Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Jaden Wilkins knows a lot about U.S. presidents, but he also really loves baseball! (Photo: Tammy L. Lane)

Five-year-old Jaden Wilkins knows his U.S. presidents backwards and forwards, so to speak. Who’s the 15^th president? James Buchanan, of course. Where can you find the heads of four beloved presidents carved in stone? Why, that’s Mount Rushmore, in South Dakota.

“Abraham Lincoln I know was the tallest. James Madison I know was the shortest,” he says confidently.

Jaden, who has been reading since age 3, took a liking to a presidential placemat his mother gave him during the fall election campaign. Since then, he’s checked out related library books, and he’s now a pint-sized expert on the nation’s leaders.

“Whatever’s in my books, I know it,” he said at Rosa Parks Elementary, where he’s in kindergarten. “I don’t like to read. I love to read!”

Jaden, who also professes a love for baseball, got off to a strong start in school. He’s now reading on a second- or third-grade level, according to his teacher, Eva Robinson.

“He came in with a lot of skills,” she said, adding, “He’s a sweet boy who always wants to help the other kids if someone doesn’t understand.”

To engage young readers like Jaden, Robinson might focus more on comprehension while the rest of the class reviews phonics. “I pull higher-level materials to push them along and keep them challenged,” she said.

Jaden, who is also learning to play chess and violin, didn’t find television host Regis Philbin much of a challenge when they squared off in a presidential trivia contest on an episode of “Live with Regis and Kelly.”

“Kelly (Ripa) was asking the questions and Regis was playing against me,” Jaden said, noting that he won easily. “I always win, except for my baseball games.”

Jaden, whose accomplishments were first shared with relatives via YouTube, has also been featured on other national TV programs. And the folks at "Every Day with Marcus and Lisa" have called Jaden back to do people-on-the-street quizzes for the show's July 4 promos.

The youngster has also appeared on Lexington newscasts and in the Herald-Leader. He even has his own Facebook page.

Back in October, Sandi Wilkins realized that her youngest son had taught himself all the states and capitals using a puzzle. “I should have been tipped off that he had maybe a photographic memory coming into play,” she said.

Wilkins, now a stay-at-home mother, taught all three of her boys to read starting when they were in diapers. “I introduced them to the ABCs when they were itty bitty babies,” she said, recalling how she brought out a new colored block each week.

That progressed to flash cards with simple words, and her boys were stringing them together into sentences like “We go to the store” by age 2.

“Never think, ‘Oh, he’s too young to understand.’ Never underestimate them,” she said. “When they ask about politics, science or math, don’t think they’re too young to learn.”

Wilkins also uses everyday activities to reinforce the basics. For instance, Jaden helps make the grocery list and finds the items at the market by reading the signs and labels. “They just feel so accomplished when they’ve helped you,” she said.

Her best advice to parents of preschoolers?

“Feed their curiosity with books,” Wilkins said. “This is the next generation. You want them to be ahead of the game.”