my 29 month old asked me....

[jillian]

[to teach her to read] what do i do? i can't believe she asked me that. help!!!

[forty-two]

Well, that would throw me off, too :grouphug:. Do you have an idea on how to teach reading, it's just the age of your dc that is throwing you off? Or are you not sure how to go about teaching reading, period?

 

If it's the latter issue, I'd go to ElizabethB's phonics site - tons of good info about teaching reading, including several videos she has put together, plus links to free programs. Great resource.

 

For teaching it to your dd, All About Spelling is used with young kids on the accelerated board quite a bit. I just got Level 1, and I think it could work with a motivated 29mo, if you were willing to take it slow and modify as needed. Beechick's A Home Start in Reading helps teach you how to put together your own reading program, and is very gentle.

 

And I'm sure more experienced posters will have plenty more suggestions. But don't worry - you'll do fine :grouphug:.

 

ETA: Just about any phonics program that *you* understand can be modified to work with your dc - do the writing on a white board, use a sand tray (my dd *loves* hers), use AAS's letter tiles - there's lots of options.

Edited May 15, 2010 by forty-two

[KinderSafari]

This is our number one pick.

 

http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?sid=1273886334-1111975&subject=5&category=823

 

Starts off with

Get Ready for the Code

Get Set...

Go....

 

Those three just start off with introducing the letters and sounds of letters in a fun way. Not in "alphabetical order" but the letters are introduced dependent on how easy the kids can recognize them, pronounce them, etc.

 

Our favorite for kids who are just showing interest in letters.

 

One of our kids didn't learn how to read until they were 7, another was reading before he was 3. We started this series with all of them and they all loved it. You can go at any pace you want. Also they are inexpensive workbooks.

 

By the way, we never used the teacher's guide....probably helpful for first-time parents teaching kids how to read, but we did fine without it. :)

Edited May 15, 2010 by KinderSafari

[jillian]

Well, that would throw me off, too :grouphug:. Do you have an idea on how to teach reading, it's just the age of your dc that is throwing you off? Or are you not sure how to go about teaching reading, period?

 

If it's the latter issue, I'd go to ElizabethB's phonics site - tons of good info about teaching reading, including several videos she has put together, plus links to free programs. Great resource.

 

For teaching it to your dd, All About Spelling is used with young kids on the accelerated board quite a bit. I just got Level 1, and I think it could work with a motivated 29mo, if you were willing to take it slow and modify as needed. Beechick's A Home Start in Reading helps teach you how to put together your own reading program, and is very gentle.

 

And I'm sure more experienced posters will have plenty more suggestions. But don't worry - you'll do fine :grouphug:.

 

ETA: Just about any phonics program that *you* understand can be modified to work with your dc - do the writing on a white board, use a sand tray (my dd *loves* hers), use AAS's letter tiles - there's lots of options.

honestly it's a bit of both, the fact that she wants to learn and the fact that i don't know how to go about teaching to such a yong one.

 

i hear wonderful things about phonics pathways but she is so young i dunno if it's workable for someone so young. and oh yeah it would be 100% on her level at her motivation.

This is our number one pick.

 

http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?sid=1273886334-1111975&subject=5&category=823

 

 

Starts off with

Get Ready for the Code

Get Set...

Go....

 

Those three just start off with introducing the letters and sounds of letters in a fun way. Not in "alphabetical order" but the letters are introduced dependent on how easy the kids can recognize them, pronounce them, etc.

 

Our favorite for kids who are just showing interest in letters.

 

One of our kids didn't learn how to read until they were 7, another was reading before he was 3. We started this series with all of them and they all loved it. You can go at any pace you want. Also they are inexpensive workbooks.

 

By the way, we never used the teacher's guide....probably helpful for first-time parents teaching kids how to read, but we did fine without it. :)

thank you so much for the suggestion, i'm still looking around because i am so unsure of how to go about it. i will check out that series though :)

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

I recommend the PBS show Between The Lions daily as well as Starfall.com combined with tons of you reading to her with you occasionally sounding out words and letters.

 

I second ElizabethB's site for lots of good info and lessons on phonics and the syllabary.

[melmichigan]

You might want to check out the Reading Eggs thread on the main curriculum board. You might have to help with the keyboard until she gets used to it but that is a fun one. We also use the early Explode the Code books and am on my fourth through HOP (so I have an older edition). Mine they are reading well before adding AAS, but I didn't know about it until this last year so that may change with my youngers coming up. The biggest thing is to go at their pace. Some are just ready. ;)

[EKS]

Teach her. My son was two when he learned to read.

 

I made up my own reading lessons by making PowerPoint slide shows with REALLY BIG letters on them. But first read a book about teaching reading if you haven't already so you know what needs to be taught and the general order of things.

[jillian]

kai, what book do you recommend for teaching reading? i was thinking The ordinary parent's guide....but not sure if that'd work for such a young kiddo

 

pricsilla can i get that pbs series anywhere else, i don't even have a cable box or rabbit ears or anything

[EKS]

You could use any book that uses phonics. I never used a book exactly, just sort of followed the recommended sequence. I used Reading Reflex as my guide, but Ordinary Parents would probably be fine.

[TCB]

I'd recommend Jolly Phonics. It's very straightforward and fun too. You learn the letter sounds with a fun sign that reminds the child of the sound the letter makes. It seems like it would work for all sorts of ages and also is fairly inexpensive. I like the fact that they teach the letters in a specific order that means the child can read words almost immediately.

[Staceyshoe]

My ds was 27 months old when he started begging me to teach him to read. In retrospect, I should have. Instead I spent 8 hours/day answering his "how to do you spell ___?" questions until he figured it out himself. I was afraid of him "getting too far ahead", but I wasn't meeting him where he was and now I regret it. If I could do it over, I would spend 5-10 min/day on something like OPGTR and just see what happens. If it isn't a fit, that will be abundantly clear. If it is, you will save yourself regret later.

[jillian]

thank you everyone!!! i am going to talk to dh and see if he has any input as to which way we should go. i appreciate ALL the suggestions even if i've not responded directly to you. there is so much out there, that i have no idea where to go at all

[2smartones]

I also recommend the Explode the Code series. Both of mine were reading before 2, but we used it (at an accelerated pace starting at 3) anyway to fill in gaps.

[Amie]

I began using the Ordinary Parent's Guide when my son was two (he is now three and breezing through it). I used it mainly to guide me in what to teach and in what order. Up to that point he watched letter factory and we played with alphabet magnets and big colorful flashcards, etc. He could recognize all of the upper and lower case letters and knew their sounds and he was trying to put words together, so I wanted something to guide me through the next phase (and make sure I didn't leave anything out). OPG is scripted and can hold your hand through the entire process. Or if you'd rather, you can use the guide to see what phonics rule is taught next and then teach it to your child in a way that works for him (and you), using whatever manipulatives, methods, sentences, etc. you want.

You can begin working with your son in every-day-life moments and see if he catches on--he will if he is ready--if he isn't ready and doesn't seem to "get it" yet, you can still make it fun time together and one day it will "click".

(Sorry if this doesn't make much sense--I'm up way too late to be typing on here!)

[MissKNG]

My big girl was almost 3 when she asked about reading. One thing I did was label stuff around the house and I started text pointing while reading to her.

[Donna]

I'm not sure where your child is in the reading process. My dd learned her letter sounds watching Leap Frog's Letter Factory. We played games with bathtub letters and magnetic letters to teach her to blend the sounds...beginning with DOG and changing a letter to make a new word, for example.

 

She knew her letter sounds before 18 months old but the blending didn't come until a few months later. She seemed to lose interest in learning to read for awhile but instead continued to memorize book after book then suddenly brought me one and began reading to me at almost 3.5yo. It could be a smooth process for you...my oldest just learned to read when I taught him using Teach Your Child in 100 E-Z Lessons. He went from not reading to reading anything in almost 4 months. It could come in pieces as their interest waxes and wanes or maybe they need time to synthesize everything on their own. It really depends on the child. My youngest was never interested in 100EZ Lessons or Phonics Pathways.

[TKDmom]

I used 100 EZ lessons with all of mine. I like how it gets them reading "stories" relatively quickly, which is fun for them. My current 4yo hit a wall with it around lesson 40, so I stopped and started over with OPGTR. I think OPGTR is a better phonics program, but it would have been too tedious for me to start out with teaching them ALL the letter sounds before they could try any words.

 

ETA: If you go with something like 100 EZ lessons, you may want to ignore the "sounds writing" part of each lesson. Sometimes, it's too hard for very young children to write those letters well. And it'll just lead to a lot of frustration if you require them to do the writing. I had to drop Explode the Code for my 6 yo because his writing abilities are just too far behind his reading level.

Edited May 15, 2010 by bonniebeth4

[Tracy]

My dd was 2 1/2yo when she started to learn phonics. She didn't actually ask me to teach her to read, but I knew she was ready, because she had known her letters for a year. It was just the next step. I didn't even think about using a program, though. We just talked about letters and sounds all the time. We had foam letters in the bathtub. We had a WordWhammer (best $30 I ever spent on an educational toy). We spent time on Starfall.com and watched SuperWhy. Learning phonics was just a part of her everyday life. When I could see that her interest was sustained over a few months, and she knew a lot of basic phonics, I got the easiest books I could find and had her read one to me everyday (Nora Gaydos series).

 

Now my just-turned 2yo is on the same road. He isn't even speaking yet, but he can tell you what letter has what sound, and he can give examples of words that start with certain letters. (He signs.)

 

Anyway, what I am trying to say is that with a young, precocious child, you don't necessarily need to make it a formal lesson. Children learn all day long. You can talk about phonics at mealtimes, bathtimes, bedtimes, playtimes. You can sound out simple words like C-A-T. And at some point, you will realize that your dc knows enough phonics to begin reading books.

[MaMa2005]

Explode the Code is the way to go. You only have to buy one book at a time so not a huge investment.

 

My master's degree is in Reading and I wholeheartedly think ETC is one of the best phonic programs out there. My 4 year old went through the ETC Books 1-8 in a period of 5 months and there are very few words that he cannot decode.

[abbeyej]

If she's ready, it just won't be that hard. I'd start with lowercase letter magnets and a portable magnetic dry-erase board. Maybe a cookie sheet with some dry cornmeal on it. Some sidewalk chalk. And teach her the basic sounds of the lowercase letters. Don't worry about letter names (it'll come later), just sounds. Start with a handful. Perhaps m, a, t, r. Teach her to draw them in the cornmeal. Put them on the magnet board and say, "Find the one that says rrrrrrr". Be sure that when you're teaching sounds like /t/, /b/, /p/, etc, you say "/t/" not "tuuuh" and "/b/" not "buuuuuh". A "cuuuh-aaa-tuuuh" is never going to blend to be "cat" -- it's just gonna be "cuh-a-tuh". ;)

 

Once she knows those first five letters or so, start teaching her how to blend them. mmmm-aaaaa, mmmm-aaaaa, ma! mmmm-aaaaa-/t/, mmmm-aaaa-/t/, ma-/t/, mat! etc...

 

Play oral blending games in the car or when you're waiting somewhere. "I'm going to say a word. You say it faster til you can guess what it is! /rrrrrrrr/-[one second pause]-aaaaaaaa-[pause]-/t/. Can you say it? Yep, rrrr---aaaa---ttt. Okay, faster! Ooooh, you got it! Rat! Great job. Okay, now try..." You can do the blending game with letters she hasn't learned yet, or even with word chunks (cat-er-pill-ar).

 

Add more letters. Bob books only use a few letters to begin with, so a toddler who knows a handful of letters and can blend can begin reading with them.

 

I do like Explode the Code. I like Phonics Pathways (WTM's recommendation before Jessie wrote OPGTR)...

 

But mostly, with a little one, I'd just play games with sounds and blending, and answer questions. If she *wants* a workbook, you can use ETC. I would just use the primer (Phonics Pathways, OPGTR or whatever) as a reference for *you*. I wouldn't do it with her as a "lesson" at two. Just some focused, engaged one-on-one play that includes letters and sounds.

 

And, of course, just keep reading aloud to her. :)

[Amber in AUS]

My 2yo begs for her turn with the AAS tiles on the white board. I am not using AAS to teach her reading at this point we are just working on learning the letter sounds. Once she has them we will work on blending. I love the way 100EZ teaches blending as it has been very successful for my older DD and DS.

[higginszoo]

I got the Leap Frog Letter Factory and Word Factory videos for my youngest when she was two, mostly just to give her something to do to give me 1/2 hour interrupted with my other dc. Lo and behold, she was reading within a few weeks at 30 months. Of course, she played with her new skill for several months and then dropped it until a few months before she turned 5 (at which point she picked it up at a second grade level or so).

My next child up was similar -- he did the ETC primer books just before he turned 3, just because he wanted workbooks, too. He got to the point of reading 3 letter words by 37 mo, and then didn't read much until he was 5 1/2. At 9, he's my one who still doesn't read as much as the others spontaneously, but it was nice knowing when he was 5 that it wasn't that he COULDN'T read, even if he DIDN'T.

 

If a child asks to do something, I usually teach them, even if I'm doubtful that they're quite ready for it. When they get frustrated and/or drop it, I let it go, and they usually pick it up again at a more age-appropriate point and run with it then.

[jillian]

Thanks fellow WTM-ers. We have been using Starfall to help her pick up some more letter sounds. I am going to make a letter chart with velcro and felt letters to velcro on and help with spelling style stuff. We have the leapfrog fridge letters but she doesn't really play much with it. she adores starfall though.

[nitascool]

honestly it's a bit of both, the fact that she wants to learn and the fact that i don't know how to go about teaching to such a yong one.

 

i hear wonderful things about phonics pathways but she is so young i dunno if it's workable for someone so young. and oh yeah it would be 100% on her level at her motivation.

 

thank you so much for the suggestion, i'm still looking around because i am so unsure of how to go about it. i will check out that series though :)

 

I used PP with my oldest at 14 months. I used old refrigerator magnets... though I suggest the new Fridge Phonics Magnets as they are better suited for the younger age and lots more engaging. [With my younger ones we also used the Leap Frog DVD's which they have enjoyed greatly.]

 

First we learned the letters and their sounds...beginning with the vowels. When he had them all down by sight and sound I began PP.

 

To do the blends I made a race track using those dollar store word strips. I wrote the letters down and we used a car to zoom across the blends...when he had them down that way we read them in the book. We did the same with three letter words.

 

Girls like horses better then cars (at least mine does) so you might consider using one of them. By the time you get through the 3 letter words she'll likely be ready to read straight from the page without the extra steps.

 

We didn't do more then 15 min. at a time and I didn't bother with the writing portion since he hadn't asked to learn to write. BTW it's a great time to learn left from right if she doesn't already know it.

 

Best of Luck and remember to take it slow (at least as slowly as she'll allow :lol: ).

[jillian]

I used PP with my oldest at 14 months. I used old refrigerator magnets... though I suggest the new Fridge Phonics Magnets as they are better suited for the younger age and lots more engaging. [With my younger ones we also used the Leap Frog DVD's which they have enjoyed greatly.]

 

First we learned the letters and their sounds...beginning with the vowels. When he had them all down by sight and sound I began PP.

 

To do the blends I made a race track using those dollar store word strips. I wrote the letters down and we used a car to zoom across the blends...when he had them down that way we read them in the book. We did the same with three letter words.

 

Girls like horses better then cars (at least mine does) so you might consider using one of them. By the time you get through the 3 letter words she'll likely be ready to read straight from the page without the extra steps.

 

We didn't do more then 15 min. at a time and I didn't bother with the writing portion since he hadn't asked to learn to write. BTW it's a great time to learn left from right if she doesn't already know it.

 

Best of Luck and remember to take it slow (at least as slowly as she'll allow :lol: ).

I was super surprised today, I was making lunch and had pulled down the fridge letters and she made 6 random letter pairs (pairs meaning upper and lowercase letters). She found them by sight and shouted out the letter (and for B, Q and D she did the sounds).

 

She tracks left to right very easily (though sometimes she gets stubborn and refuses to do it).

 

We are using starfall since she is pretty visual in regards to learning. she knows the short vowel sounds thanks to starfall

 

I think i will pick up a My Little Pony horse (or two or three lol) since she has a BUNCH of hot wheels (adores them)

 

Thank you so much. We are doing the alphabet song going a-a-a A, b-b-b B (going phonetically and then saying the letters).

 

I am going to get some sew on velcro so we can start doing blends and such with some felt letters when she's ready and doing sounds with it too

[Linzy]

My son started reading at about that age or a little earlier. I would recommend Leap Frog (the letter factory and the talking word factory), Reading eggs (with you operating the mouse), Bob books, the ordinary parents guide to teaching reading (I mainly use it so that I can explain the rules when my guy asks me why something is pronounced the way it is) and of course lots of reading together. We did a little of everything with my son and now at 3 (almost 4) he is reading short chapter books with excellent fluency. The key is to do a little bit every day and only as much as they enjoy and ask for.

[kmacnchs]

kai, what book do you recommend for teaching reading? i was thinking The ordinary parent's guide....but not sure if that'd work for such a young kiddo

 

I made sure mine knew their letters (big & little) and sounds first. After that, we did OPG. We go at their pace and attn. span. With dd1, we did 15-30 min each day. With dd2 we are just working our way up to 15 min. Both started OPG around age 2 & 3mo. (maybe read the new words one day and the story the next day - 1/3 or 1/2 a lesson/day)

 

IMO, OPG is great for youngins b/c there is NO writing. We used magnets for about a month. After that, we used our magnadoodle - I wrote the words & sentences out so they were big enough for them to read. dd1 did not start reading out of the book until she was reading on a 2nd grade level. Others use a white board.

 

Friends of mine were doing Abeka but there is a TON of writing and dd1 couldn't even write her name until she was reading books. dd2 is working on blending in OPG and she still hasn't learned how to write her name - again, I'm a BIG fan of OPGTR...but that's just me :)

[Guest mrsjamiesouth]

I am doing Phonics Pathways with my just turned 2 dd. I also like the LeapFrog Video and she loves the Fridge Phonics.

[lisaj]

I am very late on this, but I have one more suggestion to add to the pile.

 

My oldest learned to read on his own at 2 with the Step-into-Reading books (the ones you can pick up at any bookstore for $3.99). He was a Thomas-aholic, so we would read the books over and over, and then he would "read" to himself before he went to bed at night. He soon had it memorized (which some parents think is reading, but isn't), and soon after that started recognizing the sight words in other contexts. It wasn't anything special we did, but by 3 1/2, he was reading Magic Treehouse. Since Step Into Reading has books on most popular characters, it's easy to find something that interests each child.

 

Likewise, my 25 month old is already able to read the first basic scholastic phonics books. Since I'm homeschooling my older and my little one doesn't get nearly the same one-on-one time with me, I have to give credit to Leap Frog letter factory! It's the only tv "show" he'll watch, and he requests it over and over and over. He knew all of his letters around 18 months (probably from our fridge magnets and other toys), and now knows all of his phonics and several sight words, too.

 

My mom is a reading teacher and just laughs because none of us adults can take credit, and we're not using any of the packaged reading programs. Just expose them to lots of letters, phonics (Between the Lions and starfall.com are great free phonics resources), and reading, and when they're ready, they will really take off!

[jillian]

Thanks everyone again.

[Guest rubilynne4]

[to teach her to read] what do i do? i can't believe she asked me that. help!!!

my dd 9 began reading at about that age. i would go for it, but let her be the one to set the pace. don't push, just encourage her interest. there's lots of great phonics resources out there, i wouldn't necessarily recommend the whole new craze with whole word method to teach young babies to read. maybe i'm wrong, but i think the whole word method is not a sound way to teach reading, even to babies. when i work with my littles on reading i read lots of books, but for instructing we use phonics (even with my babies i used phonics). my dc all have been early readers, it's fun and rewarding to teach them to read. there's great free resource out there as well as inexpensive ones. look on ebay/amazon/at your local library. there is a website that has some free printable flash cards letters/phonograms/etc. it's called international parenting association. it has some strange stuff, but very interesting stuff, especially if you have an accelerated young learner.

Edited June 13, 2010 by rubilynne4

[Guest rubilynne4]

I recommend the PBS show Between The Lions daily as well as Starfall.com combined with tons of you reading to her with you occasionally sounding out words and letters.

 

I second ElizabethB's site for lots of good info and lessons on phonics and the syllabary.

:iagree:great suggestions, i use these alot with my littles too.

[Staceyshoe]

Teach her. My son was two when he learned to read.

 

 

I agree! My ds was 2 when he begged me to teach him, and I was afraid of him "getting too far ahead". What a huge mistake! He managed to teach himself and was reading independently before his 3rd b-day. What I thought were behavioral problems completely disappeared. He needed more intellectual stimulation and was going bonkers without it. Needless to say, I'm learning to meet him where he's at instead of what society expects.

 

With my youngest, I'm planning to try OPGTR whenever he's ready.

[jillian]

so i am looking seriously at OPGTR but also see Teach Your Child...In 100 Easy Lessons. I don't know which is better or if I should bother with any guide for me. We plan on going systematically through the sounds/blends (not sure how to do that) and don't know if I should pick up a guide or not...any suggestions?

[easygoer]

My daughter took off with Progressive Phonics (free etexts.) By the time I found it we were at the intermediate level (she was 3 then) but she would have liked the 'alphabetti' and beginners at age 2, as well. She loved the 'taking turns' element of them.

 

http://www.progressivephonics.com/

 

At 2 she loved starfall.com

Edited June 13, 2010 by easygoer

[tucenbubbi]

I've heard of a mom who taught her very young daughter to read by using the wooden blocks that have imprinted letters! Start with letter sounds and then combine them, I guess!

[mommytobees]

I would start with OPGTR.

 

Lori asked me to start teaching her to read when she was 3, just after her birthday. I tried ETC, and 100 Easy Lessons, before starting OPG. I much much much preferred OPG!

 

Kris

[jillian]

I think I will check out a copy of OPGTR and see if it is a good fit. We will be doing Progressive Phonics and may check out the MCP level K for her but omit the writing portions or modify them. I am heading to Texas soon and will be near a big homeschool store

[skaterbabs]

I recommend the PBS show Between The Lions daily as well as Starfall.com combined with tons of you reading to her with you occasionally sounding out words and letters.

 

I second ElizabethB's site for lots of good info and lessons on phonics and the syllabary.

 

This. Plus, the Leapfrog Letter Factory DVDs. Dot taught herself how to read by using Starfall, Between the Lions, and Letter Factory within 6 mos when she was 3. I was just trying to keep her busy and out from underfoot while doing lessons with her brother. LOL