[frugalmama]

Does anyone do this? How did it work for you?

I'm considering it with my DD 4yo who is starting K as she's got her letter sounds down great and is ready to move on to pre-reading in our phonics program, but her motor skills are a bit behind {she just now started being able to draw a square, everything else is out of reach yet. Her coloring is just scribbles but neater scribbles if that makes sense.}. Our program teaches phonics along with starting writing {tracing pages and a bit on their own} for both numbers and letters.

Should I go ahead and teach her to read first while we wait for the motor skills to catch up? Or should I have her do the writing along with the phonics {only a page or two a day} and accept that it's not going to be very legible?

 

[kittie313]

I'd do just the reading for now. My 4yo dd is learning to read, but isn't ready for the writing at all. So we're just relaxing on that, I'm teaching her the pre-printing skills she needs but honestly I'm not going to concern myself with it. My oldest two girls pretty much taught themselves how to print, and once they started that then I stepped in and started working with them on proper formation and all that.

 

[zeldamomma]

I believe in letting 4 y.o.s learn through play, unless they ask for more.

FWIW, my kids knew their letter sounds years before they were able to blend them into a word. Some kids can go immediately from "Cuh Ah Tuh" to "CAT" but other really can't-- there seems to be something developmental about it.

 

[karemore]

We went ahead with the reading. DD was ready to read at 4 1/2. Now almost a year later, her writing is catching up.

I find that when she's ready and willing she learns faster. I don't see any point in frustrating her or myself by pushing something she's just not ready for.

 

[rootzdawta]

Yes, I went ahead with reading. DS just turned 5. We started Hooked on Phonics when he was 4.5 which had very little emphasis on writing (only like circling or putting a box around words). I'm still waiting for the motor skills to catch up, practicing using Handwriting without Tears.

 

[tanyalynn]

DS is starting to seem really ready for reading--not sure if he's interested though, so just for that there may be a long lag--but his fine motor skills are far from ready to write. Far. If he wants to continue on his path to literacy, I'm not going to wait for his writing, or even push his writing at all.

 

[kristin0713]

Personally, I would work on motor skills first and just continue with exposure. She is only four. You can continue to do things that encourage phonemic awareness, allow her to play be creative, read lots of books to her, and let her brain develop the way it should before jumping into reading and writing. Here is an article that someone posted awhile back that might encourage you to wait a bit.
http://www.lilipoh.com/articles/2007..._children.aspx

 

[Kelabu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kristin0713 Personally, I would work on motor skills first and just continue with exposure. She is only four. You can continue to do things that encourage phonemic awareness, allow her to play be creative, read lots of books to her, and let her brain develop the way it should before jumping into reading and writing. Here is an article that someone posted awhile back that might encourage you to wait a bit. http://www.lilipoh.com/articles/2007..._children.aspx

That's a great article! I just knew something didn't 'feel' right about how kids are pushed into academics so early these days, but hadn't found something supporting that with some science.

 

[luvmybaby333]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kristin0713 Personally, I would work on motor skills first and just continue with exposure. She is only four. You can continue to do things that encourage phonemic awareness, allow her to play be creative, read lots of books to her, and let her brain develop the way it should before jumping into reading and writing. Here is an article that someone posted awhile back that might encourage you to wait a bit. http://www.lilipoh.com/articles/2007..._children.aspx

Wow! Thank you so much for linking that article! I have a 7½-year-old that still doesn't read much beyond simple words (cat, dog, lamp, etc.) She went through 1½ years of public schooling and didn't make much progress. I pulled her out of public school, and we are currently learning at home... But I am continually frustrated by her slow advancement in this area. I feel like I'm failing her. The school system made it clear that she was behind from the start, since she hadn't attended preschool the year before Kindergarten. They made it seem like she should have already been writing and recognizing early reading concepts. I think that expectation of her from them (and from me) has done more harm than good. I am currently trying to set things in motion for her to be evaluated for possible learning disabilities, like dyslexia, as they do run in the family and I want to know how best to help her. But that article has been quite eye-opening. Perhaps it is as simple as her brain not being properly developed yet for these types of activities--or at least not at the level that she is "expected" to perform. She is progressing... It's just *very* slow... And as a result, I am torn between accepting the fact that she just learns at her own pace, and feeling incredible fear that I'm not doing enough to "push" her in the right direction.

I haven't made it through the whole article yet, but I will be printing it off to discuss with her therapist next month. Thanks again!

Sorry for the mini-hijack, OP.

 

[One_Girl]

I taught my dd to read when she was ready and trusted that her writing would come along at it's own pace. Because she struggles with writing (I suspect dysgraphia) she would still not be reading if I waited for her to have nice handwriting before I taught her to read. My dd was ready and excited about reading and she learned quickly. If your child is also excited and likes going to the next step then I think you should take it there and let her writing develop as it develops. I don't see anything wrong with going along with your child's development whether she is developing as an early or late reader. I think it is wrong to put all kids in categories and say they need to read or not read because of their age. Look to her interests and abilities and go from there.

 

[Lisa1970]

I would go ahead and teach her the reading. Go with it while she is willing and ready!

 

[sapphire_chan]

And meanwhile, give her activities in your day to day life to strengthen her hand muscles. E.g. putting clothes pins on to things, doing puzzles with little knobs, wringing out damp cloths.

Fun stuff, and good for writing skills.

 

[rootzdawta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by One_Girl I taught my dd to read when she was ready and trusted that her writing would come along at it's own pace. Because she struggles with writing (I suspect dysgraphia) she would still not be reading if I waited for her to have nice handwriting before I taught her to read. My dd was ready and excited about reading and she learned quickly. If your child is also excited and likes going to the next step then I think you should take it there and let her writing develop as it develops. I don't see anything wrong with going along with your child's development whether she is developing as an early or late reader. I think it is wrong to put all kids in categories and say they need to read or not read because of their age. Look to her interests and abilities and go from there.

Yes, I think in regards to reading and writing, one way or the other, you will know if your child is ready. I see nothing wrong in following her cues. I've heard many homeschoolers/unschoolers whose children didn't really start reading till much later (age 8, 9, of 10) but when they did start, they took off and were reading at super high grade levels. I've also heard of others who naturally started at a younger age and are doing very well today. So I think it just depends on the child.

 

[OkiMom]

Ive been debating starting working on reading without writing. My daughter is 3 1/2 and she is begging me to teach her to read. She keeps bringing me books and wanting me to sound out all the words for her, she asks for "reading school" practically daily, she carries a book around with her almost everywhere, she even sleeps with a book. She seems to understand that each letter makes a sound (Ive never bother to teach her each letter and its sound because I was waiting for cues from her that she is interested and ready) and that the sounds make words. I feel bad about holding back but I thought you needed to do them together for some reason. I guess Im stuck in the school mode of having to do it all or nothing.
Personally if the child is ready and willing/wanting to I don't see a problem. Im beginning to think of doing a really slow introduction with DD1 and see if her interest holds. If it holds then Ill continue if not Ill wait until it holds. Im in no hurry since I know when shes ready she will absorb the information and run with it. She went from not being able to count at all to counting to 20 in a month once she decided she was interested in numbers.

 

[kristin0713]

I just wanted to clarify that I completely agree with going along with the child's interest. I just think it is important to consider that motor skills indicate more than just the physical aspect of writing readiness. They are a great indicator of the child's overall development. I know this is not the Montessori forum, but a lot of valuable teaching strategies can be gleaned from the Montessori approach. They have a strong emphasis on fine and gross motor skills in the early years and the children progress to reading and writing as they are ready, with a super foundation.

 

[VisionaryMom]

We also are focusing on reading & not writing. My idea is that writing will come organically as he's working on other things. My DH & I discussed this earlier in the week. DS has zoomed ahead on math, but he cannot physically write as much as the math (Singapore) asks of him. It's not much, but it is intended for a 2nd grader. He was getting so antsy to move on because he answers the questions immediately but was taking *ages* to write out even something like "chicken fingers." (picture graphs)

So we've modified. With some things, we label the choices 1, 2, 3, and he writes that. For others, he just writes a shortened version. I'm actually going to look for number stamps or stickers.

That's my circuitous way of answering that I personally think the fine motor skills required for writing may come later. In ds' case, he can write all of his letters and numbers, but doing more than a few at a time seems to tax him. So if I were you, I wouldn't work on writing, though if you're concerned about motor skills, things like stringing up macaroni necklaces works well.

 

[ErinBird]

My 4yo is going to be starting phonics this Autumn. She's ready for more focused reading activity. She's not ready for penmanship coursework just yet though- we'll continue to encourage writing skills and fine motor skills but hold off on workbooks for the time being.