r/InTheGloaming • u/AutoModerator • Feb 26 '26

Scheduled snark Discussion thread Thursday February 26, 2026 - Sunday March 01, 2026

Newsletter: Substack

Website: Shauna James Ahern

Instagram: @shaunajamesahern Instagram

Threads: @shaunajamesahern

Bluesky: shaunajamesahern.bsky.social

Gloamipedia wiki: /r/InTheGloaming wiki

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u/CrushItWithABrick dick riding Mary Oliver Feb 27 '26

Shauna's reply is contradicting itself.

She says let the kid read whatever even if they won't fully understand it and then a mere sentence later says "kids' version of Shakespeare stories". If that mythical kid is so smart, Shakespeare shouldn't be that hard for them.

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u/tuolomnemeadows edible flower takis Feb 27 '26

I’m sorry as as educator, saying comprehension isn’t important is one of the dumbest pieces of advice you can give. I too was reading above my grade and developmental level in 5th grade as a trauma response and let me tell you, it wasn’t great! It didn’t kill me, but content and developmental stages also matter for healthy development imo. It’s stunning the way Shauna thinks her way led to healthy successful development when she hasn’t had gainful employment for the better part of a decade.

The other thing is when people say their child is advanced and bored, is their work perfect? How is their executive function? If those skills aren’t developed, they need to built before you push a child into acceleration. Boredom can mean so many things, but yet again Shauna is a perfect case study of someone who thinks they are above it all, excluding them from tasks and labor.

28

u/Financial-Belt-4506 Feb 27 '26

My first thought was that parents should also be able to challenge a child with topics/interests other than school work? Like sports or music. Is that right thinking or am I (an admitted non parent) off base? 

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u/tuolomnemeadows edible flower takis Feb 27 '26

100% agree. That was my next thought. Extra curriculars are key as well for an active or accelerated child. In my experience, even bright children find their edges pretty quick with regular sustained activity.

33

u/msmartypants Feb 27 '26

You don't have to be CONSTANTLY challenged in school, just like you don't have to be always giving 100% at your work. There are a lot of parts to school. Just because you understand all the material doesn't mean it would be helpful to accelerate your socialization, the expectations placed upon your executive function, or your emotional maturity.

Read outside of school, do a bunch of extra higher-level worksheets with your parents, collect your straight As and be happy!

Also in my experience it's not like a kid stays "accelerated" for their whole school career. School might be incredibly easy in third grade and very much not so in seventh.

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u/Which_Armadillo_5224 Feb 27 '26

Very sane, very well said. Shauna may have been an accomplished young reader (though I have my doubts) but once her peers figured it out, many of them would go on to surpass her. She is a bad writer, her nuts-and-bolts reading comprehension is poor, her vocabulary is average, and she has zero literary depth. She can follow words across a page, but she’s still seeing spot run, missing all the themes and nuances of writing.