What was the average age that your dc learned to read?

[Syllieann]

The study that is linked is contradicted by many other studies which say that early readers maintain an edge throughout their schooling. I don't point this out to be discouraging, but I don't want parents of struggling readers to be lulled into a false sense of security that everything will work itself out without any special attention. Both types of studies are exclusively on children in a classroom setting, where the potential for differentiated instruction is usually minimal. I'm not sure the results are terribly meaningful for children in a supportive homeschooling environment.

[lllll]

nm 

 

Edited July 25, 2017 by tentwelve

[G5052]

I had the range.

 

My older one didn't take off reading until he was 8. Once he got going, I couldn't stop him. He had almost perfect SAT's and has a 4.0 as a junior in college. Not long ago, he told me that he didn't get serious learning to read when he was younger because he didn't see the purpose. When he realized that he enjoyed stories and learning things from books, he determined to figure it out. 

 

My younger one taught herself to read at 4. I did additional phonics to make sure she had everything in place, but she was reading early readers at 4.

[Frances]

I didn't even start teaching my highly verbal son until 6, almost 7, but he very quickly moved to chapter books. However, he was read to and/or listened to audio books for hours every day and had lots of adult conversation. He's aced every verbal/reading test he's ever taken, including the PSAT and SAT, and graduated from college with multiple honors, including Phi Beta Kappa. Unless a child is asking for it, I see no advantage to teaching reading early. In general, a young child will be exposed to much more advanced vocabulary and concepts by being read to and talking with adults than reading on their own.

[macmacmoo]

Eldest: letter and their sounds by two. Able to blend and read Cvc words right before he turned six.

 

Middle: letter around three, their sounds four, able to read cvc words just before six.

[Crimson Wife]

3.5, 4.5, and my child with multiple disabilities still is not reading fluently at 8.5.

[Crimson Wife]

Don't sweat it.  They're making progress.  That's what counts.  

 

Here's a study that addresses this question:   Children learning to read later catch up to children reading earlier

Highlights

â–º Around age 10, children learning to read at seven had caught up to those learning at 5. â–º Later starters had no long-term disadvantages in decoding and reading fluency. â–º For whatever reason, the later starters had slightly better reading comprehension. â–º Reading appears to be built on oral language, decoding, and reading skills. â–º This research suggests some focus on teaching reading early could be relaxed.

 

I agree with this *IF* the child has normal oral language skills, both receptive (what he/she can understand) and expressive (what he/she can say) plus normal phonemic awareness skills (things like rhyming).

 

Children who struggle with oral language and phonemic awareness need intervention sooner rather than later. "Wait and see" is terrible advice for kids with learning disabilities.

[Tumbatoo]

Mine were/are:

 

Oldest - no idea because he taught himself, but was fluent by 4

 

Next Oldest: started at 6

 

Next child: started around 3.5, I'd call her fluent (4th/5th level with occasion help) at 7 but she still doesn't like to read chapter books

 

Youngest: learned several sight words at 2, familiar with phonics at 3.5 and showing some interest - will read a few words here and there, but that's it so far

[Runningmom80]

We have early readers.  My oldest might be hyperlexile, he taught himself around 2. My twins were fluently reading at 3 and 4.

 

This is from nothing I did, so to the poster second guessing things, don't.  Every kid is different.  Each have their struggles in other areas.  My DD actually may be stealth dyslexic, even though she could read those books at 4.

[SKL]

That's interesting about later readers being better at comprehension.  My eldest read later than my youngest, but consistently does better on comprehension tests.  In 3rd grade she aced the state reading test.  However, that may be deceptive, because she still finds reading to be hard work.  When quantity/speed matters, she continues to be at a significant disadvantage.

[Riverland]

My kids never really read "level" type books so I'm not sure of their difficulty. Generally, they started with Dr. Seuss books then within a year advanced to full chapter books meant for upper elementary age.

 

They started reading the Dr. Seuss books at ages 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5, but were building the foundation prior to these ages.

 

It was not our experience that early readers don't do as well with comprehension later on. They always tested at 5-8 years beyond their age/grade and usually maxed out the standardized tests. One got a perfect score on ACT reading without studying at all. This dc was also probably my most prolific reader throughout school, reading nearly every spare moment.

[Guest]

Mine are late-average. The girl learned to read the Babysitter's Club books when she was seven. She had a lot of positive peer pressure at Park Day and fiction like that was analagous to the movies, series TV shows, and iPad apps that are popular entertainment among the seven year olds of today.

 

My boys were later because they are boys. The older may have some undiagnosed stealth dyslexia stuff going on or he may just like audio books as an adult because he needs his hands free for other things. He did get out of the vo-tech track and into the college prep track at ps by recognizing a quote from the Odyssey and telling his teacher, "Oooh! Oooh! Oooh! I know what that's from! That's from Homer's Odyssey! I LOVE Homer's Odyssey! I always asked my mom to read it to me for bedtime stories. It was my favourite little kids' bedtime story book!"

 

My younger is undiagnosed neurotypical plain old ordinary middle of the bell curve, IMNSHO. He was a dutiful student of phonics up until about the beginning of last school year, when he rapidly blossomed into a global citizen with real friendships with people all over the world that take place soley with written language and an avid consumer of graphic novels.

 

I was an early reader so it was difficult to accept that this is how normal children develop and that I didn't have the power to change biology. My perfectly normal children all enjoy books and spending more money on the fool Babysitter's Club than I did on my car turned out to be the best investment I ever made.

Edited June 23, 2017 by Guest