it is anyone's business if other parents do drill their kids at this age? Personally, I applaud them for being dedicated parents and making the time to do this.

Why is there this weird culture in the Washington area where parents are so judgmental and they make a big deal out of something that isn't a big deal?