When to start my 3 yr. old on reading and writing?

[mom2]

What would be the right way to start my 3 yr. old daughter in reading and writing programs?  We have the All about Reading and I have some BOB books that we are working on.    She knows some of the alphabet sounds, but she doesn't understand that you put the 2 letter word together that it says (at) for an example.  Any ideas? or is it too soon.

[Tanaqui]

Many children are reading at three. I know people who were reading at two! (Okay, one person, and she's always the smartest person in the room, but that's not the point.) However, those children *wanted* to read at those ages.

 

Is your daughter interested in learning to read? Has she asked to?

 

If not, I would really shelve it and focus on reading a lot to her. You can play games like the alphabet game as you're out and about, to help her practice identifying letters (each time she finds an A or a B or whatever, you point to the word and read it aloud), or "I'm thinking of a word that starts with this sound" or making rhymes to help her practice breaking words into sounds.

 

As far as writing, back when the kids were in school, I had to spend a lot (and I mean a LOT) of time fixing handwriting because schools aren't really equipped to handle that. I don't blame them! They have lots of children! So I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to fix and how. This is what I learned. Rather than focusing on writing now, it's probably better to focus on the skills that lead up to writing - the tripod grip, hand strength, that sort of thing. Picking up pennies with tweezers, drawing with crayon rocks, making snakes or balls out of play dough, cutting paper, lacing beads on a string, practicing buttoning her own shirts - these activities are going to be far more useful at her age than trying to write.

 

If you really want to give her an edge, again, read to her. That's the best thing you can do. You can get some wordless picture books so she can practice "reading" to you. When the girls were that age, 20 minutes a day picture book time was sacrosanct. Then we had a chapter a day, and we read before naps and before bed, and when we were on the bus, and when we were waiting in the doctor's office, and I brought my own books to the playground so I could read while they played. That's what makes the difference. It  builds their vocabularies and helps build all the pre-reading skills they need before they can even start reading, and it makes reading attractive and fun.

 

[Jennifer N.]

Wow, Tanaqui gave you (and me) some really good ideas.  She is right on about that handwriting.  Not only did I not know how to teach handwriting when I was a teacher in the classroom (I was not given materials to use or training) but I was unsure of how best to teach my oldest when he was in preschool.  His preschool's version of handwriting was to put an uppercase letter up on the board and say write this with no mention made of strokes or how to form the letters .  More like drawing than handwriting.  Well fast forward to my 2nd child who had a K teacher who actually used the Zaner Bloser handwriting book with her students in Kindergarten and my 3rd child whom I taught at home before and during Kindergarten using Logic of English's Foundations which had very clear and explicit instructions on letter formation.  Their handwriting is vastly superior to my oldest's whom I still have to remind about how to form certain letters.

 

I am piping in here because I just read a book that goes into how all those activities in Tanaqui's 3rd paragraph are sequenced in a Montessori classroom to lead to correct pencil grip and then onto handwriting.  It's called Help Your Preschooler Build a Better Brain by John Bowman.  I don't think you can get it in the library.  The author has an e-book on his website or you can buy an abridged paper copy of his ebook on Amazon.  Before, I sort of understood how all those activities Tanaqui mentioned helped to build fine motor skills but I didn't understand how in Montessori they are sequenced in a very specific way.  You might enjoy reading the book.

[Tanaqui]

Montessori ideas, that's a good point. To be honest, I got most of my ideas straight from websites by occupational therapists. Quite a lot of the activities they do are things that are developmentally appropriate for all small children, and that all small children should be doing. It doesn't have to be - and shouldn't be! - a chore. Every aspect of learning right now should be fun, because the most important thing for your kid to learn is that learning is enjoyable and easy and something she can do. (Let's just get off the soapbox, shall we?)

 

That reminds me of something else I just posted, like a day ago, elsewhere. Man, twice in two days, I have to google up my source. There was a study I read a few years ago. They had two sets of kindergarten students, one of which got intensive reading practice every day and the other of which didn't get extra instruction in reading but got lots of instruction in science and art. There may have been a control group, I don't know.

 

And the tested them at the end of third grade, and, lo and behold, the group that had the extra science and art was the group that was well ahead in reading. The group with the intensive reading practice? Meh.

 

These were five year olds, but there is no evidence to suggest that three year olds are any different.

[kiwik]

I wouldn't teach more than the alphabet and stuff to develop hand strength before about 4.5. I would see if I can find a writing chart showing correct form (this changes a lot here so check that is what is being used locally). That way if she starts writing herself you can prevent some bad habits. If she starts reading that is fine, support her but don't take the lead.

[TranquilMind]

What would be the right way to start my 3 yr. old daughter in reading and writing programs?  We have the All about Reading and I have some BOB books that we are working on.    She knows some of the alphabet sounds, but she doesn't understand that you put the 2 letter word together that it says (at) for an example.  Any ideas? or is it too soon.

Only when and at the pace that she exhibits interest.  

[SKL]

I would periodically point out letters (and numerals), sounds, phonics, rhymes, patterns and maybe one or two favorite, oft-repeated words while you share books with her.  And answer any questions she has.  Encourage her to derive meaning from the pictures that help tell the story, including cause and effect.

 

For writing, in addition to what others have said, something to consider is the planning aspect.  For example, not just writing a line, but writing a line from this dot to that dot.  For my daughter, that was really helpful in eventually helping her to plan and execute writing letters / words.

[Gil]

It is not too soon and you may start now if you like so long as she's receptive to the lessons. Take your cue from her, and stop each session before she loses interest. Plenty of people initiate reading lessons with their toddlers and they are fairly successful at it.

[OneStepAtATime]

Some children are developmentally ready at 3.  As others have said, if she is interested use the suggestions already mentioned, but keep it fun.  The last thing you want is to burn her out and kill her enthusiasm for learning.  Wanting to learn, loving to learn, is far more important and will get her much further in the long run than drill and kill at an early age.  

 

Besides working on her independent reading and writing skills, play lots of fun games with words and read to her and even listen to books together while you build things or make things.  Expose her to lots of interesting stories and concepts and vocabulary.  Give her lots of life experiences to tie it all to.  Take walks and go on field trips and talk with her, not just at her.  When she asks questions, help her research a topic of interest then maybe write up a summary of what she learned and keep it in a notebook that the two of you can read together.  Let her share stories with you and write them down for her, then read her story back to her.  Let her add to the story and edit the story verbally then rewrite it for her so you are modeling the process.  Make this collaborative and fun.

 

Best wishes.

[Guest tnmom66]

I taught my babies to read with Glenn Doman's method plus starfall.com and LOTS of time in my lap reading books every day. I didn't go past making about 50 couplet flashcards with the Doman method. I also didn't bother making any of my own books like he suggests. I did make big cards with red marker, for the babies but I am not convinced that regular flashcards aren't as good. Once I made the big flashcards for my first child, I used them for the other two. All my children were reading several grade levels ahead when by the time they were old enough for  kindergarten. I do not believe in pushing kids, but I do believe that most kids want to learn. With my youngest, I also got the "Your Baby Can Read" program, but I think they may not be selling that program now since they got sued.

[TeachingMyTwo]

Showing her some great literacy based DVDs might be enough to help her crack the code- Leapfrog, My Montessori House, and Preschool Prep videos are all very well done. Check your local library and even Netflix for the leapfrog ones. You can even use youtube videos aimed at English as a Second Language students that do a lot of sounding out or www.readingbear.org if you want to be cheap. And of course there are tons of apps out there. Create a literacy immersion environment where she cannot HELP but learn. No pressure and tons and tons of exposure. 

 

Skywriters is an easy and efficient app that only allows the child to trace the letters in the correct order so they are not picking up bad habits. That doesn't help with proper grip, etc but it's a no-fuss way to reinforce stroke order which is one less thing to worry about when the pencil hits the paper.

 

And FWIW, it's not too soon at all. I taught mine beginning from infancy through toddlerhood and it was so much simpler than I was expecting. We still work on skills and refining their pronunciation of very long words, but the investment up front paid off big time. Earlier is the way to go IMO, so go for it.

[OneStepAtATime]

I just wanted to add,  if your child starts resisting and getting frustrated, back off.  Back off and give her time.  Let her listen to books, do lots of read alouds, pay fun games with letters but back off of formal instruction.  Some kids AREN'T ready at three.  Especially with writing since they may not be physically ready yet.  If they aren't, and you keep pushing, you may kill her desire and interest to learn anything at all in a formal setting.  You may undermine her confidence.  You may end up making her hate reading and writing.  Don't follow that path.  Kids are not tires being manufactured in a plant.  They are individuals with different strengths, weaknesses and time tables.  Don't rush her if she isn't ready.  Best wishes.

[rocassie]

At 3yo, if she is interested, bring it on but don't force it.  

 

I have a 3yo, and he knows most of the letters (naming not sounds) and wants to know what does "this say."  I tried to start on letter sounds but he just wants to know what "this says" as in the whole word.  Now when he asks I tell him, but otherwise I read, read, read when he is interested.  My almost 5yo has just started within the last few month wanting to learn to read so I started a curriculum. My 7.5yo was reading sight words at 2yo, but she loved letters, being read to, and was constantly playing with our letter magnets practicing the sounds. All kids are different and the best time to learn, especially in the early years, is when they are interested versus when we want them to learn X,Y,Z.

[In The Great White North]

Those activities are very Waldorf also.  Google Waldorf kindergartens for lots more.

[Tanikit]

My children started with sight words at very early ages - the words they were interested in. Once they knew that words were made of letters then I taught them all the letters phonetically and then we looked at how the words they already knew could be sounded out phonetically - at the same time I blended for my children constantly but just using my voice - not pointing to any letters or words while doing it. After a while of doing this when I said the letters they would give back the word to me (both children were blending before 3 this way) and then we went back to written words and taught them to say the letters and blend by themselves. 

 

By this stage they were reading a large number of words and all lessons had been informal (oral or by pointing to words and letters around them and sometimes in books I was reading them) At this point we switched to more formal lessons checking basic blending and moving to long vowels with continued sight reading of high frequency words. My children seemed to just accept it as part of the bedtime routine or something we did for a couple minutes a day - if they didn't want to then we didn't, if they asked then I would help them, but it was still part of our routine - I let them read 4-8 words of OPGTR words daily (again not if they didn't want to, but I found my 3 year olds were not ones to fight a routine - it was almost like brushing teeth by then) and of course there was always loads of reading aloud to them and also joint reading where I would point to a word they would know when I was reading and they would say or sound it out.

 

Writing started later for my eldest than my younger child - the younger longed to write from very very young. The elder started when she was about 4 and both of them I taught letter formation initially without worrying about lines as they needed at that age to write very large and their fine motor was not good enough for what is usually expected of children starting to write. Once they had all the letter formation correct I moved to copywork of words and later short sentences which my elder then began copying on lines and only later between lines. My younger is still learning many of the letters now. Writing I would not force yet unless your child asks - get her to draw and color and paint and do fine motor activities - if she wants to write teach her the letters or words she wants to write (many children start learning to write their name).

[Tsuga]

I do not know anybody who has successfully taught a child of 3 to read. I have heard many stories of frustrated parents and children. I have also seen studies suggesting that early K and early reading are correlated with worse lifelong outcomes overall, than late or average reading.

 

I do know many people who taught themselves to read at 3.  Without exception, this group taught themselves. They were precocious children and generally smart adults, but I also know many adults who are equally intelligent who were not early readers.

 

Both of my children knew letter names and sounds in 2 languages two years before they started reading. While they could decode, it was a lot of effort. My older started reading at 6.5 when it "clicked" and the little one can read but prefers to be read to. My wee one reads but still writes entire words, sentences, and equations backwards. My older one got that straight first and THEN started reading.

 

When I was overseas they did a cool test. When a child can reach over her head to touch her ear--so, right arm touches left ear--and can grab it solidly, they put them in school. This was in a country in which a lot of people did not have birth certificates. At this age, they explained, they can draw things with specific details, and will learn to read. Sometimes, children develop abstract reasoning skills before that. We call that precocious. However, those children will not necessarily be better readers later. They are early, not better.

 

So I say, let the child take the lead, and watch for a few key milestones:

• Reading letters at six
• Reading words at seven
• Letters and words going only forwards, at eight (no reversals)

Not getting those merits extra work and perhaps an evaluation. Otherwise, just follow the advice of the good ladies here and you can't go wrong.

I'm not an expert. I'm just answering because you asked. :)

[lilajoy]

I'm in the same boat wondering about my 3-year-old. At this point I've decided to focus on making sure she knows her letters/sounds. I've tried a few simple exercises getting her to blend, but she's not quite there yet. If she shows interest/aptitude, I'll go back to that, but for now I'll be happy if she has her letters down by age 4. My priority is reading/talking to her and enriching her vocabulary and ear for language, as this will help her more in the long run. 

 

My son knew all his letters/sounds at age 2, and I was sure he'd be an early reader, but no. At age 6, he is only just starting to read books independently. It's not that he couldn't before -- he understood how to blend -- but he really resisted and had little interest. On the other hand, he loved for me to read aloud to him, and his comprehension and vocabulary were well above average. So, I've tried not to worry. As long as my daughter has a similarly strong appetite for books (which so far she does), I've told myself not to worry about her decoding just yet.

[Roadrunner]

I am the only one with this opinion, but why have any formal reading instruction at three? I can't imagine doing any school with a three year old, other than coloring and playing. I would just read to her in a way that she can follow the text if she wants to. I don't think any instruction is necessary at that age. 

[SciMom]

If you really want to give her an edge, again, read to her.

 

That's what worked for my boys who both started reading around age 2 and half, I started reading to them when they were babies. As they grew older, I pointed to words when I read picture books to them, which I think helped them make the connection between the words I was saying and the words in the book. I didn't teach them how to read formally though and never 'read' books without words to them.