[throwaway12309]

I've read to my kid since forever, my wife as well. We have a library that rivals most school's and we read to him 2-3 books (at least) a day. He is 3.5 years old and can't read at all (heck, I think he recognises some words but I'm not even sure of that).

At 3 I was able to do math (addition, subtraction and basic multiplication) quite easily but basic reading only came to me at around 5 years old.

Kids are different, some learn to read earlier, others later, same with math, same with diapers, same with everything really. My 3.5 year old can climb trees like a 7 year old (better even if the kids around here are any indication). Do basic math (he has the concept of multiplication and can do most numbers times 2 or times 10). Recognises flowers and various different birds. He knows most traffic signs. He can almost cook his breakfast with just a bit of help with the oven. He does physics experiments (with our help). Are we worried that his peers at school know more letters? No. Kids develop at different speeds, but unfortunately, schools/kindergartens/parents expect their little treasures to be the smartest, brightest unique snowflakes and push them to it.

[sanoli]

It's great that you think this way. I see too much of this pressure with my friends who have kids. They want to see them do math and read before they're x years old, with x being one or two less than what the cheaper schools are doing. My 3.5 says more elaborate sentences than the older kids, but never showed any special interest in math, and I never felt that he was ready to learn to read. It's completely normal for a 3.5 kid to not be ready to learn these things.