Is Early Reading a Sign of Giftedness?

Many gifted kids read before any lessons. Some highly, exceptionally, to profoundly gifted start by ages two to three. Some don’t read until later.

Many gifted kids read before any lessons. Some highly, exceptionally, to profoundly gifted (Ruf Estimates of Levels Three, Four, and Five) start by ages two to three. A child might still be gifted, though, reading a little later. And some gifted children never become avid readers, so how can we know?

Alan, the youngest of three children, loved to pass the time by printing out, with pencil on paper, the entire alphabet in order, over and over again. This started when he was younger than four years old. By the time he was five, he loved to work ahead in his reading workbooks in preschool and his mother couldn’t pull him away from his humor books by the time he was six. He had a typical little lisp, so he still sounded young when he read out loud, but he read so fluently, you thought he was just talking, not reading. His mother found a way to put his talent to use and arranged for him to be in radio ads. He thought it was so easy that he didn’t see it as work. How did Alan get to be such an early reader?

Many parents have heard that early reading means their child is gifted. It’s normal for parents to hope their children are smart because we know that higher intelligence might give…