3 ms·

My personal experience as an early reader lines up pretty well with the post you're replying to. School was interesting, but the lack of challenge meant that I

My personal experience as an early reader lines up pretty well with the post you're replying to. School was interesting, but the lack of challenge meant that I didn't really develop a lot of habits that would have been really beneficial later on. Conversely, rather than be held back by not reading as early, I wish there were more opportunities for students who were well past their peers but not so much that they could skip a grade. Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks to not having much choice in schools is being stuck with the lowest common denominator of expectation for students.

caddemon 6y ago
I think the bad study habits thing isn't really specific to learning to read early though. Even if you were deprived of all outside of school reading you probably wouldn't have been particularly challenged by school. So it's not something that could be changed by "not encouraging early reading", it's something that can really only be changed by revamping our school system, or being lucky enough to have parents with the background/resources necessary to provide academic challenges outside of the school. I also think a lot more kids would be academically able to skip a grade than currently do. Skipping forward can be a nightmare socially, unless you do the skip really early and not more than a year or so ahead. When I was in 3rd grade the teacher actually told my parents to move me to a better school if they could - and they were willing/able to afford the tuition to send me to a good private school, but I liked my friends and refused to switch. I wish there were a good way to disentangle the social and babysitting elements of school from the academic ones somewhat. That could allow students to progress at a more personalized pace.
- em-bee 6y ago
  that's what montessori is doing. they actually mix kids over a three year age-range into the same class. kids learning faster don't cause a problem at all. the older kids take part in teaching the younger ones, so even if a child already completed the curriculum, there is no end in interesting activities to do that they learn something from.

caddemon 6y ago

I think the bad study habits thing isn't really specific to learning to read early though. Even if you were deprived of all outside of school reading you probably wouldn't have been particularly challenged by school. So it's not something that could be changed by "not encouraging early reading", it's something that can really only be changed by revamping our school system, or being lucky enough to have parents with the background/resources necessary to provide academic challenges outside of the school. I also think a lot more kids would be academically able to skip a grade than currently do. Skipping forward can be a nightmare socially, unless you do the skip really early and not more than a year or so ahead. When I was in 3rd grade the teacher actually told my parents to move me to a better school if they could - and they were willing/able to afford the tuition to send me to a good private school, but I liked my friends and refused to switch. I wish there were a good way to disentangle the social and babysitting elements of school from the academic ones somewhat. That could allow students to progress at a more personalized pace.

em-bee 6y ago
that's what montessori is doing. they actually mix kids over a three year age-range into the same class. kids learning faster don't cause a problem at all. the older kids take part in teaching the younger ones, so even if a child already completed the curriculum, there is no end in interesting activities to do that they learn something from.