Anonymous wrote:

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I mentioned competitions because I am aware of math competitions, but I’ve never heard of reading ones. I did once hear of a mythology competition she would have done well on, but I read about it too late. She qualifies for CTY but the classes are ridiculously expensive. BUT she liked the test. When can she take the ACT/SAT for talent search? Is that 7th?

middle school and high schools has battle of the books

Grade schools do too. Our DCPS has been doing it for years.

Would she be willing to branch out into writing? My 5th grader was really excited about the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) competition his school did last fall. Kids set a goal for themselves and then write an entire novel in one month. It's an achievable goal and the kids all got really into it. It's not really a competition, in that the kids aren't competing against each other, but they are all working against specific goals for themselves.

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"...

Maybe you could start one! In Georgia there is a great reading competition every year for 4th-12th graders that is similar to math competitions. Here is the info:

http://www.dekalbschoolsga.org/helen-ruffin-reading-bowl/about-us/

Anonymous wrote:Why does her love of reading need to be competitive?

Plus 1

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!),

My kids are also advanced readers. What I wish I had time to do is to re-read the books they are reading so we can talk about them. Even thought I don't have time really to read them, I often ask them questions about what they are reading, what they like about that book, etc. The key is just to get them thinking about what they read. I also read an article about a mom that started a mother-daughter book club when her daughter was that age, and it went through H.S. -- I was so impressed by it and it looked like such a great idea.

I also think you should encourage her writing. My kids really like that, and especially from 3rd or 4th grade on. Definitely get an online typing tutor, or even let her use a dictation tool (but the online typing tutor is preferable). Mine were writing their own novels by 3rd or 4th grade -- they're not fabulous but they have plot and character development, and they really enjoyed writing them. It just gives them a different way to interact with the spoken word.

Also, you should plan on oging to the National BOok Festival in downtown DC in September.

I don't think that practicing "reading comprehension" tests is all that productive, or fun, so I'd skip the ACT recommendations.

If you're a social media type person, you could also let her write reviews for you to post on FB or whatever. I have a friend that lets her kids write travel reviews that she posts. They are actually pretty useful. Some of your friends might appreciate a kids' book review and, if not, they can just ignore it. (But you have to be okay with people silently judging her grammar and writing style!)

You should read some books with her and have discussions. Reading is one thing, meaning, analysis, and insight is something else.

Growing up my mom was a Jr High librarian. She always had me doing book festivals where you would read a bunch of books in advance and then write essays. There would be a daylong event where authors would speak.

I grew up in Ohio. So I went to this every year.
https://powerofthepen.wildapricot.org

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I mentioned competitions because I am aware of math competitions, but I’ve never heard of reading ones. I did once hear of a mythology competition she would have done well on, but I read about it too late. She qualifies for CTY but the classes are ridiculously expensive. BUT she liked the test. When can she take the ACT/SAT for talent search? Is that 7th?

middle school and high schools has battle of the books

There are typing teacher programs that give feedback on how you're doing -- sounds like this could be helpful and feed into your daughter's interest in getting positive feedback.

She talks about maybe becoming a writer when she grows up. She also wants to be a 3rd grade teacher.

The problem right now is that she has no patience for writing. She is a good writer IMO, but I think she won’t write steadily until she can type much faster. She has never kept a log for this reason. Her teachers gave her a pass.

I did download the goodreads app and got her an account. I haven’t shown her yet, but I think she will love it. It got me more excited about reading just looking at it. I think she may be more inclined to log books on the app? I’m not sure.

I also bought her a greatbooks (textbook?) off amazon used for $8. She loves these types of things.

The battle of the books would be fun. That was what I was hoping for. She would like just answering trivia type questions. I wish she could just go something like this online.

She is just really good at reading, and it would be nice for her to get some recognition. Not public recognition. Just a challenge she could feel proud about. I think she will do well on the ACT in 7th. I wish there were something like that now.

Thanks everyone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let her review books on amazon. It's fun to get other's feedback on your reviews or to see how others have reviewed the same book. Would be kind of cool to maybe someday spin it into a college admissions thing -- she could say that she was reviewed over 1000 books on Amazon or something. They rank people by how many reviews they have written and how helpful they were. She could be the pre-teen harriet Klausner.

+1 I’d focus on leveraging her passion into developing another skill - writing. Reading is great and all, but comprehension, discussion, clearly writing opinion pieces, etc, would greatly benefit her in the long term.

Agreed, I think this would be a far more constructive direction for her reading interest than trying to find a way to turn it into a trophy.

Anonymous wrote:Let her review books on amazon. It's fun to get other's feedback on your reviews or to see how others have reviewed the same book. Would be kind of cool to maybe someday spin it into a college admissions thing -- she could say that she was reviewed over 1000 books on Amazon or something. They rank people by how many reviews they have written and how helpful they were. She could be the pre-teen harriet Klausner.

+1 I’d focus on leveraging her passion into developing another skill - writing. Reading is great and all, but comprehension, discussion, clearly writing opinion pieces, etc, would greatly benefit her in the long term.