2.5 year old and reading

[amberskyfire]

DD is 2.5 (she will be 3 in March) and has started reading. For a while, she was just sounding out small three-letter words, but now she is sounding out much bigger words. Finally, when she sounded out the word "returns" at the library check-in counter, I finally admitted that something was actually happening and I should probably start paying more attention to it. I didn't expect her to be trying to read this early so I am woefully behind at all of this and haven't read anything about it. What do you do for your early readers? Are there any reading programs you like to get kids started with phonics and such? Or at this age do you just ignore it and let it happen on its own? DD is actually way into school-type activities so she would really dig a beginner-level reading program or other related activity. Maybe with worksheets. She likes those. Thanks for the help!

Oh, and I thought I should add that she does like playing Starfall online and on Daddy's iPhone already. I thought someone might mention it.

[Rlin]

DS just turned 2,5 in December and is also working on learning to read. He sounds out 3 letter words, tries to spell with his letter magnets, etc. I just follow his lead, as with everything. He figured out the alphabet on his own, he'll figure out reading the same way. He wants me to read chapter books to him (all-day-long) and interrupts me with questions. Where is that word on the page, mommy? What does this word mean? He also tries to read the books to me.

Long story short, I let it happen on its own, but I don't ignore it. I sometimes point things out to him. He's raised in Dutch and German, so for example I point out the same words in German and Dutch, with different spelling. In Dutch combined letters like "au, ou, ie, ei, oe, ij" have their own phonics, so I help him spell these out when we see them in books. I do it once and then drop it. If he asks me again, I'll answer the question, if not, also fine. So no "formal education". I just read a lot of books to him, answer his questions, give him information about what he is interested in at the moment and let him take the lead.

[excitedtobeamom]

We used the Bob Books, www.starfall.com, www.readingeggs.com, and www.headsprout.com for our son who read very early.  We didn't force him to do any of these but he enjoyed them at his own speed.  He really enjoyed the computer games.  We read constantly outloud as well.  He still prefers me to read to him.  The shared experience is great!

[St. Margaret]

Ha, isn't that fun when they just read something out like that?  And a bit freaky (not that they are freaks but it freaks out us parents-- what should we be doing?! lol)

With DD, though she adores worksheets and wanted to learn to read, they didn't go together all that well because the worksheets we had (a big book MIL got from costco, then DH got one) were either totally focused on recognizing letters of the alphabet (too easy, but fun coloring and worksheet type work, lol) or required a lot of writing (too hard for her back then).  So we just let her play starfall about as much as she wanted and kept reading to her, tracing our finger along as we read.  We read plenty of gorgeous picture books but then made sure to include Suess stuff (the same words over and over from the old school method of teaching reading actually helped her a lot as she started with sight words, then expanded on her own from there) plus other easy readers like Mo Willems and then Cynthia Rylant.  We'd just help her remember vowel sounds and how they change, and certain letter combos, and helped with odd or tricky variations, and she can read now at 3.5.  Most importantly, she was happy through the process-- she's been itching to read since she was one and has gone through cycles of interest in trying as she developed her skills since then, and so I wanted to provide her with access to materials and info so she could engage as she wished.

Good luck!