Suggestions needed for a 3/4yo that whats to read

[Katiebug_1976]

I have a 3yo dd (turned 3 in November) that told me yesterday that she wants to learn to read. So here I am asking for suggestions as to where to start. Games?Workbooks? I want this to be a fun experience. I don't want her to get frustrated doing school too early, but surely there is something fun out there for a 3yo that wants to read . So do you have any suggestions?

 

Thanks so much,

[Dawn E]

If she doesn't know all the letter sounds, I would use flashcards and a fun song (the one on Sounds Like Fun by Discovery Toys is the best I've heard) to help her learn them. If she knows the letter sounds, I would use some manipulatives like magnetic letters and start to help her blend. You can find the Montessori pink (three letter, short vowel), blue (consonant blends/digraphs), green (long vowels) cards at this link. Once she is blending, you could print out the cards (or purchase others at Montessori websites) and have her match the word with the pictures. These are all fun, early reading activities that have been effective in my experience.

Edited February 22, 2010 by Dawn E
forgot links...duh

[ElizabethB]

Here's a good thread with some ideas:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157060

[Ellie]

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is supposed to be good for young dc because it doesn't require them to write.

[kmacnchs]

Letters and sounds first: melissa & doug ABC puzzles, starfall.com, and leapfrog (others recommend letter factory, though we have never done it)

 

Make sure she recognizes big & little letters - once you have that established, OPGTR all the way! That is what I did with my dd1 and am doing now with my dd2. I started both of them B4 they were 2.5 and it is wonderful for young readers imo (NO WRITING). (Use a white board, aqua or magnadoodle and/or magnets instead of her reading out of the book though - the print is too small and the pages too busy for young readers imo)

 

Have fun :)

[LoveBaby]

I *love* the Sounds Like Fun" CD for learning letter sounds. My older children still sing along with my younger babes! The "Leap Factory DVD's" are great, too.

 

My almost 3yo has been sitting in on her older brother's phonics lesson with Phonics Pathways. We made the "short vowel shuffle" game and they play it together. It's really cute watching her make the motion of "itch" when she sees the "i" card and saying the short "i" sound. She thinks its a hoot. She's learning her the consonants now, too. We also use the My Father's World K flashcards and some of their ideas for blending and recognizing the letters.

 

If she wants to work we do some work, but if she's busy playing with playdough or her dollhouse and doesn't want to then I don't force anything. I also don't have her do any writing at all, just scribbling on paper if she wants.

 

Oh...I also have the My Father's World preschool set for the older toddlers and we do a lot of the activities in the booklet that comes with it, too. It has an alphabet set that we use a lot. So does my K'er for that matter!

[Tracy]

It depends on where she is now. My dd was only 2yo when she learned phonics from watching SuperWhy. We worked with her casually (no program) on phonics for about a year. Then I bought the first Nora Gaydos book, and we worked through one book per day. These are nice because they are the simplest books that you can find, and they come with sticker incentives. I bought the next three books, but we really only got through the second book before she started to read books from the library.

 

Tracy

[SilverMoon]

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Edited September 23, 2023 by SilverMoon

[Katiebug_1976]

Letters and sounds first: melissa & doug ABC puzzles, starfall.com, and leapfrog (others recommend letter factory, though we have never done it)

 

Make sure she recognizes big & little letters - once you have that established, OPGTR all the way! That is what I did with my dd1 and am doing now with my dd2. I started both of them B4 they were 2.5 and it is wonderful for young readers imo (NO WRITING). (Use a white board, aqua or magnadoodle and/or magnets instead of her reading out of the book though - the print is too small and the pages too busy for young readers imo)

 

Have fun :)

 

What is OPGTR? Nevermind, I figured it out. (thanks silvermoon!)

 

Thank you all for the ideas. Now I have quite a bit to choose from. I think we will be able to find something for her to do.

Edited February 26, 2010 by Katiebug_1976