The relationship between early reading and intellectual giftedness is not well understood. Biographies of the eminent often include mention of precocious reading. John Stuart Mill, for example, reportedly read when very young (Laycock, 1979). On the other hand, there are geniuses who did not read early and Durkin found early readers with measured lQs in the 80s (Durkin, 1966). Roedell, Jackson, and Robinson have concluded that the significance of early reading has not been established (1980). Reports of precocious reading should not be ignored by those interested in early identification of individuals with outstanding potential, however. Half of Terman's original group were described as reading before school entrance (Laycock, 1979). It may be that such achievement is an important indicator but that the ability is too often treated as a curiosity and therefore not nurtured in either the home or the school.Of particular interest are children who read quite earlyand apparently without systematic instruction. It would seem that this level of performance is worthy of more study. This is a report on a project which involves identification and descriptions of such a group of children.
Identification of Early ReadersA newspaper story on early readers in the University nursery school coupled with the appearance on a local television program of the investigator and two children yielded several dozen telephone calls, most of which were from parents who stated that their child had similar abilities. Over several months more than 50 children were interviewed.The interviews were conducted at the University in an informal, home-like setting. All sessions were video taped.Parents were asked to have their child do the sorts of things which she or he had been described as doing when the investigator and the parent had talked on the telephone. The activities usually involved letter identification, naming of colors and shapes, counting, reading, and writing.When the child seemed involved and comfortable, the investigator, who had met the family and then watched through a one-way glass, entered the room and joined in the activities. After establishing rapport the investigator led the child through a progression of tasks. The tasks involved writing the youngster's name, identifying advertising logos and words on cereal boxes and other environmental materials, and finally, if appropriate, to actual reading of trade books and a criterion book. The latter had been manufactured specifically for the project to preclude the child's having seen it prior to the session.The procedure enabled the investigator to maintain a good relationship with the child and to gauge the response to challenges offered by successive activities. For many nominated early readers, the process was terminated at some point prior to trying the books. In these cases, the parents apparently had been misled a bit by the youngster's ability to memorize and repeat familiar material. Several of these children did, however, seem to be quite close to reading as defined for ...