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Just to weigh in here, since I also taught both of my kids to read at an early age. I also taught them arithmetic early. The biggest win is confidence about learning. This was particularly meaningful when they got into more "competitive" environments, by which I mean first grade where kids are expected to perform in front of their peers. When I tell my kids that just because they have trouble with something in school, that doesn't mean they aren't good at learning or at the subjects, they believe me because they have succeeded at both reading and math outside of that setting. I believe kids are capable of a lot more than they are supported on. The trick, in my view, is to constantly know where that boundary is. Both reading and math have notions of basic mechanical skills and meaning. My kids weren't great at the meaning part until they were over 6. But they both excelled at the mechanics part early. As an example, early on they learned to add by counting up. But later I was able to replace this with "tricks" (aka "math thinking"). A example is adding 9 to a number. Adding by counting is tedious and prone to mistakes. But if you've learned to add 10, then it is always one less. Similarly, since addition commutes, instead of 2 + 8, change it around to 8+2, which is easier and quicker. Both of my kids have embraced this approach to math of learning the shortcuts, which is actually where they get to experience the patterns and relationships that make math fun and interesting. When I showed them how the digits in multiples of 9 always add to 9, they were astounded. And then I showed them how the digits in multiples of 8 add up to a descending, and repeating "countdown" pattern. Wow. My daughter (who just turned 8) knows a bunch of these insights into the behavior of numbers and operations on them, and confidently says "I'm good at math" despite obviously struggling in other areas (gym, music, art) relative to her peers. My son reads Junie B. Jones quietly to himself and bursts out laughing. He has discovered the meaning part. And when my daughter got a book about feelings, she finally discovered the power and relevance of reading. Incidentally, my kids spend about 40 minutes on reading and math in the evening. They get roughly 2 1/2 hours to do other things between school and dinner. There isn't an opportunity cost. |