Starting Reading

[Guest CarolineUK]

My 3 year old is very interested in books and reading, he already knows quite a few letters, but not all. Does he need to know all his letters really well before we start to read words, or is it possible for him to learn his letters better while at the same time learning to read words? I'm really not sure whether we should be doing much at all at this stage, his older brothers showed no interest at all in reading until being rather forced into it at school. At the same time as he is interested it would be nice to encourage it and make it as much fun as possible. Somehow reading words while learning letters seems to make it more meaningful, although I know for my older boys at school they spent many months just going over and over letters and sounds before even attempting to read words.

 

Should I be reading OPGTR?

 

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

[keptwoman]

A fun and easy way for them to learn their letters is the Jolly Phonics workbooks/Finger Phonics Books. They cover all the letters and main combo sounds. I didn't think much of their readers, but as a start they were great. Plus they are a UK product :) Great phonics products coming out of the UK now!!

[TheCoffeeChick]

I wouldn't start OPG just because it's hard to sit through a lesson at that age -- my dd (4 1/2) has a hard time sitting through them still. But she does know how to read CVC words (since about 3 1/2).

 

Last year we did our own version of Letter of the Week, watched Letter Factory just about every morning, and started with BOB books.

 

With the BOB books, all you need to teach are 4 letters and sounds (A, M, S, and T) and they can read the first book in the set. There is nothing better than seeing the huge grin on your child after they read their very first book! :D

[Momling]

My experience is that trying to teach a child to read before she is truly ready is futile. It's kind of like learning to walk. As a parent, it's cool to have an early walker, but there's not a whole lot you can do to get a child to walk until they're ready. And really... unless there is something pathologically wrong, they all do it in the end. Not that you couldn't try to teach reading (or walking) or that you couldn't make it fun for both of you, but just that when it clicks, everything falls into place quickly and doesn't require much effort on your part.

 

That said, if your 3 yr old wants to be like his big brothers or play at school, I'd definitely work on letter sounds before attempting simple consonant-vowel-consonant words. You could try the "Get ready for the code" books. The alternative is to take a sight word approach where your child memorizes words rather than letters (think 'Dick and Jane' or those infomercials about how to teach your baby to "read"), but in my opinion, it won't serve him well in the end.

[krisandpaula]

My then 3-year-old couldn't stand that big brother could read and she couldn't. We used the Leap Frog videos, both The Letter Factory and The Talking Word Factory, and BOB books. The two work well together and are not at all like 'lessons'. I highly recommend them for wee ones that are really interested in reading.

[Julie Kirkwood]

I second the Letter Factory videos. And also reinforcing the letter sounds with him, vs. just the name of each letter.

 

We do sidewalk chalk on the driveway with letters. I write them and say the sound and then my 4 yr. old comes up with words that start with that sound, like B for bike, boat, her friend Bella.

 

I made 3x5 cards for each letter and she matches up the magnetic letters we have and puts the card and the magnet letter on a board.

 

When I'm reading to her I point out different letters and we talk about the sound each one makes.

 

We'll do all of this for a while, then start stringing them together into words, then introduce the BOB books.

[MissKNG]

starfall.com

[AngieW in Texas]

I recommend getting the I See Sam readers. They start off with just 5 sounds and work up from there. With these books you can just teach the sounds as you get to each book.

 

The first 78 books (BRI1, BRI2, boosters, and BRI3) are all primarily basic code.

 

http://www.3rsplus.com/

[duckens]

We did Letter of the Week (posted by a pp). I HIGHLY recommend it!!!

 

Halfway through LOTW, I introduced the flashcards from the link below to dd3 and C3 (whom I babysat at the time). Both were 2.5 at the time, but seemed ready. I put two flashcards on the fridge each week, and the kids built the words as I was putting lunch on the table.

 

http://www.mindbites.com/lesson/500-making-childrens-flash-cards-3-letter-words

 

Disclaimer: you have to pay $2 for the lesson, but you get a set of 20-30words/pictures ready to make your own flashcards. If you decide to go this route, PM me, and I will try to email you the template for the additional ~30flashcards that I made on my own.

 

During lunch, we reviewed words from previous weeks (and the kids were rewarded 1 reese's piece for each word they remembered). Because nearly all of the words are CVC pattern, the kids also learned to sound out short words.

 

C3 was picking words out of random reading with his grandparents by the time of his third birthday. (They were all 4 bragging about this at his birthday party).

 

Just my 2c.

[sbgrace]

If I were going to teach an (interested, ready) child that young to read I'd definitely do I See Sam books. Leapfrog letter factory video is also good for teaching letter sounds. The I See Sam books are very gentle though and do teach the sounds as you read like you want. I love them. That said, I think it's an extremely rare three year old who is really developmentally ready to read in any form and time is far better spent in play at that age so make sure you are entirely following his lead.

[kmacnchs]

starfall.com

 

:iagree::iagree:

I used this when dd2 knew most but not all letters. She knew sounds first. After she learned all caps, we focused for a short while on lowercase, since that is what they mainly read. Then we started OPG and breezed through the first bit (building confidence). btw, this was all when she was a little over 2 yo.

[Guest CarolineUK]

Thanks everyone for all the brilliant ideas and advice, I feel much clearer in my mind now about things I could/should do with DS - I think he'll love it!

 

I've just been cooking dinner and all the time he's been making letter sounds and then bringing me the corresponding letters off the fridge and asking me to write them on the whiteboard and look at them in his letter book - partly, I'm sure he loves it that he can get my attention away from cooking tea so easily!

 

I'm certainly not going to push him beyond his capability/readiness though. Reading didn't really click with my eldest DS until around aged 8, but it was pushed in school from aged 5 and he really suffered as a result, another reason why we now homeschool. On the bright side though, now aged 11 he's quite a bookworm, so it hasn't done any long term damage thank goodness.

[Crimson Wife]

My experience is that trying to teach a child to read before she is truly ready is futile....[W]hen it clicks, everything falls into place quickly and doesn't require much effort on your part.

 

This has been my experience as well. With my older 2 kids, there was an approximately 2 year gap between when each learned his/her letters and when he/she could read.

 

With my oldest, I diligently worked with her without success until all of a sudden one day it finally "clicked". With my 2nd, I didn't bother working with him on it until I noticed he started pointing out on his own the beginning letters of words he heard (e.g. cat starts with a "c"). I recognized that had happened with my oldest a couple months before she learned to read, so I began working with DS. Sure enough, within a couple months it "clicked" for him.

 

I honestly think it's a developmental readiness thing. When they're ready, you'll be able to teach them. Before that point, it's just a waste of time & effort.