too young?

[hollyh]

My dd4 started reading at 2. Right now she can read at about a 1st grade level and do math about the same. I am just now starting to teach her, it's not anything I have pushed at all... don't know if I should have or not.

 

I just started her in HOD's LHFHG. She is doing wonderfully and it is all fun and easy. However, I am noticing that her listening comprehension of chapter books is not very good. She is asking about a lot of vocab and not remembering what happened very well.

 

First question: Is it normal for kids that are advanced in reading to not be advanced in listening comprehension?

 

Second question: I am confused on what to do. If I keep her in this program, she will be struggling with the listening comp.... Then I worry about future years - will she be struggling each year b/c she is so young? Should I hold her back a year to allow her listening comp to catch up, still allowing her to learn in math and reading?

 

Thoughts/experiences?

[Dmmetler]

Check the topics. What I discovered at that age was that a lot of times, I was picking books that included social situations that DD simply didn't have the context to understand. For example, DD loved the first Ramona Quimby book, but her comprehension went way down as she moved through the series-and it wasn't until I really thought about it that I realized that, at age 4, she had no understanding of the way social relationships work at age 8 or so-or knowledge about what happened at school, or anything like that. Non-fiction, though, she had no trouble with.

 

As she's gotten a little older, she's been better able to grasp character motivations when they have different contexts than she does, but at age 4, she really struggled with this.

[matilda]

Also, remember that decoding skills are different than comprehension skills. So a child could read the words of a book at a high level and have no idea what they were reading. The same would be true of listening comprehension. You could listen to the word and know what they mean but not be able to put everything together.

 

It should come with time. Maybe take a break from HOD for 3-6 months and just do reading and math and then come back to it when she is slightly older. If she has been reading for that long, she will probably pick it up quickly if you give it some time.

[boscopup]

I think listening comprehension also takes some time to get used to. My boys didn't really get into anything I read them at first. I had to bump the level way down. Now they're starting to understand better. Well, I don't know about my 4 year old... He seems to be listening at least somewhat. I haven't tested his comprehension at all. I'll worry about that later. Right now, he's working on sitting and listening to me read a picture-less book. He seemed to really like one of the chapter books we read recently, and I think he picked up on some things in the books (owl, rats, etc. in Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh), but I'm sure he couldn't tell you what happened in the story, and I don't expect him to be able to do that yet due to his age. He's not reading at a first grade level yet, but my oldest was at that age, and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have been able to tell me what I'd read to him from a picture-less book at that age either. He's excellent at both reading and listening comprehension now. When doing the WWE narration questions, I sometimes don't remember the answers even though I was the one reading the passage out loud, yet he remembers intricate details. :tongue_smilie:He's almost 7 though.

 

Also, the level of the passage makes a huge difference. In WWE, some of the passages use language that my son isn't used to, and he has trouble with the questions in those. I'll bet that's probably the biggest thing you're running into. I wouldn't worry about it yet, and maybe putting off HOD for another year might be a good idea (though I don't know... one reason I've not gone with HOD is that my son's skills are so all over the place that it would be difficult to place him appropriately... He's not ready for the output required for the level of reading and understanding that he's at).

[Embassy]

 

First question: Is it normal for kids that are advanced in reading to not be advanced in listening comprehension?

 

Second question: I am confused on what to do. If I keep her in this program, she will be struggling with the listening comp.... Then I worry about future years - will she be struggling each year b/c she is so young? Should I hold her back a year to allow her listening comp to catch up, still allowing her to learn in math and reading?

 

Thoughts/experiences?

 

I don't know if it is normal, but I have a kid who reads much better than his listening comprehension skills. He doesn't have a problem when he reads aloud, but his difficulty is in listening to me read aloud. If a book really catches his interest he can listen without difficulty to a chapter book. Other than that he has difficulty with chapter books. He does listen and comprehend well with picture books. BTW, he didn't really start demonstrating the ability to listen to chapter books until this school year (age 7 now) and I have tried to read chapter books to him since he was 3.

 

I would just go with a program or method that deals with each skill separately. We don't use a reading program so I have my son read books aloud to me on one level and I choose chapter books/picture books to read to him on another level. He is asynchronous in other things as well.

[Staceyshoe]

My ds was the same way. He could read about anything but had a very difficult time listening/retaining info. I noticed it especially with memory work. If he read a verse or list, he pretty much had it down cold after one reading. If I got right down on his level and had him look me in the eye and pay attention, I had to repeat it about 10 times before he could get the first few words. I think he developed as a visual learner much earlier than he developed his auditory learning abilities.

 

That said, the auditory stuff seemed to really "click" with him this year (he just turned 6). I've seen his ability to learn what he hears grow by leaps and bounds. Actually, we just did some educational testing with him and the scores showed that his visual and auditory learning abilities are about equivalent. I know that would not have been true 1-2 years ago.

[hollyh]

hmmm. Well actually her ability to hear content and retain it is usually very high. I just told her her dad's phone number and a few minutes later, she called him. I don't have to repeat things with her usually. She can memorize full (long) storybooks with no problem. She can tell you what happens in a movie play by play in detail that she has only watched once or twice just by hearing the orchestra music. I haven't been able to put a pin on what kind of learner she is exactly. Sometimes I think she is visual, but othertimes she seems very auditory. She usually can tell me every detail read to her in a picture book.

 

Either way, the problem is that the content read/verbiage used seems too above her ability to understand. I'm thinking it may be what one of the pp said - that she is lacking the life experiences to understand the fiction books. Non fiction she loves - esp. science. That, and that I am only now starting to use chapter books for her. In all other books, there have been pictures. She is fine listening and sitting still to hear (and is excited to) but I am just wondering if I should bother reading chapter books to her if she is not ready - or if I should focus more energy on reading picture books to her where her retention is super high.

[boscopup]

She sounds like my oldest at 4. My DH gave me directions somewhere once, and halfway there, I forgot the directions. My 4 year old reminded me every little detail of the directions - which road to turn on, which direction to go, etc. I was :001_huh: that he had remembered it all so well! He was like that with a lot of things. Now he forgets things more often because he's older, but back then, I could tell him my grocery list and not write one down. :lol:

 

Try easing her into the chapter books. Start with "early chapter books" that have pictures and are longer, but are still chapter books. Then gradually move up. It's the same thing you'll do when she starts reading such chapter books. You don't jump into Charlotte's Web. You take a few steps to ease them into it.

 

It was just last summer that I was reading Detectives in Togas to my kids, then 3.5 and newly 6. Their eyes glazed over. Now a year later, they can both listen and understand. Again, I don't know if the 4 year old really understands that much, but he was speech delayed, so language in general has been a bit delayed for him.

 

So part of it is probably developmental, and part of it is probably just the fact that she's not used to listening to chapter books. Ease into them, and keep going. She'll understand them eventually. It may be a few months or a year or two - either way is fine!

[Tracy]

It may just be a matter of learning style. My dd was an early reader, too. But she very much prefers to listen to an audio book than read it herself. All other indications is that she is an auditory learner. So perhaps your dc is just more visual.

[jennynd]

DS was similar. He taught himself to read b4 he turned 2 and at 4, he reads2-3 grade level.. with little comprehension.

A lot of it is life experience. at 7 years old now. He is getting a lot better but the "decoding" and "comprehension" still have a huge gap (comprehension is about 5-6 while decoding.. well, I don't know when is last time he can't pronounce a word)

Just provide a wide range of book and what I do now is I will ask him to summarize what he reads. and I will prepare a vocabulary list before he read. I go through the list of vocab that I know he doesn't know the meaning before he read. That does help.

So to answer your question. Yes, it is normal.

[2smartones]

I probably could've written this post myself at some point. My reader-boy was like that. Started reading at 2, reading elementary level at 3 and reading high school level at 4. He had no idea what he was reading, though... and I absolutely agree that life experience was a big part of the issue! He soaked up non-fiction. He soaked up vocabulary. To quiz him on what happened in a story he just read, though? Nope. His comprehension level at age 4 was only about what a 6 year old might be. I noticed a HUGE JUMP between 4 and 6 though! Huge! When he was 5, his personality really started to come through, he started making more friends, he started voluntarily putting himself into social situations that before had freaked him out, and so on. Something just clicked, and whatever that something was, I think it all tied in together. I bet your dd will do the same over the next couple of years. I bet you'll see her go from just reading to actually reading with understanding, and I bet you'll see it jump seemingly over night.

[....]

My dd4 started reading at 2. Right now she can read at about a 1st grade level and do math about the same. I am just now starting to teach her, it's not anything I have pushed at all... don't know if I should have or not.

 

I just started her in HOD's LHFHG. She is doing wonderfully and it is all fun and easy. However, I am noticing that her listening comprehension of chapter books is not very good. She is asking about a lot of vocab and not remembering what happened very well.

 

First question: Is it normal for kids that are advanced in reading to not be advanced in listening comprehension?

 

Second question: I am confused on what to do. If I keep her in this program, she will be struggling with the listening comp.... Then I worry about future years - will she be struggling each year b/c she is so young? Should I hold her back a year to allow her listening comp to catch up, still allowing her to learn in math and reading?

 

Thoughts/experiences?

 

IMO, this is THE most difficult part of homeschooling a gifted kid. They can be really advanced in some areas and right on target in others. Also, I had a really hard time matching reading level with appropriate content (with my oldest kid). :confused:

 

This is my 3rd year homeschooling and I've pretty much settled on "expanding out" instead of "expanding forward". Also, I could see a boxed program not working for a gifted kid in the long run.

 

I know I sound annoying, but I wouldn't continue with a boxed curriculum - maybe you could pick it up later. I would do lots of unschooling and child interest-led activities.

 

Also, and I've never heard any other parent say this...my 9 yro would learn stuff at a really young age, master it, want to move on and we would come back to it a year later...and she would not remember any of it. One of her teachers in ps said this was really common before 2nd grade. :confused:

 

And, I know that kids push themselves! :D So, I'm not trying to sound judgmental. My kid would fly thru CLE workbooks so fast that I had to stop using that program with her. :glare:

[Storm Bay]

hmmm. Well actually her ability to hear content and retain it is usually very high. I just told her her dad's phone number and a few minutes later, she called him. I don't have to repeat things with her usually. She can memorize full (long) storybooks with no problem. She can tell you what happens in a movie play by play in detail that she has only watched once or twice just by hearing the orchestra music. I haven't been able to put a pin on what kind of learner she is exactly. Sometimes I think she is visual, but othertimes she seems very auditory. She usually can tell me every detail read to her in a picture book.

 

Either way, the problem is that the content read/verbiage used seems too above her ability to understand. I'm thinking it may be what one of the pp said - that she is lacking the life experiences to understand the fiction books. Non fiction she loves - esp. science. That, and that I am only now starting to use chapter books for her. In all other books, there have been pictures. She is fine listening and sitting still to hear (and is excited to) but I am just wondering if I should bother reading chapter books to her if she is not ready - or if I should focus more energy on reading picture books to her where her retention is super high.

My eldest is both and auditory and visual learner; they are not mutually exclusive :). You didn't say how old she is now, but I expect that it's age more than anything at 4. It's not just social context, but brain development, etc. I'd also stick with the reading and the math for now and drop the curricula until later. At that age I followed my dc's interests without curricula. None of them were driven to read, etc, as some gifted dc are, but two of them started writing before they could read (their names, a few other things and a lot of made up things because they could write letters but weren't interested in reading, etc.) My dd's were more interested in drawing, and are artistically gifted, although one of them, who is lazy in almost everything so far, doesn't want to put the work into doing things well.

Edited June 3, 2011 by Karin

[gracyomalley]

I think its very common for kids to be accelerated at the "skills" of learning at this age, but not have the maturity that listening to chapter books requires - and actually of my three, the earliest reader and most classically "gifted" one is the one who has taken the longest to really enjoy/retain read alouds of chapter books - but have no fear, she still chose Little Women for her bedtime story at 7 - the original, and listened to it all...

 

She had many other things on her mind when I was reading to her at a younger age, and really couldn't be bothered to sit still and concentrate long enough if the book didn't grab her instantly - whereas her older brother who is our "thinker" (translate"watch the grass grow...") has incredible auditory skills - listened to and discuss the Chronicles of Narnia at age 5 - all of them...and all of 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea at 9 - including all the lists of latin names for fish - I am more like dd and wanted to skip all that part!!!

 

Kids don't fit all in one box, but I do think that using engaging picture books with adult vocab may be a good transition - as well as shorter times of reading - let her pick a subject and find books about it - horses and cats, and fairies come to mind, even my bright one still preferred these - and took a long time before she would finish books at her real level - ie could read 250 pages of a 5-6 grade book at 6, then put it down...drove me crazy!!! again, it needed to be interesting to her...

 

4 is really young - expose her to lots and wait a bit - let her lead you - keep lots of books around and limit media - listening skills will come along. Also letting her color, sew, build things, etc while listening helps with those busy bee minds...

Erin

[EthiopianFood]

This thread is EXACTLY what I needed. Dd doesn't like books without pictures, and I assumed it was my fault because I haven't been the best at reading her challenging books over the years. This makes me feel SO much better. :)

Edited June 4, 2011 by RaeAnne

[....]

This thread is EXACTLY what I needed. Dd doesn't like books without pictures, and I assumed it was my fault because I haven't been the best at reading her challenging books over the years. This makes me feel SO much better. :)

 

 

Oh, no. Don't worry at all. :001_smile: My 9 yro still likes Diary of a Wimpy Kid, playing with stuffed animal owls with her brother, coloring pictures, etc. They're still pretty normal. OTOH, the gifted thing has caused some issues emotionally...9 yro cried herself to sleep last night after meeting the 9 yro girl next door (who was basically wearing make-up). I had to drag her stuff into my room so she could sleep on my floor. She feels like she's different from other kids. :(

[EthiopianFood]

Oh, no. Don't worry at all. :001_smile: My 9 yro still likes Diary of a Wimpy Kid, playing with stuffed animal owls with her brother, coloring pictures, etc. They're still pretty normal. OTOH, the gifted thing has caused some issues emotionally...9 yro cried herself to sleep last night after meeting the 9 yro girl next door (who was basically wearing make-up). I had to drag her stuff into my room so she could sleep on my floor. She feels like she's different from other kids. :(

 

:( It's so, so hard when they're aware. I'm dealing with social stuff with my dd right now (stuff that she is apparently not supposed to care about at her age... :001_huh:), so I really feel for you and her.

[jenbrdsly]

My dd4 started reading at 2. Right now she can read at about a 1st grade level and do math about the same. I am just now starting to teach her, it's not anything I have pushed at all... don't know if I should have or not.

 

I just started her in HOD's LHFHG. She is doing wonderfully and it is all fun and easy. However, I am noticing that her listening comprehension of chapter books is not very good. She is asking about a lot of vocab and not remembering what happened very well.

 

First question: Is it normal for kids that are advanced in reading to not be advanced in listening comprehension?

 

Second question: I am confused on what to do. If I keep her in this program, she will be struggling with the listening comp.... Then I worry about future years - will she be struggling each year b/c she is so young? Should I hold her back a year to allow her listening comp to catch up, still allowing her to learn in math and reading?

 

Thoughts/experiences?

Your daughter sounds a lot like my son at that age. Unfortunately, I'm unfamiliar with HOD LHFHG, but I am a former Kindergarten teacher.

Are you familiar with the three types of reading? Independent Reading, Guided Reading and Read Aloud? Here's a description. http://teachingmybabytoread.blog.com/2011/03/01/the-three-types-of-reading/

It is really normal for kids to be at different levels for all three types of reading. I would try to help your daughter choose books that were slightly too easy for her for Independent Reading, books that were exactly at her right level for Guided Reading, and books that were slightly above for Read Aloud.

A good way to help 4 year olds too choose appropriate books is to talk to them about Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Some books are too soft (Independent reading), some books are too hard (Read aloud with Daddy!), and some books are just right (Guided Reading with Mommy!).

Hope this helps.