Mister Beefhead

Just curious. I learned to read very early and I was wondering what the average around here was.

I really hope that the poll goes up much higher than it has to.

Surf Monkey

I could read by the time I was 3. Writing/spelling was another matter. As I understand it 3 is pretty early.

Eric F

All right. Whoever voted they learned how to read before they were 1yr old fess up.

Can you please explain to me just what it was like to me coming out of the birth canal?

darkside

Was reading to myself at 4. My son did not learn till about 6, but now at 7 he reads great. As long as the kids learn by the time they are done with first grade I think they will be fine.

Mister Beefhead

I can't remember the birth canal, but I am able to describe in some detail the apartment my mother and I lived in until I was 3 months old. Details like the fact that it was on the second floor, first door on the right, and that there was brown carpeting in the stairwell and instead of a banister there was a place where the wall went back.

You're right, though - I just asked my mother and she said it was more like 16 months. No kidding.

sexy_overlord

I learned to read prenatally. It's pretty hard to get a newspaper delivered to the womb.

Darren Garrison

Don't know exactly, but I'd say around 4 or 5. It was definitely before I began school, and it was without formal attempts to teach me.

movielib

When I grew up in ancient times (born 1947) it was pretty much the norm for kids to not get any reading instruction at all in school before first grade and parents were not trying to get their kids ready as early as possible for that competitive world out there. So I didn't learn until first grade.

einTier

I was reading at three, very fluently by four. I had a real problem when I got to school, because my teachers wanted me to read books "on my level", meaning, "on your classmates' level".

My second grade teacher had a real problem with it. By that time, I was plowing through my grandmother's extensive collection of Reader's Digest (both the magazine and the condensed books), and somehow I felt that the typical second grade primer wasn't worth wasting my time on.

mikehunt

probably around 3-4. I could read well enough that when they split us into groups in 1st grade and beyond I was put in the more advanced group
my parents read to me every night as a kid, and not just kids books but also magazine articles and stuff so I was exposed to reading and also other information at the same time
Thanks Mom and Dad

ChefWinduAZ

I was in the same situation as you. In second grade I was well beyond my fellow classmates when it came to reading ability. We used to use these cards that had a short story on one side and some questions about the story on the other. They were supposed to test your reading ability and if you were able to understand and reatain what you had just read. Well, I used to fly throught those things and it got to the point where my teacher was sending me to one of the third grade teachers to get the advanced cards.

whitetigeress

Honestly, I had a lot of trouble reading when I was younger. I had to take a special reading class when I was in 1st grade. And now, you can't stop me from reading. I read more than most people I know.

madcougar

I must be a retard. I was six when I learned how to read.

Vampyr

I don't really remember........But, I know it was soon after my mother threw a copy of "War and Peace" into my crib

Alien Redrum

I know I started reading around 2 because my mamma always said I was reading before I was 3.

By 4 I was reading King and by 5 I was reading F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Feneant

You people remember that? Wow, I cant even remember ever being born, but I'm fairly sure it happened at some point... I think I learned in first grade because we didn't try very hard before although my parents read to me every night, but when I learned, was always better at it than most kids...

Eric F

Nah, I doubt most people remember that. I think alot of folks just learn to read young and assume they always could. Memories get very confused when you're young.

I remember being able to read in Kindergarden, maybe before. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but I remember looking at the calendar in class and it saying 1973 on it, and that would put me at 5 yrs old. I remember other small events from earlier than that like road signs and such, but that's the only event I can actually assign a date to.

Giantrobo

I can't remember.

But I know a few people who learned how to read from comic books because it made reading fun.

Pennywise

I think I was 5, my dad kept reading the same kids books to me over and over again, I learnt that way.

Groucho

I taught myself how to read at age 3 or so.

Like others here, I was light years ahead of the other kids in my class, a source of great frustration. I remember we had a "Read-a-Thon" for MS where we'd raise money by reading books. The other kids would be reading those tiny "Golden Books" while I was reading novels...and I still managed to be at the front of the pack.

evenflow

I started to read by 4, reading mostly box scores and standings from baseball and hockey games.

datagirl7

We had things like that called SRA cards, and everyone was at a color level. My problem was that I was so bored by them that i just skimmed them then guessed at the answers. I had seen that the stories didn't get any better as you got to the harder levels and I was already further than anyone else so I didn't care. They were so boring.

Charlie Goose

Tuesday.

just_al

I remember those cards. They were all different colors (I can't remember if it was a title bar or a little symbol in the corner.) We had to get through certain colors by a certain time as we did our other educational duties. I finished waaaaayyy ahead of everybody else.

I could read when I was 3. God Bless Sesame Street.

shimmoril

I know i learned very early, but the thing i remember best is that in grade 4 we had to read a book and write a report on it. Well, i read 'The Day of the Triffids" (awesome old-style sci fi) and my teacher kept asking me if my dad helped me with the book report. She finally called my parents because she didn't believe me!