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RE: 3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

mahgan — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:30:01 GMT

Hi,

Just wanted to tell you that my little girl showed the same signs and we had to talk to teachers to get her advanced work in class. Also she has Aspergers which means she socially struggles but extremely advanced. So I know how you feel exactly. I engage her with online advanced Literacy and maths services.

I recommend you have a look at www.intrepica.com.au for literacy and other sites for maths, the kids can access the sites on class as well so they have access to it at home.

Good luck

Mahgan

RE: 3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

Han — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:16:38 GMT

Hi Rubianna..i was going throgh some old posts and noticed yours...woh..i must say hats off to you..my son is 20 month and is not interested in reading, he sure likes images...and can identify images when i pinpoint at them..however your son is too good...i think yiu shoudl not worry..my sis was like your son..she was so knolwledgeable that the teachers and head deicided to move her directly from Yr 1 class to Yr 2, which does her wonder as she was able to keep up and "compete" with her mates.i think you should talk to the school head when you admit your son, else as you say your son woudl be too intelligent and woudl simply switched off as you say...

you bub is surely gifted....tell us how it goes....

RE: 3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

lisette — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:19:19 GMT

Hi I am at the beginning of asking myself questions about how best to help my daughter (about to turn 4) because I suspect she maybe 'gifted'. She was a very early talker, is very interested in trying to write words with rapidly improving success, but more than that she understands at a conceptual level well beyond her years. I have not set out to educate her in any way but I still manage to find myself having discussions about photosynthesis!!!!! She is very reluctant socially and after 2 years in day care (3 days a week) she still cried every morning when I had to go. We are not doing day care now but I attend library story times and playgroups in an attempt to help her understand that being with people other than Mum can be fun. I am in a dilemma to know if I should seek out some sort of kids group that could help to feed her interests - not daycare but a group of Mums and kids who could get together regularly and just be, just talk about common interests, I guess like a playgroup for advanced toddlers. I am finding that the playgroups in my area have younger kids and offer little interest to my daughter. In addition, because her birthday is not until September she will not go to prep until 2011.

RE: 3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

cookie48 — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:29:03 GMT

Hi, Rubianna, I don't think you should worry too much. If he is a slow reader you would worry too. WE are never happy.

When my son was 4.5 years, he had started doing Year 4-5's maths, but he found writing and language was hard. He told me that the numbers were like mucis notes for him. His teacher suggested us to send him to a gifted kids workshop ran by Uni of Sydney. We were not interested. We'd rather him to grow up as a well adjusted person.

By the way, we send our kids to Montessori pre and primary school. They design programs for individual kids to cater their individual learning style and development.

My son is 6 years and at stage 2 of Montessori program (for 6-9 years kids). He doesn't want us to read books to him at night any more because he wants to read BIG books. His maths is still better than his other subjects, but he works hard on the weak ones.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

RE: 3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

shubh — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:19:53 GMT

Every child has different learning capability, so don’t compare the reading capability of your child with others. Even then you feel so, bring some cartoon supported storey books or picture supported text books for him, he will start reading with fast pace because of increased curiosity to know next.

RE: 3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

lollylorna — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:05:41 GMT

Hi,

My son knew all the alphabet & numbers when he turned two, and could read common words at three. He's been diagnosed with autism at two and a half. I've been advised by the speech therapist that we should dampen that ability (put those alphabet childs games in the bottom of the toy box). Unfortunately he gets so distracted by words and numbers that we can't move on with the lesson or game until he's exhausted that need to read and recite the letters and numbers. The point is that he misses out on learning other necessary skills, like social role play and proper circle of conversation, turn taking and other things we take for granted in learning.

Of course, this isn't an issue for your son but I've decided that we should aim for breadth of knowledge rather than depth, and try to expose him to as many experiences as possible to make him a well-rounded person.

Find his passion, avail him to as much assistance as you can and let him change the world with it.

RE: 3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

Mon, 25 May 2009 10:25:20 GMT

My son's a little young, to be relevant to this topic, but Mum said she had a similar problem with me in preschool. Mum said my friends' mothers were concerned to learn that I could read & write before I started kindy at age 3.

Mum taught my brothers and I as a safety precaution (so that we could write our names, Mum & Dad's name, phone number and address, etc. and it just went from there) in case we ever got lost or separated from her.

As a primary schooler I had an adult reading age, which Mum fostered by joining me up to a book club and allowing me to choose a book a week to read. I was encouraged to read poetry, write stories & sketch animals, etc., outside of school to maintain interest.

I wouldn't worry too much about your tot being bored at preschool. I don't recall being bored then (later in school - a little different) - it was too much fun being with friends!

I've heard there's gifted children's associations for most Australian states, including national Mensa, a quick google turned up these sites which may be worth investigating:

http://mensa.org.au/?q=faq/children

http://www.nswagtc.org.au/

Lots of luck to you.

RE: 3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

Rubianna — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 20:53:15 GMT

HI kittymum,

Thanks for the link to the yahoo group, I've joined and awaiting a reply for membership, look forward to reading about other people's stories with gifted children.

Really appreciate our help, good luck with your daughter too!

RE: 3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

Kittymum — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:45:39 GMT

Hi,

I realise that this is probably a bit belated and I appreciate that you're not really looking to identify your child as gifted, but you might find hearing about other's experiences helpful. There is a great forum on Yahoo.com. (http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/giftedfamilies/) My dd started reading and basic maths at 2.5 y.o and I have no idea what we're going to do re school - she too starts school in 2010, but because she has a january birthday we're not really in a position to start her early as she'd only just have turned 4 if she was early entered.

I've found the Yahoo forum is a great for finding out you're not alone and what challenges others have had, tips etc.

Good luck!

RE: 3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

Rubianna — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:21:53 GMT

HI us4kerrs

I have now had my son assessed and his IQ turned out to be 140 (In the top 1%) and his reading age at 8 (he has just turned 4). We are looking into a school which caters for gifted students and the psychlogist has given us insight into how our son thinks, and ways to deal with him (as he is becoming a real handful these days.)

It was well worth the money getting him assessed.

thanks to those with an interest in this subject.

RE: 3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

Rubianna — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:37:01 GMT

Thanks us4kerrs, I wasn't planning on seeing an Educational Psychologist because I already assume he has a high IQ and didn't want him labelled, and he is so cluey he'd figure out why he was seeing this 'special doctor', and I don't want him to become precocious like you mentioned. But I didn't think about the psychologist giving other practical advice. I will look into that soon, I've read that they are not worth testing until the age of 4. His swimming teacher backed up my beliefs (in his giftedness) today when she gave him his swimming certificate and he read all his skills listed on it out loud. She was in total disbelief that he could read it! I told her I was worried about what to do with him at school and she agreed he would be totally bored...so the search to a solution continues.......

RE: 3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

us4kerrs — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:51:53 GMT

Hi,

I'm in a similar situation except my son (5.5y.o) has advanced speech. His school doesn't have a gifted programme until middle school and we don't believe in advancing year levels either. We do, however, see an educational psychologist. She gives us extremely helpful advise on how to walk that fine line between confidence and boasting. We also walk a fine line between advanced speech and precociousness. She also identified the fact that his brain couldn't make the difference between letter names and letter sounds. A terms worth of speech therapy and he's pretty much got it sorted. I highly recommend one, even if you never get IQ testing done, they're a great help.

Ailsa

RE: 3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

Rubianna — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:33:23 GMT

thanks for your response lala. If he is keen to get on with his classwork and then do extra work (like homework for example) then I'll be happy...here's hoping he stays motivated!

RE: 3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

lala — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 20:12:44 GMT

Hi. I think the trick will be to make sure you understand what will be taught in kindy (and you are well placed for that as a qualified teacher). Then you can work out how bored or otherwise yours will be and what you can do about it with the school. I remember being able to read well ahead of most of the kids in my class (usually 2 reading levels ahead) throughout my schooling because I loved to read and still do. Mostly, it meant I got through english classwork and homework during class time (bonus! No homework). BUT the downside for me is that I have always stuggled with anything to do with numbers. I hate maths with a passion (apologies to those who don't). You may find something similar with your little one. Everyone usually has something they love and something they'd really rather not do; so you might find it all balances out.

RE: 3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

Rubianna — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:13:46 GMT

Thanks Stan, it's nice to hear a similar experience. I don't really know which school my son will go to, but in my experience as a teacher, the first year of school (Kindergarten in NSW) is usually not in a streamed (graded) class, so I imagine he will be in a group with many children who barely know their alphabet. It sounds as though you are fortunate with the school your daughter will be going to. I wish you all the best.

thanks for your response

RE: 3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

Stan53 — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 06:37:37 GMT

[quote]Rubianna (10/11/2008)

I did NOT set out to teach him to read as many people have asked - I've just read to him from about 3 months of age and he was always interested in books and words, then at the age of 2 he started identifying the odd word, and now at 3.5 he could read almost anything, or at least have a go of it!)

My worry is...what does school hold for him?

Does anyone else have a child with a similar ability? It's not just the reading, he catches on to anything you tell him and has a remarkable memory.

Thanks for any suggestions....[/quote]
This is a familiar story as our daughter, 5 in January is similar, except that your son is more advanced. Michele revels in pre-school. We don't do day care, but did 2 playgroups and did 3 YO preschool. Like you, we didn't set out to teach her, it just happened and at 2.5 Michele taught herself the alphabet in the space of 6 week. We let her have a go at an online web site and the rest is history. So you could say we have been there done that.
I don't know about your school. For Michele pre-school is good. She loves it and looks forward to going each and every day and would go more often if she could.
Next year she will be in prep. Apparently they asses where she is at and then set her level accordingly. I would imagine it will be the same for your child. We have spoken with the staff at our daughters school for next year and are quite happy.
Obviously, like us, you have given your son the opportunity to do what he does. Like you, we don't believe Michele is more gifted than others. She has just taken advantage of the opportunities presented to her.

RE: 3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

Uni — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 12:25:36 GMT

I dont think you need to worry about him getting bored at school, or having to put him in a "special" or "gifted" class, if he likes to read that much, i dont think he'll get bored with school, plus, in kindy, they dont just get kids to read, its more about gross motor skills, and playing together with other children, i think the reading part comes at about yr 2-3!

i dont think you have much to worry about, my almost 4yr old reads all the time, she gets excited when we talk about her going to school the year after next, and gets even more excited when we buy her a few new books, and when she doesnt know a specific word when shes reading, she'll either ask me or her dad to help her, or she'll sound it out.

dont worry, your little one will be fine

i hope my advice helps, if it doesnt, just say "Oh Dani, shut up."

RE: 3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

Rubianna — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 20:58:29 GMT

Thanks for your support Jamesmum, I guess I just have to hope he gets a teacher who can adapt his/her program to suit his needs so that he too is learning along with all the others. Don't get me wrong, we do encourage his abilities and praise what he can do, but we don't want him to start out at school telling all and sundry he can read and do this, do that etc. It's a fine line to tread between being quietly confident in yourself and being full of yourself. (We certainly don't want him to be the latter!)

All the best with your son, Cheers!

RE: 3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

jamesmum — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:41:35 GMT

Hi, just read your post. I think this is a good thing. I sure that his prep teacher will pick up on his advanced skills, and advise you accordingly. Our son also is a bright little boy, has known his colours since he could talk and he has been able to recall letters and numbers for quite some time. I encourage this as I think in this day and age it doesn't hurt to have an advantage when going to school, as school has changed even since I was at school, and children are expected to handle a lot at a young age. Hope everything works out for you.

3.5yo already reading - mum worried about boredom at school

Rubianna — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:00:59 GMT

I don't want to sound like this is a complaint as it is in no way intended to be - I often read about children having physical and learning difficulties, so please don't hold it against me, but my problem is the opposite. My son is 3.5yrs and has a reading age of an average Yr 2 student. (7-8 yo) I know this as I am a teacher myself (and no, I did NOT set out to teach him to read as many people have asked - I've just read to him from about 3 months of age and he was always interested in books and words, then at the age of 2 he started identifying the odd word, and now at 3.5 he could read almost anything, or at least have a go of it!)

My worry is...what does school hold for him? (I'm worried he will be bored and switch off, he already has the potential to be very cheeky as he is clever enough to do so. ) I'm not interested in home schooling and I don't want to put him into a 'gifted' program (as I hardly think anything exists in Kindergarten) as I'm more concerned with him mixing with children of all types. He attends daycare twice a week and seems to socialise really well. I don't wish to enrol him in 2009 as he'll only be turning 4 early in the year when all the others will be 5 or 6. I will be enrolling him in 2010 - and goodness knows what his reading and general skills will be like by then!

Does anyone else have a child with a similar ability? It's not just the reading, he catches on to anything you tell him and has a remarkable memory.

Thanks for any suggestions....