Jun 25, 2024 08:00:00

An interview with a parent who used Anki to help his 5-year-old child acquire reading skills at a 10-13 year old level

Chris Lakin, a psychologist and psychologist, interviewed CoffeePie, a

Reddit user who claims that by starting spaced repetition at age two, children can read at the same level as 10- to 13-year-olds by the age of five.

Spaced repetition for teaching two-year olds how to read (Interview)
https://chrislakin.blog/p/spaced-repetition-for-teaching-two

According to the post, CoffeePie's daughter has a reading comprehension level of a 10-year-old at the age of 5, and if judged by her reading ability alone, she could be at the level of a 13-year-old. This is not CoffeePie's opinion, but her teacher at school has also confirmed that 'she definitely has the reading comprehension level of a 5th grader.'

CoffeePie has been using the spaced repetition app Anki to improve her daughter's reading ability since she was 2 years old. The theory behind how spaced repetition is effective is explained in detail in the article below.

To memorize information accurately and steadily, 'interval memory' is effective - GIGAZINE

Following the success of his daughter's education, CoffeePie is also educating his other child, his son, in the same way. His daughter started using Anki at the age of 2, but his son started using Anki at 1 year and 9 months, and at 2 years and 6 months, he is able to read quite a few words, as shown in the movie below.

Using Anki to learn to read at 2 years 6 months - YouTube


CoffeePie also said that he has already reduced the amount of time his daughter spends using Anki. The reason is that 'even though her ability to read and write mechanically is at the high school level, her comprehension skills, which cannot be learned efficiently with Anki, are appropriate for her age, and it is unfair to her to spend even more time on Anki when she starts elementary school and has homework.'

Regarding the effect of early education for children, CoffeePie also commented that he had 'underestimated it.' He said that by improving his reading comprehension, he was able to absorb knowledge about council members, mayors, current events, politics, history, etc. from texts that appear casually in daily life such as mail. It is clear that reading ability greatly expands the scope of learning.

The article below explains how to do spaced repetition efficiently, so if you're interested, please check it out.

Summary of 'effective spaced repetition' methods that are useful for efficient learning and study - GIGAZINE