First time poster, Is my child too young for phonics?

[Guest Pennypaige]

Hi! This is my first time posting here. I am a mom of a 3 year old girl, who is completely fascinated with letters and books. She knows all of the letters, including the sound each makes, and is beginning to recognize words when I read to her. She will be 4 in early February, and I am considering starting her on a phonics program this fall, but am also concerned about starting anything too soon. She just loves her alphabet and books so much that I think perhaps she is ready.

 

I am considering the Sing, Spell, Read, and Write K-1 combo. Does anything think something else might be more appropriate? My daughter is very active, loves songs and games, and is very energetic. I think she needs an active program to keep it interesting for her at this stage.

 

Any advice/opinions welcome! :)

[nmoira]

 

She knows all of the letters, including the sound each makes, and is beginning to recognize words when I read to her.

No, she's not too young, but unless she's pushing for lessons, I'd keep doing what you're doing for awhile -- it appears to be working. :001_smile: You could sneak in a few short "lessons" here and there when fridge magnets. If you do decide to start lessons, I'd consider using a program which doesn't have an integrated writing component, because at 3/4, it's probable that her writing would hold her back and become a source of frustration; however, if she wanted, you could work on it separately.

[Dinsfamily]

I don't think she's too young...but I'm an advocate of being gentle and seeing how it goes with 3-4yos. I had to learn that the hard way. My oldest knew all of his letter sounds (we do vertical phonics and he knew all of the first 26 phonograms) by 2.5 working informally. By the time he was 3.5, I thought he'd be ready to read. Well, he wasn't. He did learn the idea behind blending, but he wasn't ready to blend yet and reading was painful. Thankfully, I decided to back off completely and teach him informally again until we started K. Backing off worked for him and by the end of K he was reading at a 4th grade level.

 

Now my current 4yo is totally different and was ready to read at 2yo and is now reading at a 2nd grade level. I haven't used anything formal with him, but he certainly could have handled it if I'd decided to go that route.

 

It seems that the general concensus is that 3yos could go crazy and love phonics, they could start and stop several times, or hate it. You don't really know until you try. I think the key is listening to their cues and absolutely no pushing at that age.

Edited July 3, 2010 by Dinsfamily
clarification in wording

[Ellie]

IMHO, SSRW is way too much for a 4yo. That she loves her books does not mean she is developmentally ready for any formal instruction. It would be better, IMHO, not to push her. Answer any questions if she asks about letter sounds and whatnot, but don't push.

 

You can begin helping her to learn correct letter formation by showing her how to draw circles beginning at 2 on the clock (up to 12, down to 9, etc.), vertical lines beginning at the top and going down, horizontal lines in the direction that we read and write (i.e., left to right). You could make letters out of sandpaper and glue them to pieces of cardboard, and let her trace them with her finger--in the proper directions, of course--while saying their sounds (not their letter names).

[waa510]

I think as long as you remain gentle and flexible with whatever program you choose (We use OPGTR and my 3.5..4 in Sep... really enjoys it) she will be fine. She seems to be showing readiness signs similar to what my dd did at that age. I started with ETC books A-C, even though she knew letters and sounds as a review..to be sure that knowledge was solid before beginning phonics, and to buy me a bit more time so she'd be an older 3 by the time we started phonics. We skipped to lesson 27 in OPGTR and we are now on somewhere in the 80s I think (we moved so there were weeks where we did nothing). If she seems ready and has the motivation, then I'd go for it!! :)

[Guest Pennypaige]

Thank you all so much for sharing your advice! It is greatly appreciated. It is so nice to hear from more experienced mamas!!!! :)

[mom31257]

I think if she wants to do "school", then go for it. We used HWOT's K4 book when my ds was 3. When he was 4, we used A Beka's K4 phonics. I'm not a big A Beka fan, but their approach to reading I really like in those early grades. They begin with the short vowel sounds, them move on to blending each of those with every consonant that is introduced. For example, when they teach b, the same day they are sounding out ba, be, bi, bo, and bu.

 

We taught our dd the sounds for each letter. I brought home the first set of Bob Books to teach her to read, and she read all of them in one day. We didn't even know she could already read. You might try those books. They are great early readers.

[Aoife]

I am using SSRW with my 3.5 year old right now and it is going well. However it is modified SSRW as we use HWOT pre-k for writing. We are using SSRW as a more fun approach to phonics because OPGTR was too boring for him but he was still begging to be taught to read. I think if you stick mainly to the games and songs and skip the writing it would be a fun and good fit for a little one :)

[kalanamak]

At that age I used fridge magnets for my wiggly boy. I'd put up the letters

 

AT and say /a/-/t/. I would have a column of consonants on the fridge

 

B

C

M

S

etc

and move the AT pair slowly down. My son was not "advanced" IMO, but he loved cars and at three a walk in the parking lot turned into a slow stroll with him trying to sound out the names of cars. HTH

 

(And I have a fond memory of him telling a motherly-looking woman the makers of her car thought they could make an A out of an upsidedown V (a Kia) but they weren't fooling anybody.)

[SilverMoon]

My 4.5yo was reading at 3. Her older brother was in K and going through Phonics Pathways. She practically demanded her own lessons too. I kept her lessons short, didn't require any writing from her, and she started flying right away. When she was ready for simple readers she used BOB books and Now I'm Reading! books (by Nora Gaydos).

 

Some fun supplements are the Leapfrog videos. The Letter Factory teaches letter sounds. The Word Factory teaches blending. Code Capers covers long vowels. They're all short and entertaining. Also, let her play at http://www.starfall.com .

[Dmmetler]

SSRW has cute books and CDs, but also a lot of worksheets and writing. Maybe you could get the parts that would be good for your DD used rather than buying the whole kit?

 

Also, have you seen Starfall.com? My DD loved it at age 3.

[JudoMom]

I love Phonics Pathways. Lessons can be as short as needed (5 minutes) or run as long as your child would like. There is no writing. I see no harm in trying, as long as you follow her lead.

 

I would start by informally teaching her to blend sounds, and once she knows how to blend I would give Phonics Pathways a whirl. When I was starting with my oldest, I was able to get a copy from the library to see if we liked it.

[elfinbaby]

Every child is different. My first started pointing/naming letters before he was 1 without my coaching. He taught himself to read soon after. #3 would have nothing to do with letters even at age 3. She learned basic phonics at preschool and loved it. She just wanted me out of her business;) #4 is newly 2 and loves singing his ABCs (incorrectly, lol) and pointing to them (incorrectly:D). He'll be fun to teach in a year or two.

 

My advice is read, read, read. You don't need a phonics program but, if you want some guidance, I'd do something simple, easy, low pressure, and fun. My #3 is a workbook girl. She loves to write, trace, fill in. I wouldn't over do it and I would always stop if it became "work." She's young but if she's interested, let her explore learning to read.

 

IMHO, the simpler the program, the better at this age.

[Tracy]

Grasshopper knew all of her letters before she was 2yo. After several months, she began to get bored with the same old finding letters, and I knew that phonics was the next step. Every so often, I would talk to her about letter sounds. At first, I got no reaction. But then at 2.5yo, she saw SuperWhy on PBS, and she was hooked! And by 4yo, she was reading. I never did a formal program with her. We just talked about letter sounds all the time. She spent a lot of time on starfall.com and other educational websites.

We occasionally did worksheets out of books I got at a teacher's resource store. (And of course, I read to her all the time.)

 

At 4.5yo, I started a formal phonics program with her. I very quickly surmised that her reading level was improving at a faster pace than we were moving in the phonics program. So I didn't see the point in continuing the phonics.

 

Although at 5yo, she is reading way above her grade level, we are now starting a phonics-based spelling program so that she can go back and really learn the rules of reading and spelling. I am glad I waited to use a formal program and paid close attention when I did.

[walkermamaof4]

I thought the slow is better way seemed right with my older ones, but then read WTM and somehow decided to try my boys at age 4. I am SO glad I did! We did it slowly, no pressure. One loved it and reads a lot to me each day and is now 7, reading a lot on his own as well. The other doesn't love it as much, but is happy to be doing what his sibs do, and I think really feels accomplished and loves the attention and time with me. The best part is, by age 6/7 they are so glad to be able to really read! They can read directions in their books and such. I am happy with my decision to start younger with them.

BTW, we used SSRW prek, k, 1 and 2. Just skip the writing if she can't handle it. You won't need the 1st of the 1st grade workbooks if you school year-round. It is an entire repeat of the 2nd of the K workbooks. If you have the time, the songs and games are fun. i skipped them with my boys but did them with my first 2.

I got a bit tired of SSRW and am using OPFTTR with my 4th child. I don't like the stories as much and am glad I kept my SSRW readers. We also love to read the I Can Read It series from Sonlight and the R&S Bible and Nurture books. I usually start them once my child is through K, so that they can read them fairly easily and enjoy them. The stories are great.

[LynnG in Arizona]

I started my daughter at 3.5 - verrrrrry slowly - on the HWT Pre-K program and Jolly Phonics. Both were developmentally appropriate and gentle.

 

I say go for it! You have the common sense to go slow, take breaks, etc. - you and your daughter should do fine! :)