Early Reader Question: Should I worry?

[Mama Anna]

When my dd 4.5 reads (we're nearing the end of OPGTR and she's into picture books all on her own and slowly moving through some chapter books while reading silently), she has trouble with the little words like "and" and "the." She'll read "The king told the court to eat lunch with him." as "The king told court eat lunch with him." Sometimes she substitutes one preposition/etc. for another. From other slips she makes, I know that she's scanning ahead when she reads, much like I do, and focusing on the larger words rather than the "unimportant little ones." However, when she skips the little ones, she can really change the meaning of a sentence. I don't want to be nit-picky with her, but I don't want a habit to develop either. I've waited about 6 weeks to see if this is just a stage, but it's still here. Should I make her re-read each time she makes a mistake (Is that what reading aloud is for, after all?:001_smile:) or do I just "not push" since she's young and wait for her to grow out of it?

 

Thanks!

Mama Anna

[chai]

I'll start with saying that skipping words, transposing, etc. is pretty normal for a new reader. You shouldn't be concerned at all. I wouldn't do anything that will ruin her enjoyment of reading. At the same time, I would do some correcting as she reads aloud to you. You'll just have to find that balance. :001_smile:

[pixelroper]

I think that is normal. I did ask dd to repeat if it was for classtime. I didn't want any bad habits to develop. She still is a little speedy and I have to remind her to be careful. :)

[Mommy22alyns]

Becca does the same thing and I know her little brain is just working faster than her mouth can move (which is quite a feat!!). If she's reading with me, I just have her go back over it, putting my finger on the word that she missed. If she's reading totally fun books, I let her be.

[Mama Anna]

Thanks for your advice, All! I'll take that off my worry-list and let it be . . . :001_smile:

 

Mama Anna

[WTMindy]

Very normal. This is part of the transition to reading silently...her brain knows the word is there, but it is moving faster than her mouth.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

Perhaps this is like the email game where you are asked to count all the "a"s in a paragraph and you always skip them in words like "an." The brain processes them too fast for them to be important, especially if you are concentrating on other parts of the paragraph.