I read pretty fluently before starting K early (which I started at 4 years and 4 months). I was placed into gifted programs my entire life and am a professional writer. I have many, many other friends who are brilliant professional writers... who couldn't read at all until 6 or 7.

Varies.

My newly-turned 4 year old is just now starting to sound out consonant-vowel-consonant words. She might turn out to be an earlier reader than her older sister.

My now 7.5 year old didn't get into reading until she was just about to enter 1st grade. She had a big vocabulary, was very verbal and chatty, and loved listening to books, but reading was a chore and a bore for her... until the summer before 1st grade started. Then BLAM! She just took off. I'd say she's now a very advanced reader.

There are some kids in her 2nd grade class who apparently have just now hit this reading spurt. So says a friend of mine who volunteers in the class regularly (she never gives me any names, just mentioned that some kids took this long--the middle of 2nd grade--to accelerate). This is in a relatively high income, high education kind of school. Meaning: kids have almost all the academic advantages.

I have a 165 IQ and my areas are language and analysis. I didn't start reading before 6 or 7 and I now read constantly. I wouldn't be worried if a kid doesn't read early.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always question these responses. My kids both read before kindergarten. Both were pulled out for extra services along with 1 other kid (w/my son) and 2 other kids my daughter. This was out of 30 kids. So VERY difficult to believe all these kids are reading. I'm guessing many are "reading." And the person who said he kid read H.Potter as a first grader... I just grabbed out copy and flipped through it. He understood: chortle, apothecary, swarthy, prefect, smarmy, hygienic...

Not all early readers are created the same. 6yo's early reading was driven by early comprehension skills and vocabulary. The ability to sound out any word came only recently. Now this kid is truly unstoppable.

I also know a 6yo with an amazing vocabulary that is not really reading yet--he might have a better vocabulary than you are I, seriously. ANd I know plenty of kids who can read but have very little understanding of what they read.

Of course, but I know of no 6 year old who could read something that is well above the child's life experiences and be able to truly understand it. All 6 year olds are different, but within a range. No matter how brilliant, a 6 year old won't have the life experiences to understand many, many texts.

I'm not sure of your point. I remember reading some books in elementary school, and some/most of the mental and emotional stuff just went right over me. I still enjoyed reading the books, and learned something from them. Re-reading books now is a different experience than reading them in high school or college. We all gain life experience by living it.

Then you weren't "reading" on that level. Yes, you may have been reading the text but not 'reading' comprehension-wise. That's the think that is irksome when a parent claims her kid is reading at x-level when clearly a child is not reading at that level using the education-related definition of "reading."

Oh come on. I'm 35, college educated and sometimes when I read DCUM, or the newspaper, or a novel, I don't always get some of the nuances or subtext or even just the overt meaning. Does that mean I'm not reading? BS. If my five year old reads a book and tells me in detail about the main characters and the plot and has enjoyed the book, he's reading it.

My son learned to read shortly before he turned 4. Now in kindergarten (a very young K - Sept birthday) he is a fluent and voracious reader.

He has read all Magic Treehouse and all Roald Dahl kids books, for example.

He pretty much taught himself though. None of the other kids in his class read fluently, though several of them are motivated to learn because they are interested in the books that he reads.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always question these responses. My kids both read before kindergarten. Both were pulled out for extra services along with 1 other kid (w/my son) and 2 other kids my daughter. This was out of 30 kids. So VERY difficult to believe all these kids are reading. I'm guessing many are "reading." And the person who said he kid read H.Potter as a first grader... I just grabbed out copy and flipped through it. He understood: chortle, apothecary, swarthy, prefect, smarmy, hygienic...

You find it difficult to believe all these kids could be reading while in the same sentence declaring BOTH of yours read before K? It's not that hard to believe, especially if you had two of these supposed reading unicorns in your family.

Correct, because I'm not claiming my kids were reading at a 6th grade level or other ridiculous claim when they had the life experiences of a 5 year old. Once a kid can read...decode...he could"read" anything. Doesnt mean he is "reading" on an x-grade level.

I am the OP with a son who read Harry Potter in 1st grade. If you really want to know, at that age he also read Beowulf (Morpurgo version), Roald Dahl's autobiographies for kids, and the Longest Day, a book for grow-ups about D-Day. Besides all the usual stuff like Wimpy Kid and Calvin and Hobbes, etc.He tried reading A Brief History of Time, but didn't have the necessary physics background.
My son is 2E, he is gifted and also has learning disabilities.

I get the Harry Potter eye-roll all the time, particularly from people who should know better such as teachers and principals. Some people cannot accept that there is a wide range of human ability, and that we should nurture all these inquisitive young minds at whatever level they're at.

My 4 year old daughter is more typical, and is nowhere near reading yet. She can add and subtract, though!

I remember you! You've often bragged on here about your son reading The Longest Day in first grade. Ridiculousness.[u] Yes, he may have read it but he couldn't get the depth and understanding about it because he would not have the life experiences to comprehend it. Could he get an overview, yes. The eye rolls are warranted and will keep coming your way.

FWIW, I learned how to read at 3, and so did my husband. Neither of us are Ivy grads (we went to decent schools). Don't panic too much if your kid doesn't read at 3 or 4, or even 5. It's not an indicator of lifelong success - or failure.

Anonymous wrote:First grade teacher here. K students do not need to be reading. Some are ready; some are not. New research, recently described in the Washington Post, suggests that even kids who ARE ready for reading instruction would be better off with additional play time to succeed overall in life.

When parents come into first grade bragging that their kid can read Harry Potter, we just roll our eyes. I can read a physics book but that doesn't mean I understand what I'm reading.

Just read to your kids, use voices, discuss the text, and model that reading can be fun and interesting.

Tell that to the higher ups because by the end of kindergarten, students are expected to be reading in my district.

Sorry, meant to say PP, not OP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always question these responses. My kids both read before kindergarten. Both were pulled out for extra services along with 1 other kid (w/my son) and 2 other kids my daughter. This was out of 30 kids. So VERY difficult to believe all these kids are reading. I'm guessing many are "reading." And the person who said he kid read H.Potter as a first grader... I just grabbed out copy and flipped through it. He understood: chortle, apothecary, swarthy, prefect, smarmy, hygienic...

You find it difficult to believe all these kids could be reading while in the same sentence declaring BOTH of yours read before K? It's not that hard to believe, especially if you had two of these supposed reading unicorns in your family.

Correct, because I'm not claiming my kids were reading at a 6th grade level or other ridiculous claim when they had the life experiences of a 5 year old. Once a kid can read...decode...he could"read" anything. Doesnt mean he is "reading" on an x-grade level.

I am the OP with a son who read Harry Potter in 1st grade. If you really want to know, at that age he also read Beowulf (Morpurgo version), Roald Dahl's autobiographies for kids, and the Longest Day, a book for grow-ups about D-Day. Besides all the usual stuff like Wimpy Kid and Calvin and Hobbes, etc.He tried reading A Brief History of Time, but didn't have the necessary physics background.
My son is 2E, he is gifted and also has learning disabilities.

I get the Harry Potter eye-roll all the time, particularly from people who should know better such as teachers and principals. Some people cannot accept that there is a wide range of human ability, and that we should nurture all these inquisitive young minds at whatever level they're at.

My 4 year old daughter is more typical, and is nowhere near reading yet. She can add and subtract, though!

11:59 Can you tell me what happened with your DS? That's our child to a T -- perfectionist, very advanced vocabulary, only interested in more complex material and struggling with her Level E readers from class and getting self-conscious and resistant to reading.

First grade teacher here. K students do not need to be reading. Some are ready; some are not. New research, recently described in the Washington Post, suggests that even kids who ARE ready for reading instruction would be better off with additional play time to succeed overall in life.

When parents come into first grade bragging that their kid can read Harry Potter, we just roll our eyes. I can read a physics book but that doesn't mean I understand what I'm reading.

Just read to your kids, use voices, discuss the text, and model that reading can be fun and interesting.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always question these responses. My kids both read before kindergarten. Both were pulled out for extra services along with 1 other kid (w/my son) and 2 other kids my daughter. This was out of 30 kids. So VERY difficult to believe all these kids are reading. I'm guessing many are "reading." And the person who said he kid read H.Potter as a first grader... I just grabbed out copy and flipped through it. He understood: chortle, apothecary, swarthy, prefect, smarmy, hygienic...

Not all early readers are created the same. 6yo's early reading was driven by early comprehension skills and vocabulary. The ability to sound out any word came only recently. Now this kid is truly unstoppable.

I also know a 6yo with an amazing vocabulary that is not really reading yet--he might have a better vocabulary than you are I, seriously. ANd I know plenty of kids who can read but have very little understanding of what they read.

This was my kids because I'd been reading them pretty high level books from an early age and we listened to a lot of audiobooks. It ended up being somewhat of a problem for my DS in 1st grade because he was a bit of a perfectionist about writing. His teacher said he had a big vocabulary and wanted to use these words that he knew but he didn't know how to spell them and didn't want to spell them wrong (his teacher didn't care at all about spelling it was all his own pressure on himself) so he paralyzed himself and got really frustrated. DD, OTOH, would write reams of paper with her stories, diaries, etc. all completely unintelligible to anyone else because she didn't give a crap about spelling. Unfortunately, she's in 4th grade and still not a great speller. (but a prolific reader and writer!)

New PP here. Yes, my kindergarten reads at level E right now.

OP, my kid is only in preschool so I cannot be helpful about his habits. However, I could not read or so much as write my own name until second grade. This was largely because of a horrible, burnt out teacher in first grade. I have no memories of first grade other than my terrible embarrassment and the fact that I hated writing and reading because of that embarrassment. My parents tried to help, but without much effect. It exacerbated my feeling that I was different in a bad way, or behind compared to my older sibling and the other kids in my grade.

But then things turned around, thanks to a wonderful teacher in second grade. She somehow managed to make reading and writing fun for me. I shortly thereafter discovered Roald Dahl and, as they say, a love affair began. As for my late start's effect on academics, there were none. I did well and went on to obtain an advanced degree. And, I still read at least one book a week.

In sum: don't be bothered. Even "late" (relative term in this area) bloomers can fall in love with books once reading clicks for them. For me, the key was making it fun and taking off the pressure. Read to him, ask him to "write" about his day (and then ask him to read you what he "wrote"), etc. Good luck.