When did your kids begin to read?

[lisamarie]

My ds is 5 1/2 years old. He knows all of his sounds of letters and can sound out just a few words. I did get some "BOB" books from the library and we tried one last night. He got some words, but got a bit frustrated. It was before bed, so maybe he was tired.

How and when do you get them started w/reading. Any book suggestions for beginner readers?

Thanks!

[mirlow]

I remember feeling the same way last year. My dd turned six in May. She really didn't start reading until then. I wasn't really sure how to go about teaching her? In the summer one of the teachers at her school had a reading club for her age group. That really helped push her reading skills. She's in first grade and I am amazed at how much they have learned this year as opposed to last year. We read every night for 15 minutes and if we don't do it early enought I can tell the difference because she is just to tired.

[Irishmommy]

My now 7 year old has been reading independently since she was 4. She has been reading chapter books for about a year now. Unfortunately, she was more advanced than books that interested her, but she has caught up with herself. I don't know if they are available in the U.S. but there is a series of 36 books that I used, from England (and available some places in Canada). They are the Ladybird "Key Words Reading Scheme" and I found them excellent - actually, I learned on them when I was 3 or 4 - a long time ago!!!

[mommynay-nay]

My son was similar to yours at 5 1/2. I think he really didn't believe he could read until this fall, even though it was apparent that he did know quite a few words. He turned six in Sept. He is more confident and now is reading pretty well. He goes to public school kindergarten (was in a young 5s kindergarten last year at the same school) and he is really blossoming this year.

I'd say give him some time; he'll get it. I bought some books designated level one readers for beginners. You can find them in places that sell educational/learning toys. Books that are easy to read by matching the illustrations to the words, or that have pictures above certain words seemed to stimulate my son in reading. Sometimes he just "faked it" as far as really reading and sometimes had it memorized, but I think all of that helped him in the end result. Kids learn at different paces and I think that at this age especially, let them set their own pace.

[Alexander]

From age 1 to 2.5 we did nothing but phonics games in the bath between eating strawberries, (no ABC, ever), used only small letters (never big), and then left everything quite alone except for leaving loads of books around and doing storytime a million times a day!

At four, she could read. All by herself without one lesson. We are using the same technique for writing, which she is just starting to get interested in.

So, What's the trick.

Your child will learn to read, whether or not you push him into it.

Don't push!

I'm telling you here, don't do anything that indicates you expect him to do something. It will lead to missery, and even if he does get done what you want him to get done, there is a high chance that he'll never feel the urge or the joy.

The trick then is to ensure that he wants to do it. If he does not pick up a book because he is curious, then there is NO point in shoving one under his nose.

"Lets read a book darling, I'll read this one you read that one." will not work if the idea does not inspire him. Such ideas should come from the children themselves.

If they do not come to you with these ideas, then don't try to use it. He will be motivated to read, even if the material is really hard if the subject matter is of interest to him.

So if he is interested in Bob the Builder, you read it to him 1,000 times a day till he knows it off by heart. When you are not looking, he will pick the book up, open it and pretend to read. That is the first stage. If he comes to you asking "what name is it" or "what does that say", answer him straight, without turning it into a lesson, (what sound does this make, put them together, and this one . . . . etc).

Hope this helps.

I'll be back!

a

[Firemom]

My son started reading in the middle of lst grade, now he's in second and is getting even better at it.

[lisamarie]

Thank you all for your posts, I really appreciate it. We are going slow and will take it gently and at his own pace. Thanks again for your kind words.

[BathrobeGoddess]

I have to share my dd's adventure into reading because it is really cool (I think anyway:p ) Dd started writing words at age 4. Now, she mostly copied them from books and signs and such. She didn't have any formal academic education (she was at a waldorf school for three years) and learned the names of the letters by magic (I SWEAR she never asked anyone for them...it is quite strange). Then she began to compose stories and wrote them down if I told her how to spell the words. About three weeks ago she began to read out right! No kidding...no sounding out words...full on sight reading! Sat down in the living room and began reading a small book! She wasn't perfect or anything but it was really neat to witness. And she began writing (on her own) stories this last friday! The first one was called "On Christmas" and was 11 lines long. I kept it of course.

Okay the bragging has ended!:D

[lisamarie]

WOW! Aren't kids amazing! Thanks for sharing-

Lisa

[Baby Phat]

Just wanted to add that while early reading can open many interesting doors, later reading is not necessarily problematic. Like kids who walk later than others, talk later, etc., later readers catch on quickly and tend to catch up soon.

[alexander1]

Quite so, and I have no hesitation in saying that I was around 11 or 12 before I found it important to me.

a

[alexander1]

Just thought you all might find this article in www.theonion.com inspiring.

Hope this helps

a

:D :D :D:D :D

[Deb]

I'm all for allowing a child to read when he/she is ready. My son is 5.5 and is not very interested yet (we read to him every day and we have books everywhere in our house). I've decided, for the moment, not to try to "teach" him how to read. I believe that he will start when he's ready. If that takes until he's much older, I'm getting myself ready to deal with the criticism. I do trust that he will learn when he's ready. I want him to have a love of reading for his entire life and I've learned that if I try to force (or encourage too much) him to do something, he resists my efforts.

[alexander1]

Absolutly Deb!

I'm right behind you. Anytime you need support on this, I'm right here for you.

a

[Deb]

Thanks Alexander. I am encouraged to actually "know" someone who took a while to get into reading. I read about a child (I think it was in a John Holt book) who took until he was around 11 to learn to read, then he took off and read everything about the subject that finally interested him. I'd rather my son waits until he really feels it than be pushed into it by anyone. I'm homeschooling (unschooling, actually) and plan to let him take his time.

[Alexander]

Deb,

If you ever find you resolve turning to jelly, check out this book, these chapters online (http://www.sudval.org/texts/freelast.html) written by Dan Greenberg. . In fact there is a whole load of stuff, some of it on line (http://www.sudval.org/free.html).

It is a shame that the name "un-schooled" took root, as it implies that those proponents are somehow "anti-education", and the situation is made worse by the fact that as a "movement", it does attract a certain number ill-informed parents who hanka after the "anti-society", (whatever that is???)

Anyway, check it out and get back to me if you have any questions.

Hope this helps


a

ps sorry to hear about the divorce. Will that foul up tyour plans to educate in the way you desire?

[Deb]

Thanks for the link Alexander. I read about Summerhill School a couple of years ago and then found out about Sudbury Valley School in Mass. That's what I mean by unschooling. I do trust that my son will let me know when he's ready to learn something and that's when I'll "teach" him.

I am considering a move to Mass and will actually be about 100 miles from Sudbury Valley School. Something I might consider for the future if I "have" to send my son to school.

OT- We're having an amicable (so far) divorce, although we're still living together. My h says he supports the homeschooling and I've been introducing the unschooling ideas for about a year or so now. I'll have to see how it goes.

Deb

[ecochildsplay]

My daughter begain reading during November of her kindergarten year. I am a preschool teacher and in graduate school for early childhood education. I have taken 3 courses on early language and learning during the past year. Research indicates that phonological awareness is the key indicator for reading readiness and predictor for later reading success. Phonological awareness consists of listening, rhyming, alliteration, blending phonemes, syllabication, onset/rime, sentence segmentation. According to CIRCLE (http://www.uth.tmc.edu/circle/phono_aware.htm),
Why is phonological awareness important?

Phonological awareness is the strongest predictor of success in early reading.
35% of the children who enter kindergarten have not naturally acquired phonological awareness and need to be taught these skills.
Phonological awareness allows children to play with blending, segmenting and manipulating sounds prior to having to do this with the additional knowledge required to blend, segment and manipulate letters into words in isolation or text.

If you are interested in natural toys, check out my blog at
http://www.ecochildsplay.com

I recommend Bob books on my blog. I will update the blog with more early reader recommendations soon.

[operamommy]

My dd and ds1 really didn't really read till about the age of 6 or so. It was funny, because they both loved to be read to, so I really expected them to want to learn early. I had to learn to be patient! My ds1 had NO interest in reading or learning letter sounds for the longest time, but once he was really he really took off. Dd has been much the same way. One thing I also had to learn was to let them read what *they* were interested in. Ds's first chapter books were those horrible "Captain Underpants" books...ugh! But they really appealed to him and helped him with that bridge between simple books and chapter books.

[queenjane]

My son, who is ten "started to read" when he was about 4-5...meaning he could recognize letters, signs, very simple words. He was in a Piaget-based university lab preschool program that provided a "print-rich atmosphere" but no reading instruction. Then he went to a Montessori K class, and a couple months of first grade there. I pulled him out just before he was 7, to homeschool (we're unschoolers.) At that time, he HATED to read, was not even reading simple easy readers. Hated hated hated reading. So i didnt press it.

In the past year, when he was 9, he started reading novels, like Bridge to Teribithia, Charlie Bone, and The Chronicles of Narnia. How did he learn to read so well?

Videogames. Seriously, i have met so so many unschoolers who say their kids' reading skills really took off with exposure to videogames and computer games. When he left school, my son needed help reading all the text on his games (Animal Crossing is a good one for having TONS of stuff to read), gradually he would ask me less often, until i eventually noticed he didnt ask me at all. And of course, we were reading together every night as well (Harry Potter, Eragon, Wrinkle in Time, Bartimaeus, So You Want To Be A Wizard, etc). So he learned to read (and actually really likes it now.)

But he didnt like to write. He still doesnt like to write by hand (i think it feels to slow for him), but after discovering a love of online RPGs (role playing games...Everquest, World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, Runescape, Etc) which involve so much typing to communicate w/ fellow players, he really got good at it. His immersion in fantasy (knights and warriors and magic) led to him writing his own stories on the computer, about the heroes/characters he created in his games. In my homeschool group, mothers have been known to say things like "Boys just don't like to write!" or complain about how their boys resist the required journal writing about their day. My boy can choose to write about what he loves, and does so willingly because the subject matter is important to him. He's so passionate about his interests and i love that!

So this is my longwinded way of saying that i think a more "natural" age for kids to learn to read well is around 9 instead of 5 (not saying if a kid wants to learn earlier that isnt ok too), and that its completely normal. I also think that the best way to encourage a love of reading is to spend time together reading to your child, live in a "print rich environment" with plenty of opportunities for reading (for us this includes computer, videogames, and closed captioning on tv, as well as posters ,maps, books, etc...oh and comics are great too!), and giving them materials to read about subjects they love.


Katherine

[soygurl]

Thanks Alexander. I am encouraged to actually "know" someone who took a while to get into reading. I read about a child (I think it was in a John Holt book) who took until he was around 11 to learn to read, then he took off and read everything about the subject that finally interested him.
That's how it was for my oldest brother (heck, it could have been written about my brother, lol. my family met John Holt when my brother was around that age:lol :duck: :wink ). My other brother taught himself to read when he was 5. I learned to read when I was 9.5, and just like my oldest brother I went from *not reading* to reading chapter books in a matter of weeks. In a few months I was reading well above my "grade" level. My brothers and I were all unschooled (though we always used the term "natural learning").

[LeftField]

I just figured out that this is a really old thread!

[chel]

it might be old but still very interesting and a big concern to many parents, so I'll add more..

My dd has always loved being read to. I sent her to a very play based 2 mornings a week program. She was "at level" when she started K but quickly fell behind in reading. I tried uping our pace but she just wasn't ready. She turned 6 the month she started 1st grade and has grown by leaps and bounds. She's still barely "at level" in a very academic school. She has always loved to write and can spell great (better than I can:o )

[PajamaMama]

My 3 year old has an obnoxious toy that my sister in law gave her. It is a set of fridge magnets of the alphabet. You can put the letters into this other magnetic thing and the thing will say the name of the letter and tells what sound it makes. I don't love the toy but SHE does and she can identify all the letters. Let me see if I can find a link...

http://cgi.ebay.com/LEAP-FROG-FRIDGE-PHONICS-ALPHABET-LEARNING_W0QQitemZ130065600546QQihZ003QQcategoryZ1 45932QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

She likes rearranging the letters with her sister to make words and can tell me what letter most words start with now. I think she's pretty close to reading.

FWIW, my older daughter did not have this toy and was still reading by the time she was 5 years old. I never tried to 'teach' her to read...she just sort of got it, the letters coming together to make words clicked in her head eventually.

[StillForest]

Thanks for bumping this thread. My DD started kindergarten in the fall and is already "behind." I've been afraid that she might have a learning disability since she has a lot of difficulty recognizing and remembering letters of the alphabet. I haven't put any pressure on her...just figured that she'll read when she's ready. But really do want to get her help if she really does have a problem... Her teacher, who I really like, is also worried. DD is a very young kindergartener. I think she's getting frustrated watching her classmates reading. Meeting with teacher to discuss what to do. American schools, even low key creative ones like that attended by my DD, are really pushing academic skills far too early.

[Mizelenius]

Reading fluenty, I would say within the past few months (she is almost 5). However, I also only exposed her to reading (reading to her, answering letter questions, and when we did talk about letters, I NEVER taught her letter names, just the sounds). I never gave formal lessons. I think children will read when they are ready, just like everything else.

[EFmom]

My two were reading pretty well by the time they were four. But kids learn at their own pace. I think the key thing is to keep trying to keep them interested in reading.