Sue wrote:
"Donna Metler" wrote in message
My daughter was picking out words on signs before age 2, and is reading
through the easy reader section of the library at 2 1/2. She read 47 books
this summer for the summer reading club, independently, most of them not
to me but to the librarians and volunteers at the library.

I somehow doubt that she's just average.

Maybe, but did she comprehend what she read? Just because a child can read
words, doesn't mean they are understanding them and comprehension is more
important than just reading words. Some kids are better at different things
than others and it still doesn't mean they are gifted. Everyone reaches
things differently. I would still say that most averages out by 3rd grade
and if the child is truly gifted, then yes different accommodations should
be made. It seems that my girls were little sponges when they were little
and seemed really smart, but they are just average because once they reached
a grade where things became harder, they were in line with pretty much
everyone else.

This is a bit of a fallacy. While it is true that
not all gifted kids are early readers, the overwhelming majority
of kids reading *that* early are gifted (and probably highly
gifted or more), particularly if it's not one of those situations
where they've been coached to within an inch of their lives.
It's true that a lot of differences in reading in
the early years are developmental and even out by around
3rd grade, but reading this early and with this degree of
fluency is very unusual for normal kids (stories from
some parents notwithstanding). It's also unusual to see
the normal kids show this sort of precociousness in multiple
areas.

Best wishes,
Ericka