my daughter is a genius

[stevepaa]

My daughter's teacher marveled at her reading skills and asked who taught her to read. My daughter said she taught herself. Of course, the truth is my wife spent counltless hours reading to her, going over the words one by one, pronouncing them carefully, having my daughter repeat them and then using flash cards to increase her rercognition skills for words. But even after my wife reminded my daughter of all that, my daughter still believes she taught herself.

This will be a funny story to tell my daughter when her daughter does something similar.

[lendaddy]

Cool, how old is your daughter and what/how well does she read?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by lendaddy

Cool, how old is your daughter and what/how well does she read?

18 and the Sunday comics?

[URY914]

You're a lucky man. My daughter has struggled with her reading from the beginning. We went through tutoring, reading therapy, eye therapy, holding her back a grade, three different schools, testing, reading specialists, etc, etc, etc. She was finally diagnosed as being dyslexic. She is now in a school for kids with learning disabilities and is improving greatly. It used to tear our hearts out to hear her try to read. She was in 5th grade reading on the 2nd grade level and was on the honor roll. Her spelling was as if it was in another language. It was beginning to affect her socially also. All the other kids were emailing and texting but she couldn’t.

Most people really don’t understand how some kids read and some can’t until they live with it.

[cgarr]

Nice to see some Parents not leave it just up to the schools to teach their kids but too many do..

[CJFusco]

Eh, I'll be impressed when she's reading Gravity's Rainbow or Ulysses

[Rot 911]

I, actually mostly my wife, work on my daughter's reading every day. She is in the 2nd grade and reads well. If a child doesn't have a good foundation in reading it is going to be really tough to do well in any other subject.

[island911]

Originally Posted by stevepaa

... Of course, the truth is my wife spent counltless hours reading to her, going over the words one by one, .. ..

Sounds like she is smart . . .Clintonian smart. ...."I did not have . .. "sniper fire ....

[126coupe]

Since we are on the subject about bragging about our kids i have to I have to say my 20 year old daughter finishing her junior year at a university is right on tract. Always on the deans list, 3.8GPA, develops the curve in her english/writing classes. Wants to go to law school.

[IROC]

Originally Posted by Minkoff

Since we are on the subject about bragging about our kids i have to I have to say my 20 year old daughter finishing her junior year at a university is right on tract. Always on the deans list, 3.8GPA, develops the curve in her english/writing classes. Wants to go to law school.

I'll chime in, too. My son took the ACT a couple of weeks ago and made a 33. He made a 36 on the science part. His lowest score was a 31 on the math section.

And..he technically is a genius. His IQ was tested and found to be 149.

[kstar]

Originally Posted by IROC

I'll chime in, too. My son took the ACT a couple of weeks ago and made a 33. He made a 36 on the science part. His lowest score was a 31 on the math section.

And..he technically is a genius. His IQ was tested and found to be 149.

And you have had a paternity test, yes?

Seriously, congratulations to you guys! My Daughter is only 10, but I understand the pride you must feel.

Best,

[stevepaa]

This incident is true but happened over 16 years ago. She is now 21, graduating from UC Berkeley next year, pursuing an art degree at another school and has plans for law school.

The same encouragement we, my wife predominately, showed for developing her reading schools, we continued on through whatever endeavor she tried. Violin was a failure, but ballet was great.

Each of our children got the same support from us in whatever they did. That is what parenting is all about. But as we look back we note that each child is different, each has different innate abilities and each has reached a measure of success dependent upon those innate abilities. Just as each has their own intellectual capabilities, each has their own physical/medical limitations or capabilities which has also greatly figured into their successes and failures and current endeavors in life.

Paul, I understand your situation very well.

I submitted this post not to laud my children but to counter the foolish and arrogant thinking by some posters that have achieved great success in life but then credit their successes solely to some sort of personal work ethic and to offset the foolish notion that because they achieved success (chiefly by measure of monetary reward), then anyone can do it and if another person doesn't then the reason is solely because the other person did not try (work hard enough).

[MRM]

When I was in grade school my spelling was as if it was in another language. In high school my spelling looked like I was writing in a defferent language. By the time I got to college it had improved to the point that my spelling looked like I writing in a different language. Despite my inability to write without looking every word up in a dictionary (and frequently being too lazy to do so) I managed to get into law school, where my spelling was again declared to look as though I was writing in a another language.

But then they invented spell check and I looked like a genius.

Like Steve says, each kid has different skills. Just as some can jump, throw balls or run fast, some can read, write, or do math easily. Reading came easy to me, but math and spelling? Forgetaboutit. So I went into an area that plays to my strengths and I find interesting. I have a job where I have to read like a maniac and never have to do math or science. At my high school reunions people are still amazed that I'm not homeless. This is suprising to me since I've been telling people since I was in 6th grade that I wanted to be a lawyer. I guess I didn't make a very good impression in school. The same can be said for any kid who struggles. Let him do what he does well, get him minimally competent in the areas he struggles, and set him free on the world to do something that maximizes his skills and minimizes his deficits. Success in higher education, careers, and life in general fortunately does not depend on success in elementary or secondary school.

But not to hijack the thread completely and to bring it somewhat back to Steve's original point, the one skill that makes the biggest difference is reading. A kid who can read can teach himself anything he needs and can naturally find his niche later in life. Kudos to the daughter on having the reading gene. It does bode well for a successful life.

Um, has she considered business school?

[JavaBrewer]

Originally Posted by URY914

You're a lucky man. My daughter has struggled with her reading from the beginning. We went through tutoring, reading therapy, eye therapy, holding her back a grade, three different schools, testing, reading specialists, etc, etc, etc. She was finally diagnosed as being dyslexic. She is now in a school for kids with learning disabilities and is improving greatly. It used to tear our hearts out to hear her try to read. She was in 5th grade reading on the 2nd grade level and was on the honor roll. Her spelling was as if it was in another language. It was beginning to affect her socially also. All the other kids were emailing and texting but she couldn’t.

Most people really don’t understand how some kids read and some can’t until they live with it.

Your post describes my son to a T. He also makes honor role (5th grade) but works his tail off to do it. He does really well in mathematics but has been struggling with geometry - specifically 3d shape surface areas. I think he's having problems visualizing sides. Reading is serious work for him (and for me) and there are times when he is only mechanically reads the words and not processing information. We have not pulled him from main stream class as he can pull his weight there with our help.

My daughter is much more like Steve's daughter. She is a voracious reader and is now reading and testing 6th grade level - the highest in her 3rd grade class. She has excellent communication skills and can converse easily and clearly with adults. She on the other hand struggles with numbers and was the last to learn how to count money or read a dial clock correctly.

Strange how they are so different

[gassy]

My two oldest are 11 and 9--I can't even help them with their math homework. They work problems out completely differently from when I was a kid. They are teaching me. I'm dumb.

[onewhippedpuppy]

My kid can beat up your kid.

I'll ignore Steve's trolling for a fight, and simply comment that I don't think there is a more important skill to develop in a child than reading. I've always been a strong reader and writer, and it has helped me through school more than any other attribute. In 1st grade I read a huge number of books for Book-It, more than anyone else in the school, and ended up on the front page of the paper for it (dork). I was reading "The Hunt for Red October" in the 4th grade. I pulled off a 34 in the reading/writing section of the ACT, and bombed the math section. Ironic that I'm now an engineer.

Until I discovered beer and driving at 16, I was very aware that my reading abilities gave me an edge over many of my fellow students. Too bad they were used to working at school, and proceeded to kick my ass when I got lazy (and drunk). So read to your kids, as much as you can. But if they aren't voracious readers, don't sweat it. The work ethic they will develop will benefit them in the end.

[URY914]

It really is amazing how my daughter has developed in other areas to offset her dyslexia. She is above level in math and science, won her science fair competition, speaks very well to adults, loves to cook, is the most talented player on her club volleyball team and has more compassion for others than I do. When we tell people, even close friends that know her well, of her reading problems they can’t believe it.

This may sound strange but it some ways her problem has helped her do better in other areas. Of course we worry about how she will do in high school and college but she will be drawn toward areas she can handle and she’ll excel. We know she will.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Amazing how kids (and humans) can adapt. Sort of like how being deaf or blind enhances the other senses. Sounds like you have one to be proud of Paul.

[scottmandue]

pfffft

My cats can't read a word and never spent a day in school...

And they get all the food they can eat plus get to lounge around a heated house with a ocean view all day... now who is smart.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

pfffft

My cats can't read a word and never spent a day in school...

And they get all the food they can eat plus get to lounge around a heated house with a ocean view all day... now who is smart.

YOU are...you've sucker'd them into letting you stay around