I know, I know, don't push your kids, and I'm not . . . but my (almost) 3 1/2 yr old is DESPERATE to learn how to read! Problem is, everything I'm finding as far as worksheets & such are writing based & she doesn't quite have the coordination to learn to write yet, and doesn't care about writing, she wants to READ. . . I've started trying to show her how we sound words out (she knows most of her letter sounds, though I am running into a problem of her not recognizing all lower case letters, I know I need to address that before she'll be able to read much), but she's not really getting it. She'll say all the sounds but I'm not seeing the lightbulb go off as I string the sounds together into a word . . . So . . . I'm thinking maybe sight reading is a better approach to try at this age (I certainly don't want to push her into something she's not ready for, but she's BEGGING. She wants to read SO bad! I swear, if I told her that getting rid of her favorite doll (that goes EVERYWHERE with her) would help her learn to read, she'd hand it over w/o a second thought. So I don't want to put her off/discourage her desire either). I've seen people talk about the Bob books, our local library doesn't have them, so I ordered a couple used, from half.com to see what they're like. Is that likely to work? If the typical (to me LOL) learn your sounds, string them together, learn exceptions as you go (I'm still occasionally realizing that some word I've read all my life is actually pronounced some way totally different from what I thought it was) would work, I could do that, but it's just not clicking, so I'm thinking I need to find another approach but everything I'm finding (online & in stores) seems to be the typical phonics approach.
HELP!!!

If she can use a computer mouse, starfall.com is a favorite in our house. Covers everything they need to know but is kid directed.

My DD is realy into letters right now and we do the sound it out stuff but it isn't quite clicking either. I am not actively trying to teach her to read just following her lead with the letter questions and she often asks how to spell things. She isn't quite as desperate to learn...however do you have any board books from when she was a baby?
My DD likes to "read" to her baby brother from those one word picture books. You know picture of lion and it says, Lion.
I don't know if that will help her reading skills but it may help her think she is reading and buy you some time for the letter sounds to work themselves out.

I think she's too little for a formal reading curriculum, and from what you've said her brain isn't ready for that sort of thing yet. She could probably learn some sight words, though, and she might enjoy that. You could ask her what words she most wants to read or just pick some that seem relevant to her, and then pick three or four and write them on cards for her, maybe with pictures on the back. Talk to her about how to recognize the differences between them... help her notice "her" words in environmental print... and just have fun with it.

Dar

A couple of thoughts...

When my 4 year old was desperate to read but didn't seem ready, someone gave me some really great advice. They said that learning to read is a long process that begins with recognizing what a book is in infancy all the way up to breaking the code. So, I started presenting it this way to my son. I told him that he was, in fact, learning to read and that it was a long process. He was at a specific point in that process and doing well, I told him. I pointed to the things he knew in the world of reading as proof of this and I told him that I once had to learn how to read too. That seemed to make him happy.

Also, here is something that we recently discovered. Maybe your daughter would like it too. We got a book at the library that came with a CD in a baggie. I assumed it was just an audio book and I know my kids like audio books. But the hardcopy of the book is with it so that the child can "read" along with the audio. When it's time to turn the page, the CD makes a specific sound to cue the child to turn the page. My son begged me to play that CD over and over. He really enjoyed turning the pages along with the audio and that helps with sight word acquisition and other things. I keep meaning to get more of those at the library. They are fun and they are also a confidence-builder.

Finally, my son went through a phase where he enjoyed having labels around the house. It sounds a little odd, but I'd write labels for common household objects and he'd help me stick them up. Then, he'd point and say, "THE door!". He got a kick out of that.

Edited to add one last idea...
I've read my kids some simple picture books and assigned them a word to read. I point out a word (e.g. "kids") and tell them what it says. Then, everytime I come across that word, I point to it and one of the kids "reads" it. It works best, obviously, for books with repetitive simple text. Eric Carle books are an example. The ones we've used like this have been by Bill Barton (?), I think. The themes in his books are cars, construction, space, etc, which is their type of interest. The language is large and simple. They get excited when they help me read by reading their assigned word.

HTH!

Dar is right on. Unless she is profoundly gifted, she is not ready for abstract concepts. Numbers and letters and other symbology are outside of a 3 year old's capabilities. They do not become able to understand the relationship between the sound and the letter or the amount in their hand and the number until they are closer to 5, 6, or 7. This is one reason Waldorf schools don't even have books in the classroom until 2nd grade. Here are some great professional sources for learning about how young children learn to read.


http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/nrp/smallbook.htm

http://www.literacycenter.net/lessonview_en.htm#

http://www.reading.org/

http://www.naeyc.org/ece/critical/literacy.asp

And here are some book ideas for you:

http://sales.naeyc.org/Itemdetail.aspx?Stock_No=798&Category=CBook

Another voice of agreement with Dar. I have one child who did learn to read (without instruction) beginning at three, but the vast majority of children simply aren't ready. The clue as to whether they're ready is in whether they start putting together the literacy clues they pick up from their environment and straightforward answers to their questions about letters and words.

My 9yo wants to drive a car desperately. I said "You're too young. The law says 16. We'll talk then." If my 3yo was desperate to learn to read and the basic clues she was getting just weren't clicking, I'd just say "You're too young. Your brain will be ready to learn to read when you're older. Lucky you -- you've got a mom and dad who love to read to you!" No big deal.

Some small children are satisfied (or can at least "save face") by learning to recognize by sight a handful of words that are important to them. It gives them a taste and is enough to help slightly demystify reading ... and they're fine with that. You could try helping her learn to recognize her name and "mom" and "dad" and a few other words and see if that keeps her happy.

Miranda

I think you're right on - if the "sound it out" thing isn't clicking, try a sight reading approach. Google 100 most common words and start there. Then on family names, her own name, pet names. Let her memorize books. It will click.

My daughter can hear the sounds amazingly well - it totally surprised me.

I was a nanny for a 6 year old and she did NOT hear the sounds like that. She just needed to look at words a lot and be read to while following along, with a finger pointing to the word I was saying. Eventually it clicked with her and I wish I had done SO much less "sound it out" kind of stuff with her - she got so frustrated and already hated the idea of trying to learn to read (she had been through kindergarten and had "failed").

I wouldn't push it. I've known unschoolers and homeschoolers that simply let their children teach themselves to read. If she tries to do it by herself at this age atleast she will have tried. As with many things in h/s'ing most kids can teach themselves when left alone. If she can't do it then she will move on to something else until she does learn to read later. I seriously wouldn't push it, she's much too young.

i agree with dar as well.

dd is four, and is interested, and it is amazing to watch her figuring it out. her excitement. she's been writing her name, 'ada' for several months, and the other day she told me that another word ending with 'da' (we speak russian), also had the letters 'd' and 'a' at the end. and she kept repeating 'dah', 'd' and 'a'. then she wanted to write that word. she wanted to figure out letters for it, as she does not know all the letters (we are unschooling, so we go by need to know basis :lol ). she wanted me to show the letters with my fingers, and then she tried to figure them out, and she wrote the word. she was very proud.

(ds hit return before i was done :lol).

dd has recently started 'reading' to herself. she will sit with books and mutter to herself, and turn pages, and she tells me that she is reading. sometimes she asks which word ends the page. sometimes she will pick ds's books and ask me to read them to her, and then she will settle with the book by herself. sometimes she 'reads' long english books with almost no pictures :lol

help her to read the words that she wants to read, what is meaningful for her. i also like the idea of explaining to her that learning to read is a long process, as one else suggested.

OK, don't flame me. I'm generally also in the "don't push!" camp. I agree a formal curriculum would be overkill. But I also hear you on the three year old nagging to read issue. I figured if she asked enough and nagged me, then she was ready. If an adult was pushing her, then not so much.

If you follow a phonemic awareness approach regarding reading (I studied it in for my library science degree) , the ability to link/join sounds together into one whole is a separate step from recognizing different sounds. So this was a game I played, first with basic words. Mostly in the car, when we were both bored:
"I'm going to give you a broken word. Can you put it back together? Base...Ball. Tur...Nip. Mon...ster. Yuck..y." And so on. You can also say it's a sticky, gooey gum word that's all stretched out, and when you say the word you snap it back together. When they're pretty good with that, then do this:

"now I'm going to give you another broken word, but it has just sounds:
/K/ /A/ /T/ /M/A/N " And you would choose words that are easily broken apart like this, making only the individual sounds of the letters, and give longer ones if those are too easy. You can even do digraph phonemes, it's all the same to a kid: /y/U/K. They can give you word connections too. They will usually be potty words. :wink

And from here, the jump is pretty self-explanatory to reading and connecting those letters together via print.

We used (lower-case) fridge magnets as far as sounding out first words.

I do disagree with you, boongirl, that only profoundly gifted 3 year olds learn to read. I highly doubt my daughter is PG according to standard definitions (and you know me, I wouldn't label her as such even if someone else told me to :p ), and she read at 3, and learned how to do so very quickly. I think a facility with language comes easily to some kids, but no big whoop. And then, at six, they only read Garfield. Oh, that lovable but irascible Odie!

This may sound odd, but my 3yo taught himself to read, and I'm worried sick over it! :lol I recently read a book that is VERY pro-phonics, and it made the case that precocious readers are often at a disadvantage later on, because they learn to read at a time when their brains simply AREN'T able to understand a decoding approach. They sight read almost exclusively, which works well until they hit 2nd or 3rd grade work, in which they have to start decoding more and more. My 3yo is definitely sight reading, and I'm probably driving him crazy with my attempts to retrofit him with some phonics skills, but I can tell that "unsticking" the sounds one from another is something he really can't do.

I think LeftField has some excellent practical suggestions. OP, I think that if you do things like that with your child, you will soon know whether she is ready to read or not. :) I would not bother spending too much money on a formal curriculum just yet.

I would say read lots and lots and lots of books with her. A book I love is "Teach a Child to Read with Children's Books". While I personally wouldn't teach a three year old to read, this book is a great balance of phonics and whole language, and is very enjoyable.

This may sound odd, but my 3yo taught himself to read, and I'm worried sick over it! :lol I recently read a book that is VERY pro-phonics, and it made the case that precocious readers are often at a disadvantage later on, because they learn to read at a time when their brains simply AREN'T able to understand a decoding approach.

I am calling BS on this one. My son learned to read at 2 and he most definitely used a phonetic approach to do so. In fact, he used to write "fake" words (two I remember are TEP and SAB) and sound them out for fun. He is almost 11 now and has never had a problem decoding anything except for girl talk. :lol

Now, perhaps your 3yo is exclusively sight reading, but I don't think it's something you need to worry about unless you were pushing him to acquire the sight words in the first place, which I doubt you were. Most likely, he's acquired his sight words and will begin extrapolating the phonics from that at a later date. Most people read using a combination of both methods, anyway.

Here's an article about a simple and natural process used by Donn and Jean Reed, who homeschooled four children and authored The Home School Source Book (this article is an excerpt from the book): Learning to Read (http://www.besthomeschooling.org/articles/jean_donn_reed.html)

;) Lillian

subbing. perhaps some of the ideas will help my very-ready but under-taught {PS'd} dd. I'm especially intrested in starfall.com as I've heard of it before in passing...

Here's an article about a simple and natural process used by Donn and Jean Reed, who homeschooled four children and authored The Home School Source Book (this article is an excerpt from the book): Learning to Read

I like their emphasis on writing to read. That is very cool. It sounds like they used sight-reading methods. And I certainly don't throw my hat into either camp. Different ones work for different kids. However...this is not so correct...

The conventional "sounding out" of "baby" is buh-ay-buh-ee. Once the child can point to the letters in turn and make these sounds, we are supposed to say, "Very good! Now say the sounds faster; run them together.&rldquo; We are supposed to demonstrate the method, slowly and ponderously saying, "BUHay-buhEE" over and over, until the child finally hears - or guesses - the word "baby." "Now you do it faster," we say, with the reminder "Sound out each letter, then run the sounds together - and you have the word!".

I agree that saying "buh" for the /b/ sound is confusing. likewise, you wouldn't say "CUH" "AH" "TUH." Because then you have a cuhahtuh, not a cat. I don't know if I'd like to meet a cuhahtuh, particularly on a moonless night.

It was challenging to relearn the sounds by how they actually sound, not "B says buh." And the word "baby" would be an awfully challenging word to start with for sounding out (long A vowel! Y acting as a second vowel). But I think a phonemic approach works just fine if you actually make the sounds of the letters, and remember it's a jumping-off point, not that children will continue to sound out words for years to come. Although I still do (particularly if confronted with a word like Humuhumunukunukuapua'a. Say. For Example.)

This may sound odd, but my 3yo taught himself to read, and I'm worried sick over it! I recently read a book that is VERY pro-phonics, and it made the case that precocious readers are often at a disadvantage later on, because they learn to read at a time when their brains simply AREN'T able to understand a decoding approach. They sight read almost exclusively, which works well until they hit 2nd or 3rd grade work, in which they have to start decoding more and more.

I don't know if I agree with that. There are rabid phonics people and rabid sight word people, and I think probably different ways work for different kids. Your kid happened to learn to sight-read. He will probably figure out the "code" and I wouldn't try pushing phonics on him. When he gets frustrated, he'll let you know. If he starts stabbing in the dark at words (say, he sees the word "worry" and guesses "work"), then you might point out the letter differences? Context clues? And so on?

I am calling BS on this one.

I don't know if I agree with that. There are rabid phonics people and rabid sight word people, and I think probably different ways work for different kids.

Yeah, you're probably right. The book is called Why Our Children Can't Read ( http://www.amazon.com/Children-Cant-Read-What-About/dp/0684853566/sr=1-1/qid=1157256933/ref=sr_1_1/102-6384143-2080960?ie=UTF8&s=books ), and although the author quotes LOTS of scientific research, she also seems to be pushing one particular reading "system" (Read America), which did make me leery when I read it. But it still scared the snot out of me! My ds DOES make tons of sightreading misses (jobs = jokes, etc), so a lot of the book rang true for me. But I know rarely is there one "right" way to teach anything...

There are rabid phonics people and rabid sight word people, and I think probably different ways work for different kids. Your kid happened to learn to sight-read. He will probably figure out the "code" and I wouldn't try pushing phonics on him. When he gets frustrated, he'll let you know. If he starts stabbing in the dark at words (say, he sees the word "worry" and guesses "work"), then you might point out the letter differences? Context clues? And so on?

My greataunt, who taught 1st grade for 40 years, gave me some advice when I became a teacher. She said some people are in favor of phonics; some prefer the whole language approach. Neither is right or wrong. People learn how to read many ways and there are many ways to teach people to read. Everyone should learn as many ways as possible.

And, I do disagree with the idea that a 3 year old teaching themselves to read is not profoundly gifted. There is no consensus on the meaning of giftedness nor profound giftedness but when a child is learning to read by teaching themselves at an age 3+ years before peers, that child is at the very least gifted and most likely more gifted than the average gifted. Even an above average 3 year old does not teach themselves to read a book by themselves. You can argue that that is not profoundly gifted but it is clearly way above average.

I recently read a book that is VERY pro-phonics, and it made the case that precocious readers are often at a disadvantage later on, because they learn to read at a time when their brains simply AREN'T able to understand a decoding approach. They sight read almost exclusively.

I learned to read by myself when I was 5. In two languages: English and Spanish. I never learned phonics or grammar and always had a very, very hard time when teachers would try to teach these things to me. It was like they were speaking a different language. My father and brother are completely the opposite. They learned to read late and rely on phonics to this day when reading. There are children for whom one way or the other is preferred. Like another language, the other way can be very difficult to learn. I can use pronunciation techniques to help me learn a new word I am more likely to figure it out by context. I remember it by sight. I think young children who learn to read by themselves do the same. They learn to read the books that are read to them. This is not to say that they are parroting the words. They may be, or they may be truly reading them. But, to a child who is truly learning the words by sight, phonics may be confusing or even frustrating. I hated first grade because all we did was phonics. To this day, I bear a grudge against phonics and teach it as little as possible.

Another piece of advice my great aunt gave is to be wary of people who claim their way is the only way to learn/teach. No one has a hold on that. There are many ways to learn and many ways to teach.

This may sound odd, but my 3yo taught himself to read, and I'm worried sick over it! :lol I recently read a book that is VERY pro-phonics, and it made the case that precocious readers are often at a disadvantage later on, because they learn to read at a time when their brains simply AREN'T able to understand a decoding approach. They sight read almost exclusively, which works well until they hit 2nd or 3rd grade work, in which they have to start decoding more and more. My 3yo is definitely sight reading, and I'm probably driving him crazy with my attempts to retrofit him with some phonics skills, but I can tell that "unsticking" the sounds one from another is something he really can't do.

Don't worry I have a 12yo who taught herself to read at three using basically sight-recognition of words and syllables. I can almost point to the day when she was 5 and a bit when phonetic decoding suddenly became a fluent part of her reading. She was struggling with reading dialect ... and then all of a sudden she could do it.

Miranda

Yeah, you're probably right. The book is called Why Our Children Can't Read ( http://www.amazon.com/Children-Cant-Read-What-About/dp/0684853566/sr=1-1/qid=1157256933/ref=sr_1_1/102-6384143-2080960?ie=UTF8&s=books ), and although the author quotes LOTS of scientific research, she also seems to be pushing one particular reading "system" (Read America), which did make me leery when I read it. But it still scared the snot out of me! My ds DOES make tons of sightreading misses (jobs = jokes, etc), so a lot of the book rang true for me. But I know rarely is there one "right" way to teach anything...

Ah, yes. I read that book. I thought it was weird, and then if you go and research online the very, very tempestuous relationship she has with her son, and some sort of other reading program that they co-developed but he has the rights to, or something like that, and then I KNEW it was weird. She's totally what I would call "rabid." She does have some right ideas in there, but makes her approach unnecessarily complicated so you feel you have to buy her program or your child will be stunted for life. And her observations are more aimed at the older grade school child (as I recall) not a three year old. A three year old making sight reading "misses" is no big deal.

Her point is to scare the snot out of you so you'll buy her (expensive) program. When you could do all sorts of fun things for free.

Here is a good review from the NYT on her book and someone else's...
Two Ways to Skin a Kat (http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/10/12/reviews/971012.12kayelt.html)

And, I do disagree with the idea that a 3 year old teaching themselves to read is not profoundly gifted. There is no consensus on the meaning of giftedness nor profound giftedness but when a child is learning to read by teaching themselves at an age 3+ years before peers, that child is at the very least gifted and most likely more gifted than the average gifted. Even an above average 3 year old does not teach themselves to read a book by themselves. You can argue that that is not profoundly gifted but it is clearly way above average.

Eh? I was responding to when you said this:

Unless she is profoundly gifted, she is not ready for abstract concepts. Numbers and letters and other symbology are outside of a 3 year old's capabilities. They do not become able to understand the relationship between the sound and the letter or the amount in their hand and the number until they are closer to 5, 6, or 7.

Are we talking about only teaching oneself? I feel that many three-year old children can understand the letter-to-sound or word-to-spoken-meaning relationship, whether figuring it out themselves or being taught or playing a computer game. In Montessori method, if the child shows interest, you can start playing reading games at 2.5. But interest is key. Teaching a baby to read is totally ridiculous. But if a young child is asking - and meaning it - then it's not so ridiculous. And I don't think it means anything in particular regarding their intelligence. Or that they're ahead in any way or another.

I agree though, it would suck major lemons to know how to read and then suffer through oldtime phonics drills.

Eh? I was responding to when you said this:

Are we talking about only teaching oneself? I feel that many three-year old children can understand the letter-to-sound or word-to-spoken-meaning relationship, whether figuring it out themselves or being taught or playing a computer game. In Montessori method, if the child shows interest, you can start playing reading games at 2.5. But interest is key. Teaching a baby to read is totally ridiculous. But if a young child is asking - and meaning it - then it's not so ridiculous. And I don't think it means anything in particular regarding their intelligence. Or that they're ahead in any way or another.

I agree though, it would suck major lemons to know how to read and then suffer through oldtime phonics drills.

This thread was a lot to take in, because suddenly, at 2.5 years old, my DS is wanting to read and draw letters all day long.
The other day, I was holding a cup of coffee I bought and DS insisted it was tea. I told him, no it's coffee, but he kept insisting. My older DD looked at the cup and she noticed the coffee maker had written a tiny letter 'T' on the cup because it was a toffee coffee (I'm guessing). So from that he was correct, it was T. He's also suddenly reading short, easy words, like ball and cat. He's recognized his name forever (before 2?), and understands some phonics.
He's begging to do "school" where we sit down with worksheets I printed up (because he kept nagging, I think because big sis is doing school at home) and he LOVES it. He starts throwing a tantrum when I tell him it's enough for now. I'm desperately trying to find ways to fill his need to read and write, though he cannot write the letters at all (except O, which is developemently right on target for his age), he pretends and that's fun for him. This is so entirely different from my oldest 2 who had no interest in this stuff (though DD was more into drawing objects and is a talented artist). My DD didn't learn to read until she was 8 and the school held her back a year because of it. So at 8, reading suddenly clicked and now you can't get her to put books down, and she reads adult level books.

I don't know what this means, with my 2 yr old. Can my DS read? I'd say yes, he can, a little. But I didn't teach him, he taught himself with a bit of guidance from me, when asked by him for the help. He absolutely loves Starfall.com btw. He has the interest in learning to read. I read to him since birth and he had no TV until recently. I have no idea if this attributed to his early reading, or if it's just genetic. My whole family are reading fanatics, almost to the point of being unhealthy, interfering with other aspects in life. DS's daddy OTOH doesn't hardly ever read.

It's late, so I hope I stayed on topic here and haven't been a PIA. I found starfall.com satisfies the little bugger when he's itching to read, at least for now. :)

I taught myself to read when I was three. It was a combination of sightwords and applying what I had learned on Sesame Street and The Electric Company. I always knew I was profoundly gifted, LOL!

I learned to read at 4 with sight/whole words reading. I absolutely loathed phonics instruction in school (more than math! LOL) and I'm a very fluent reader. Despite some of the phonics stuff not making sense to me, I've never had problems with reading. My sister taught herself to read at 4 by memorizing her books (again, sight-reading) and she is also a very fluent reader. We both spell well too. I wouldn't worry about it too much if your child isn't into phonics. I think everyone's brain works differently and the "right" technique is the one that's best suited to the individual.

My daughter has really enjoyed "The Reading Lesson." It's about $20, you can go as slowly or quickly as you like, and there's no writing required.

Namaste!

I would probably turn her loose on Starfall (http://www.starfall.com), and IF she really starts getting it and seems ready for short lessons with you, maybe try the phonics program that's free online at the Tanglewood curriculum site (Click on Reallly Reading! on this page):
http://www.tanglewoodeducation.com/bksrd.htm] (http://www.tanglewoodeducation.com/bksrd.htm)
What I would NOT do at this point is spend money on this or that fancy curriculum.

Edited because I noticed they don't want other sites posting direct links to their reading program file. Oops.

I know about the arguments against teaching reading at a young age. But, I have been using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. It teaches both phonetic and sight words and around lesson 35 or so my son who is 3 1/2 now really started to get it and to enjoy it. It has worked well for us. I use art to teach writing though instead of doing it the way it says to in the book.
H

I don't see how you can argue that a child is "too young" when they're desperate to learn to read. :scratch That's not helpful, and it's unfair to the child. Perhaps they're too young to learn via conventional methods, but if they're eager to learn it, they're not too young to begin. :shrug

To the OP: The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading is inexpensive and begins with the individual letter sounds; there's no need to adhere to a schedule, but that's a phonetic approach that may work well for a young child who seems to be having a hard time with letter recognition and with the basic "idea" of reading.

To take a different tack, you could point out all the symbols which your daughter can already "decode." Does she recognize, for example, the stylized "T" that is "Toyota?" Or the big orange Home Depot sign? Perhaps simply becoming aware that these decoding skills are part of reading will help her to relax, and realize that she's already got the ability, she just needs help applying it to finer print.

I don't see how you can argue that a child is "too young" when they're desperate to learn to read. That's not helpful, and it's unfair to the child. Perhaps they're too young to learn via conventional methods, but if they're eager to learn it, they're not too young to begin.


Actually, a child could be too young to 'break the code'... their mind might not be at the point it needs to be to really get the concept. Some kids are. Some kids aren't. Even if a child is desperate to read.

I loved leftfields explanation.... reading is a journey.... kids start that journey from the time they are born and a parent talks to them, reads to them, sings the abc song with them. Kids are NEVER to young to begin, b/c the elements that go into reading starts from the time they are born.

I don't have any suggestions, b/c while my ~4 year old LOVES books and will listen to them for hours on end, she doesn't have the interest in learning to read now. I did like leftfield's suggestions, though, especially the idea of 'assigning' a word every time you read a book to her. (I do that to help my dd's pronunciation), and the idea of a tape/follow along series.

OH.... have ya tried watching Between the Lions on PBS?? GREAT, early reading show, that focuses on a few letters/sounds per show, and simple word pronunciation. How about a rule of closed caption on, when watching any show?

Tammy

Check out the Tana Hoban books at your library. She is a photographer who has many simple books for children that incorporate street signs and everyday print. Simple and brilliant for beginning readers.

Another nice program that is inexpensive is Happy Phonics from Love to Learn. A mom of 7 developed it for her son who needed a more active, games based way to learn to read. It isn't just phonics b/c it does incorporate some of the whole language philosophy. I have been using it for over a year now, and the games and sequence of activities have been really helpful for us. My son is happy to participate in them, instead of being frustated with sit down workbook/reader type activities. He is reading some and starting to read signs when we are out and about. I think if your child is super motivated to learn to read, you could be reading faster than we are. My son is so active that we just do it in short spurts when he is receptive. He wants to read so he can do science projects or read about topics that interest him, however it is difficult for him, so we just take it slowly.

We've done starfall.com and studydog.com's program. The study dog game has a letter recognition part for the child still working on learning both capitals and lower case (I saw someone posted about that), and goes through blends and 3 letter words. It says studydog is free to low income families and it isn't too expensive if you don't qualify. My dd loves playing these computer games, and has seemed to learn more about reading from them than she was getting from me telling her the letters and sounds.

:rolleyes I don't see how you can argue that a child is "too young" when they're desperate to learn to read. :scratch That's not helpful, and it's unfair to the child.

It can also be unfair to attempt to teach a child to read who, because of lack of developmental readiness, is only going to end up frustrated. I know parents personally who started eager 3 1/2-year-olds with 100EL and after a couple of months of patient, creative, encouraging work had to admit that their child was feeling demoralized, unmotivated and frustrated by the lack of "getting it."

My take on this is no doubt coloured by my experience with my three elder children who take any offer or agreement on my part to teach or share information and skills as an expectation that they ought to be able to master whatever it is fully and completely in 20 minutes or less, or else they must be stupid :rolleyes (Can you say "perfectionists"?)

Encouraging recognition of sight words and explaining to the child that by doing so they are beginning to read is all I would do with a child who wasn't already showing signs of getting phonetic encoding/decoding.

Miranda

It can also be unfair to attempt to teach a child to read who, because of lack of developmental readiness, is only going to end up frustrated. I know parents personally who started eager 3 1/2-year-olds with 100EL and after a couple of months of patient, creative, encouraging work had to admit that their child was feeling demoralized, unmotivated and frustrated by the lack of "getting it."

You quoted the first sentence, but apparently didn't bother to read the second:

Perhaps they're too young to learn via conventional methods, but if they're eager to learn it, they're not too young to begin.

I never said that every child who is interested in learning to read is going to be able to learn with something like 100 Easy Lessons. :eyesroll

It may take more effort on the part of the parent, but I stand by my statement: it's unfair to blow a child off if they obviously want to learn. You're the grownup-- think of another way to help them. If you can't think of anything, ask for advice (which is what the OP was doing before she was blown off by people telling her to relax because her kid wasn't ready). Don't just give up and say, "When you're ready, you'll be able to do it."

I think that a combination of phonics and sight reading is a good way to go. I don't see anything wrong with starting at three if she really wants to learn to read. The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading totally covers the phonics aspect of reading and doesn't involve any writing. For sight reading, I've just practiced with helping them recognize words in children's books.

This may sound odd, but my 3yo taught himself to read, and I'm worried sick over it! :lol I recently read a book that is VERY pro-phonics, and it made the case that precocious readers are often at a disadvantage later on, because they learn to read at a time when their brains simply AREN'T able to understand a decoding approach. They sight read almost exclusively, which works well until they hit 2nd or 3rd grade work, in which they have to start decoding more and more. My 3yo is definitely sight reading, and I'm probably driving him crazy with my attempts to retrofit him with some phonics skills, but I can tell that "unsticking" the sounds one from another is something he really can't do.
Well, I taught myself to read from sight, and at 36, still can't "decode" phonics, but I managed to survive :)... I'm thinking through all the "precocious" readers I know, and the only ones that ran into trouble in 2 or 3rd grade are where the teacher "forced" phonics as the only way to read. There's no reason I can think of why sight reading should break down at that point - if anything, the words get longer and more unique (and therefore easier to sight read). Anyhow, one more story of hope for you :).

It can also be unfair to attempt to teach a child to read who, because of lack of developmental readiness, is only going to end up frustrated. I know parents personally who started eager 3 1/2-year-olds with 100EL and after a couple of months of patient, creative, encouraging work had to admit that their child was feeling demoralized, unmotivated and frustrated by the lack of "getting it."

That's true too. It would take a sensitive parent to know the difference between pushing something a kid is just not getting and actually helping. I think if my daughter wasn't having fun and it became work or something frustrating, then I just would not have continued. Three year olds don't need external pressure to work through their frustrations. If the intrinsic motivation isn't there, then why worry?

I really don't get reading programs or anything you need to buy. If it's so challenging that you have to buy something to teach them, then maybe it's better to wait. I think the only thing I bought the entire time was a set of fridge letters. The rest was interpersonal games. I'm also not a huge fan of computer games though, in general, so there you go. Unless it's grand theft auto. (J/K) But in any case, check out the programs at the library first before buying anything.

And really, it's not a race. I mean, there is no difference whatsoever between myself and my husband in our reading abilities, pace, or comprehension levels, although I started early and he started "late," by today's high-pressure standards.

To be fair, Miranda did advocate "encouraging recognition of sight words and explaining to the child that by doing so they are beginning to read," which does not sound "blowing a child off". Many young children are happy to be able to read a couple dozen sight words, and this is reading. If a child is ready to learn more, a parent will be able to see this ... the child will attempt to decode environmental print in meaningful ways, and make connections between words, and ask what things say. If not, then early teaching can actually impede reading progress. When I taught kids with learning disabilities, many of the problems I saw were caused, IMO, by attempting to teach a child to read before he was ready. By the times these children were developmentally ready, their brains were full of what they thought reading was, and they weren't able to just read - they had to work at it, the way they'd been taught.

I don't think there's anything wrong with 3 year olds reading or not reading, but I do think there's something wrong with attempting to circumvent the developmental process.

dar

I just wanted to add that Starfall has really helped/encouraged my daughter. She went through a real reading blitz between ages 3.75 and 4.25 where she wanted lots of practice and was constantly asking how to spell things and what words said. She LOVED Starfall and it really cemented letter sounds for her. Then she kinda lost interest. Now her real passion is writing ... long strings of letters that I then read for her, like "pffflggerdrlitonnitall." She loves that. She also likes to type long emails to her grandparents, again of the "ggftleutryrnislainndyy" type, and they always write back to her, which really thrills her. If your child seems very interested in reading and makes some progress and then loses interest, don't let that worry you.

Namaste!

We watched the Leap Frog videos and they taught my almost 3yr old all her letter sounds, she wanted to learn to read too so we used 'teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons' and she is doing very well in it, i have heard many good things about it, my almost 6 yr old used the same book to learn to read as well, good luck!

A couple of thoughts...

When my 4 year old was desperate to read but didn't seem ready, someone gave me some really great advice. They said that learning to read is a long process that begins with recognizing what a book is in infancy all the way up to breaking the code. So, I started presenting it this way to my son. I told him that he was, in fact, learning to read and that it was a long process. He was at a specific point in that process and doing well, I told him. I pointed to the things he knew in the world of reading as proof of this and I told him that I once had to learn how to read too. That seemed to make him happy.
I thought left field was dead on with this idea as well as her others, the one thing that I had to add was to point out to your dc the ways in which he is a reader, commenting when he "reads" a book by making up a story to go with the pictures or "reads" the sign at the store or other enviormental print. In all reality this is reading, its interprating symbols for meaning, one of the many steps on the road to becoming a reader.