teaching an EARLY reader....what do i use???

[mlgbug]

okay DS just turned 2.5. hes known his letter sounds for about 2-3 months. not so much letter names though....

 

he is trying to read though. like trying to make blends!? this is bizarre to me, but i konw many of you have been through this. I dont want to use 100 ez cause in the end, im not happy with it. that being said, i know due to his age, i cant get the kid to sit and learn, although i never tried :)

 

i have OPGTR, i have phonics pathways and i have HOP.....yeh and the 100 ez.

 

lessons will be on a whiteboard, or on sidewalk with chalk. but WHAT do i use???

 

he really wants this, and i want to teach him, but i have no clue how. i was thinking and considering phonics pathways since its big into blends...but still so unsure what to do....thanks

[Mom22ns]

My ds was reading at 2.5, but I didn't teach him. Dd read by 4, but I didn't teach her either. I postpone formal teaching until 5. Before that age, I just read with them - a lot. If they are trying to sound out a word, I sound out the word with them. For kids who really want to read early and are inclined, that is all it takes.

 

We still did formal phonics in K-1 even though the kids were reading at fairly high levels by then. I wanted to make sure they would continue to be able to decode more complex words as they encountered them.

 

I'm sure you will find plenty of others who are more willing to accelerate than I am though.

[Dinsfamily]

okay DS just turned 2.5. hes known his letter sounds for about 2-3 months. not so much letter names though....

 

he is trying to read though. like trying to make blends!? this is bizarre to me, but i konw many of you have been through this. I dont want to use 100 ez cause in the end, im not happy with it. that being said, i know due to his age, i cant get the kid to sit and learn, although i never tried :)

 

i have OPGTR, i have phonics pathways and i have HOP.....yeh and the 100 ez.

 

lessons will be on a whiteboard, or on sidewalk with chalk. but WHAT do i use???

 

he really wants this, and i want to teach him, but i have no clue how. i was thinking and considering phonics pathways since its big into blends...but still so unsure what to do....thanks

 

My almost 4yo was like this. He knew all of his initial letter sounds before he was 2, but I didn't put much stock in it since his brother knew his by 2.5 and didn't blend until 4. Ds3 started spontaneously blending at 2.5. I didn't use any program with him (and still don't), but instead just demonstrate how I'm reading during RAs. For example, I run my finger underneath the letters as I read and explain that 'th' makes two sounds as we go along. He knows all the sounds of about 15 multiletter phonograms now. Another thing that suprised me with my ds3 was that his fluency came so easily. One day right after he turned 3, he decided to read the first 6 Bob books to me and his reading was perfectly smooth. I was suprised because his older brother could read harder words, but his fluency wasn't as developed. Anyway, I didn't need a program with him because it all comes so easily. I do plan to start him in SWR when he's 5. The first few lists will be easy because he's learned them along with his brother. That's okay, I like the start of K to be pretty easy to build confidence. Until then, we'll keep casually working on his phonograms.

[give_me_a_latte]

Do you have the LeapFrog Letter Factory DVD? That teaches letter names along with the sounds, which might help him connect the two.

[Embassy]

okay DS just turned 2.5. hes known his letter sounds for about 2-3 months. not so much letter names though....

 

he is trying to read though. like trying to make blends!? this is bizarre to me, but i konw many of you have been through this. I dont want to use 100 ez cause in the end, im not happy with it. that being said, i know due to his age, i cant get the kid to sit and learn, although i never tried :)

 

i have OPGTR, i have phonics pathways and i have HOP.....yeh and the 100 ez.

 

lessons will be on a whiteboard, or on sidewalk with chalk. but WHAT do i use???

 

he really wants this, and i want to teach him, but i have no clue how. i was thinking and considering phonics pathways since its big into blends...but still so unsure what to do....thanks

 

If he has figured out the letter sounds and is starting to blend on his own he will likely start reading soon. I would just sit back and enjoy watching your son go through this process.

[Classical Country Mama]

Do you have the LeapFrog Letter Factory DVD? That teaches letter names along with the sounds, which might help him connect the two.

 

I had the same situation with my dd, who figured out her letters and sounds VERY early. However, when I tried teaching her a bit more formally, she stonewalled. So I backed waaay off, as the other posters advise, and played games (like the LeapFrog--she still loves those at 5), and read a lot with her.

 

She was at the tail end of 4 when I went ahead and started K, however, and now she's exploding in her reading. At 5 1/2 she plows through easy reader chapter books like they were candy! (In fact, some of them are... so I have to keep finding harder books, lol!)

 

What a fun "problem" to have! Have a blast with him. :)

[2_girls_mommy]

My oldest was like this. I just continued teaching her informally. We read together. I told her what the word was, and explained the rule to the sound of ones she didn't get. We played word games looking for words and letters when we went out places. We played the ABC game constantly where we went through the alphabet saying a word for each letter. She wanted to do this over and over. I taught her to spell names of our family to the tune of B-I-N-G-O (There was a mommy, who had a little girl, and XXXXX was her name-o...) and she walked around stores singing the names of everyone in our family :)

 

She was reading Dr. Seuss and Bob books before K. I started a formal phonics program w/her towards the end of K. We used Rod and Staff 1st grade and we skipped the first unit which was consanents and vowels, and started w/unit 2 which was long vowels. She was reading chapter books silently to herself by the time we started. So basically she taught herself to read, just from the informal stuff I told her while she was figuring it out at a young age. Some kids just figure it out and want to know. (I still want them to understand the phonics that they internalize though, so I worked through the program w/mine later.)

[StartingOver]

My son was the same, but he wouldn't stay still long enough for lessons till he was about 3. He is progressing well with OPGTR, HOP Books, and other simple readers. Each child is different, you can always try and see how it goes. I would stop if there is any resistance though and try again in a few months.

 

Teaching a child to love to learn, will work better when they are ready.

[johnandtinagilbert]

I detect a pattern in responses...don't push the formal teaching. I couldn't agree more. Perhaps play games with phonemes, but be warned, my dd started very early and I made the mistake of starting many things too soon. Just b/c she could identify the sounds, didn't mean she truly made the connection. It turned out by 4th grade, she was in deficit in reading. Whatever you decide, I caution you that early isn't better and the ability to do some things early does not mean she is truly processing all she needs to know in order to paint the entire reading picture. Reading will be the most important thing she'll need, so don't skip anything and make this time fun. Just play games and read, read, read, to her. Don't let her rush you as a teacher...she doesn't really know what's best for her :)

 

Just my 2 cents

[Haiku]

I wouldn't worry about using anything with a two-and-a-half year old. Just because he knows his letter sounds and is trying to blend sounds doesn't mean you have to instruct him in reading. I would just read a lot with him and go with his flow. If he asks for help, give him some help within the context of the book or story you are reading. I wouldn't break out the whiteboard and start systematic phonics instruction. I'm not advocating whole language here. I would use phonics strategies if he asks for help within the context of your normal daily reading. I'm just saying I wouldn't set up a dedicated phonics time with a two year old. I use Phonics Pathways with my seven year old, and I don't think it's developmentally appropriate for a two year old.

 

Tara

[Mrs. Lilac]

I agree with the other posters- keep it casual. I have an autistic 4-year-old who is reading very well (he started reading at 3), and all I do with him are BOB books and sometimes www.starfall.com

[give_me_a_latte]

I agree with the other posters- keep it casual. I have an autistic 4-year-old who is reading very well (he started reading at 3), and all I do with him are BOB books and sometimes www.starfall.com

 

I definitely second Starfall!! My son used to love sitting with me and clicking through all the letters. He actually learned to use a mouse on his own by using Starfall.

[AngieW in Texas]

I recommend working with the I See Sam books. They'll be perfect for him. He'll get to apply what he's learned to an actual story right from the beginning. The very first book has only 5 sounds.

 

http://www.thehomeschoollibrary.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1020

 

I'm not sure that all the links in the post above are still active. You may have to google to find the current websites. I wrote the review over 3 years ago.

[Haiku]

Oh, yeah, Starfall RAWKS!!!

 

Tara

[johnandtinagilbert]

We heart starfall too!

[MissKNG]

My big girl was the same way at that age so I thought "using something" was the next step. I was wrong..she resisted and I stopped. Now I just let her play on starfall or readingeggs whenever she wants. I read to her and let her read to me when she wants. Her reading progression isn't super fast or anything (she is at about a K level right now) but I'm just letting her learn by herself for now at her own rate.

 

I won't introduce anything formal until she's about 5.

[skirch]

If he has figured out the letter sounds and is starting to blend on his own he will likely start reading soon. I would just sit back and enjoy watching your son go through this process.

:iagree:

My dd began sounding out simple words at 2.5. I kept BOB books around and she liked to play on the Starfall website but I didn't work with her. By 3 she had taught herself to read and by the time she went off to preschool at 3.5 she was reading at an early first grade level. Enjoy it!

[momofabcd]

There is a book by Sydney Ledson called Teach your Child to Read in Just 10 Minutes a Day. It is geared towards two year olds and older. You can get it from Amazon, and you can see samples at google books. http://books.google.com/books?id=65_KDFR8F3QC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Teach+you+child+to+read+in+just+10+minutes+a+day&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false

 

It starts out with dc learning how to blend and read 100 cvc words and is pure phonics with no sight words. It also has a lot of good ideas for fun little games to reinforce what is learned. It doesn't have dc reading any sentences until those words are mastered and the child really has a handle on blending from left to right. Another thing, it's not scripted like 100 EZ. It just gives a basic guide line on what to do.

[materursa]

When I found myself in a very similar situation many years ago (my dd is just about to turn 10), I used Frontline Phonics, and, in fact, it was the very first curriculum I ever bought. It uses songs which my daughter (and now my sons) like a lot, little letter character pieces, letter flashcards, workbooks (that have you circle a 3" or so picture or draw a line, nothing that requires much fine motor control or your ds could just point), parent's guide, a short dvd telling you about the program and showing how it looks in practice) and a whole bunch of readers (50 or so). The readers are wonderful. They have color pictures and are incremental. My children (and I!) dislike the bob books because of the style of the pictures and the rather boring nature of the stories (obviously at the beginning level it can't be too intricate, but, the Frontline Phonics readers were much more engaging. We also like the Nora Gaydos books.) The child also starts reading a "real book" a few lessons into it, which was very encouraging to my children. When the child finishes the program they are reading at a beginning 3rd grade level according to the site. My dd loves to read and reads quite quickly, so it seemed to have worked for her quite well. My sons are still using it and enjoy it as well. They weren't ready quite as young, so I just waited until they were. The one drawback I see is the cost. It's a bit more than just buying one of the 1 book programs (100 ez lessons, Phonics Pathways, OPTR), but, another difference is also that it includes so many readers. Here's a link to one review, another review, and the site.

 

HTH,

Amanda

[Tonia]

Skip the curriculum and play games (pre-reading games, early reading games), introduce him to Starfall - great website. Keep it simple.

[myfatherslily]

Perhaps he would think it's fun to use letter magnets and make 2-letter words together. In, it, at, on, in, etc. It would be easy to move on to simple cvc words later, when he's ready:)

[apmom]

I am a huge fan of Ruth Beechick's little book (pamphlet?) called "A Home Start in Reading." It's a no-pressure way to work with kids and I'm using some of her ideas with my 4.5 year old dd with wonderful success. I agree with the other posters...hold off on anything formal for now...just read, play with letters on a chalkboard or whiteboard and have fun.

[Dinsfamily]

I am a huge fan of Ruth Beechick's little book (pamphlet?) called "A Home Start in Reading." It's a no-pressure way to work with kids and I'm using some of her ideas with my 4.5 year old dd with wonderful success. I agree with the other posters...hold off on anything formal for now...just read, play with letters on a chalkboard or whiteboard and have fun.

 

:iagree: I like Ruth Beechick's stuff for young kids. A Home Start for Reading is included in The Three Rs which has great ideas for teaching young ones without using formal curriculum.

[JenneinCA]

If you have a letter puzzle you could let him play with that and make his own words. Some kids really like that.

 

And magnet letters on the frig (or washing machine) are fun too.

[skaterbabs]

Dot taught herself to read using the computer (starfall.com) and a TV show (between the lions on pbs.) My suggestion would be to let him do that and if you really feel you MUST do something formal, use Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading.

[TracyR]

Starfall is good. My 3yr old is learning to read and honestly I'm using the 100 EZ lessons with her. I'm not using the script but just using it as a guide and she is doing really well with it. Originally I wanted to use something else but had to pull out the 100 EZ for my 6yr old as she needed the visual /bold black letters to learn to read(go figure). So my youngest wanted to do what her sister was doing and we just take it really slow. If she just does her letter sounds we do that. If we do the letter sounds and sound out some words and that's all she does then that's fine too. If we actually get through a whole lesson that's great too. I don't spend as much time with it as the book suggests with it. We just run quickly through it because honestly a 2/3 yr old has a very limited attention span. Some days I can get her through a full lesson (which takes about 5 minutes) but most days we just do something for about a full minute and she wants to be done. Either way to me something is better than nothing because she WANTS to do it. I don't push it because she is so young., I just take her lead.

 

Amazingly enough 100 EZ is a good guide for children this young. You don't need to do it verbatim for it to work. All of the other reading programs are great but are geared toward the older child that can actually understand phonics rule, 2 and 3yrs olds do not. If its the funny letters they use that turn you off then you can use something like The Reading Lessons as well , though again I've found my 3yr old does much better with the 100 EZ letters,, all children may vary. LOL.

[WTMindy]

We used nothing formal. :-) We wrote words on a Magnadoodle. We would talk very informally about phonics, like "th sounds like th" (I don't know how to write the sound. :-)) Then I'd write a few words with the th sound in them.