I think my three year old is ready to read help

[tuzor]

First I must say that I am not eager to teach my three year old to read. I really want him to enjoy being a little one. However he has had the benefit of sitting in on lessons with his older brother. So at two he knew his letters and letter sounds. Now he has just turned three and he is picking up books pretending to read them. He also reads street signs etc. These are signs that he is ready to read. If any of you had an early reader or a young child eager to begin reading please tell me what you used. Thanks.

[blondeviolin]

My oldest was like this. We started with 100EL, but nothing really came of it. Blending the sounds was a bit beyond her. She just had a break from learning much new reading-wise. She did have leaps in her math understanding, though.

[tuzor]

Hhhmm yes I was looking at the Hooked on Phonics program for Pre K level but it appears that will be a review of what he already knows. However 100EZ lessons or some other things look like they may be too complicated for him.

[SweetMissMagnolia]

my son started at about that age--he had books in his room since birth and started asking me what everything said and just drove us crazy LOL (in a good way) so I started teaching him abc/phonics like it sounds like you have.....I used any very basic--early reader book I could find--the level 1 readers you can get at about any bookstore/walmart.I had alot of Little Critter readers from when I homeschooled my nephew so that was a favorite--but I kept it fun-I tried to find books about his fave cartoons on nick jr (back yardigans-dora-diego) and we would use those as well as more serious readers ...I also used the printables online to do more involved phonics and worked like a charm--he is now 8 and can pick up just about anything and read it...loves reading-and reads everything....food labels,whatever catches his eye.....good luck

 

http://www.kidzone.ws/

http://www.first-school.ws/INDEX.HTM

[Jay3fer]

Used? My 3yo ds is starting to read and here's what we use: the WORLD. Oh, plus some fridge magnets!

 

He adores the fridge magnets, and thinks it's a special treat if I "make words" for him. Today, to get him to go to bed, I spelled out NAP and then showed him how it could turn into TAP and FLAP and then... mysteriously... back into NAP again. ;-)

(I'm single-minded that way!)

 

He adores "same/different" worksheets - those tedious ones where they spot the one animal or car or whatever that's the same in each row, or the one that's different. Beyond that, I'm not doing anything formal with him. His fine motor isn't as good as his letter recognition, so I'm just letting that side of it go right now.

 

Oh - we do have a set of letter-building shapes, like the ones that go with Handwriting Without Tears, only our set is foam and cost about $10 instead of whatever they charge for the wooden ones. They came in a nice mesh bag with a book called "How to Build an A" by Sara Midda. (I see that Amazon reviewers don't like the chemical smell of the foam, but ours are 2 years old now and haven't smelled in years - you could "air" them outdoors for a while if it bothered you.)

 

In terms of sitting him down and reading books with him, or doing Explode the Code (which I plan to use later on), I've just said no way. I've decided to let him have fun with it, and show off a bit if he wants to, and pick up books to read when he's good and ready. On the bus the other day, he sounded out STOP on the stop request button. That was cute - the passengers around me were blown away.

 

My older son (now 16) was an early reader (also at 3), and it's cute and amazing and everything, but honestly, by the time they're 16, nobody really cares what age they learned to read - it doesn't mean they will have a good and wonderful life. His younger sister ALSO reads a ton, and she didn't really start 'till she was 6.

 

So I guess those are my 2c worth: if he's really eager, he'll figure it out even if you give him nothing at all. There are fun manipulatives you can bring in and just pretend they're regular toys... but I wouldn't sit him down to sound out books, or do 100EL or OPG or any other "teach your child" books. Just let it happen, and enjoy watching the journey. :-)

[kathkath]

DS started reading about 3 months before his 4th birthday. We provided lots of super simple books. We would read them to him and with him and leave them in his room. We let him stay up late to read in bed. Other than that we didn't *try* to teach him. We just gave him appropriate books and time.

[Allearia]

My two were like this. My second would sound out words but not know what they said. I got OPGTR and did a bit with him but it didn't really do anything so I put it away. About a year later he just started reading everything on his own with no help beyond the usual reading to him and maybe the LeapFrog videos and Between the Lions.

 

I would do LeapFrog, and you can try something like OPGTR and see if he wants to do it. Have fun!

[tuzor]

Thanks for the magnets idea. I do have magnets on the fridge but I have not been using them. Perhaps I could have the word of the day or something like that. I also like the idea of easy readers with one word on the page, I will look for those as well. I just don't want him to get frustrated at staying in the same place. So I feel that I have to have something organized so to speak.

[musicianmom]

My oldest daughter had about 1 1/2 years between the "knows letters and sounds" stage and the "ready to blend" stage. During that time, I read to her, she pretended to read herself, and we played rhyming games. I think the rhyming really helped her get ready to blend. We had this little set of cards I got at Toys-R-Us. The cards were pairs of rhyming words, and each pair fit together like a puzzle.

[ElizabethB]

Webster's Speller!

 

The 2 letter blends are the easiest to start with for a young child.

[Guest Momlovesbooks]

My youngest, now 4, started reading at 3. I used Phonics Pathways. Another great tool is LeapFrog videos.

[boscopup]

My oldest son was just like that (same time table), though he didn't start reading until 4.5. He could "chunk words" at 3 (sounding them out), but couldn't figure out how to get those sounds together to form a word - blending. In the meantime, he played lots of starfall.com (which taught him to chunk the word), and we read a lot. One day, at 4.5, he picked up a Dr. Seuss book that we'd never read before, and he read 30 pages of it in one sitting. So even though he couldn't blend before that point, he was apparently picking up on how to read, and within 6 months, he was reading at grade level 2.5.

 

Anyway, I had tried teaching him to read at some point, and it backfired. He actually did best when I did absolutely nothing. :D

 

My second son is different and seems to do best when I actively teach him, so I used the Leap Frog Letter Factory to teach him his letters (actually, I used OPGTR for 3 weeks to teach them, then the frog got him fluent in his letter sounds in 3 days... Next child, I'll just let the frog teach letters! :tongue_smilie:). We did OPGTR up through the CVC words, and then I didn't do anything with him for a while. Now I'm using AAS for reading, just because I have it for my first grader's spelling. He also plays a lot of starfall.com and watches the Leap Frog Word Factory movie sometimes. Interestingly, this child could blend before he knew all his letter sounds. Blending is not a problem for him at all. He just isn't yet remembering the word he read, so he has to sound out each.and.every.word... or maybe he just wants to. You never know with a young 4 year old. :lol:

[mom31257]

I really like the way A Beka teaches blending of sounds. I used their K4 Phonics program with my ds and dd used it in a co-op setting. It begins with teaching the short vowel sounds and then introducing consonants one letter at a time. Immediately you blend the consonant with all 5 vowel sounds, such as la, le, li, lo, lu. It was not long until my ds was trying to put a sound at the end to make a word he knew.

 

Since your child already knows all the sounds, you could get this book and begin doing it. There are blend ladders for each consonant then ladders for short vowel words and it moves into some long vowel words as well. Each page does mix up the order of the vowels.

 

I found it to be highly effective with my kids. For that little money, I think it would be worth it. They have hotel meetings you can go to and actually view items. Usually shipping is free with orders at those meetings.

[mom2bee]

Removed by the Author.

Edited April 7, 2013 by mom2bee

[Haiku]

My dd did the same things that your son did at 3. Honestly, I am not sure these are signs of an early reader. I think these are imitative behaviors. My dd could "read" all sorts of signs that she was familiar with. She could "read" books she knew. She was able to start sounding out c/v/c words at age 4. But she didn't actually start reading until she was six.

 

I really wouldn't worry about teaching a young three to read. Just continue to allow him to sit in on the older kids' stuff and answer his questions when he has them.

 

Oh, and I second the suggestion of letting him play on Starfall.

 

Tara

Edited March 1, 2011 by TaraTheLiberator

[lionfamily1999]

We use Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading and Explode the Code (Get Ready, Get Set, and we're on Go now).

 

If he knows his letter sounds, you might want to skim through the first few chapters of OPGtTR. Luke started to become frustrated learning the alphabet poem, because he already knew what the letter sounds were. We skipped most of the lessons, played the games and learned the poem all at once, instead of one line at a time.

 

We use ETC for writing and phonics practice.

[Laura Corin]

I found that there was an enormous difference between knowing sounds and being able to blend. Calvin knew all his letter sounds at eighteen months but didn't blend well until he was four. It takes a completely different.... skill? Area of brain development?

 

Hobbes didn't learn his letter sounds properly until he was four, but was blending well at 4 1/2.

 

So, I'd carry on playing with sounds, putting together fridge magnets, pointing out letters. If he starts to blend for himself with a little encouragement, then go ahead and teach more. Otherwise, just keep the ideas fresh with casual reinforcement, and wait until it clicks.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

[Sevilla]

My DS was like that at age 3 - he knew all his letters/sound and some familiar sight words. He asked to learn to 'talk letters' (his way of saying 'reading') and I got 100EL from the library. He wasn't able to blend sounds yet - it was clear that developmentally that piece wasn't in place for him at the time. I put the book away and waited. When he was about to turn 4, he suddenly exploded with learning dozens of sight words and I got the book out again - he learned to read easily within a few weeks. After 100EL we moved onto OPGTTR (more for me - I would look at the sound blends list to make sure we'd covered them all). I also got the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD's from the library just in case they explained something with a catchy song that made sense to him (it helped him a lot with silent E - we watched it a few days and then returned them).

 

After that, I just did lots of read aloud and provided frequent library trips to get books at his reading level. He's continued to grow as a reader ever since :).

[TracyR]

I've used different programs.

My oldest I started with 100 EZ lessons and it was a horrible flop. She did not pick up on reading for a long time I used The Reading Lessons with her too and it started to finally click with her a bit at the age of 7. It wasn't until I combined some whole words and phonics did she finally get it and didn't finally start reading fluently until the age of 9. This was all after I started with her at the age of 4.5.

 

My 2nd daughter I used 100 EZ lessons with her. She had speech issues but I started teaching her at the age of 4 to read. She wanted to, and it worked for her.

 

My 3rd daughter started reading at the age of 5. She was a late talker and I used 100 Ez lessons with a combo of K12 reading and she reads pretty well. Phonics worked with her too.

 

Then came along my 4th daugher who wanted to learn to read at the age of 3 and phonics was a total flop. I have lots of programs, Hooked on Phonics, 100EZ , The Reading lessons , K12 etc (I've kept them) and it just was a horrible flop for her. What did finally work for us was Your Baby Can Read. Yes its a whole words program but some kids literally learn to pick up on phonics learning to read this way. I know I did. I didn't learn a lick of phonics in school and I'm an excellent reader.

I felt like I was reliving my days with my oldest all over again. So I caved in and bought the program ( even though many here venemently oppose whole word reading). And its been a Godsent. It really has. In less than 2 months my daughter is reading at a 1st grade level and loves to read. She has figured out how to sound out words on her own. The more I taught her the more she resisted. The more she has learned to read words the more she has wanted to learn to sound them out for herself, and she does it. I'll have to post a video of her reading a book ( I have some video of her reading words on my blog.) But she reads fluently and with ease. Actually with so much ease its enjoyable to teach her to read.

 

Don't get me wrong I still use phonics worksheets and such. But I don't force her to read the word phonetically if it doesn't make sense to her. I feel if she is up and reading first we can go back and work on how to sound out those words using phonics. Her confidence in reading is high, because she CAN do it.

 

Using programs like Your Baby Can Read, Monkisee, and Brillkids have made teaching little ones to read joyous , rather then a chore ( which teaching phonics has always felt to me and my girls).

 

I was very inspired by early learning when I read Glenn Doman's books on early education. Very, very inspiring.

[Rivka]

I agree with those who are saying that these are not necessarily signs of being ready to read. My daughter knew all her letters and letter sounds before she was two, and could recognize many environmental sight words like signs and the names of her nursery school classmates. I totally thought she'd be reading at three.

 

At 4, I tried to introduce a little phonics. She couldn't blend. Shortly before 5, she developed the ability to blend. A year later, she's reading somewhere above the 4th grade level. Once she hit the right level of developmental readiness, she took off like a rocket and reads for pleasure for hours a day.

 

It's fine to introduce some simple phonics games, but I strongly recommend against beginning a phonics curriculum at three. The best thing to do is read, read, read to your child. Build up the love of books and the big vocabulary that will make learning to read in a year or two so much easier.

[LynnG in Arizona]

I taught my oldest to read when she was 5, because I was unhappy that her public school kindergarten was doing *nothing* with her other than teaching her the alphabet (that she already knew).

 

I used the BOB books to do it - no actual instruction or education background for me - and her 3 yo sister was in the room with us because my husband worked 24/7 at the time.

 

After about 3 or 4 months of this, we had gone through the BOB book series and I was pleased that our 5 yo DD was reading and happy. I started to put the BOB books away and was surprised to hear 3 yo DD ask, "But wait, Mommy, isn't it my turn now? I want to learn how to read too!"

 

I sat down with my 3 yo purely to humor her. And I was surprised that she had learned an awful lot just by being in the room with us. I thought we would play with the books once or twice and then drop it - wrong. Instead, she took off reading and was fluently reading well before her 4th birthday.

 

When people saw that my 3/4 year old was reading, they assumed that I must have really pushed her. I didn't. She truly was ready and asking. It sounds like your daughter could be as well.

 

I say none of this too brag - but just to say that I do think some kids really are ready at an early age and actively ask to read.

 

What about starting with the new All About Reading pre-reading program that comes out tomorrow and going from there? It seems very developmentally appropriate (from the samples I've seen), and you could always adjust your pace according to how your daughter responds.

 

Good luck!

 

ps - my daughter who read at 3 is now 17 and about to graduate. She remains a voracious reader and an excellent student. There have been no negative consequences to her early reading.

[kchara]

My 3 year old is like this. I had planned on not even bothering with anything for a couple of more years, because I pushed his older two siblings to hard, to fast, and I regret it. Silly me, he wants to learn NOW!! :D We're using Funnix, very, very slowly. It's basically a computer based program of 100EZ Lessons, but he seems to be getting it much more than the two I used 100EZ Lessons with. I don't know if it's the visual thing, or that it's not mommy trying to teach it, but he really enjoys it. That said, we are going VERY slowly, maybe 2 lessons a week. The prices just came down at Funnix, too, so it's MUCH more affordable.

[MyLittleBears]

Leapfrog videos, letter magnets-especially leapfrog 3 letter word magnets, the reading lesson, bob books, and lots and lots of praise!

[waa510]

My oldest was like that as well, though not from a big sibling but probably because I'm a bit of a bookworm. :)

 

I started her on Explode the Code A, B, and C. They were review as she knew her letters and their sounds but the set-up of ETC helped me give her some 'reading' to do for a few months while I decided on how to proceed as teaching reading terrified me. I thought I'd going as far as dd was able in the phonics book until she couldn't handle the material, and then stop and wait until she's older if need be. Well, we started and slowly but surely progressed through OPGTR. It is incredibly simple to teach..I love it for my auditory learner. It'll be a year ago in a couple weeks that we started it and we should be done with the book in a couple weeks.

 

I started back up with ETC 1 after we had covered that material in OPG as I found using ETC as review to work better for us than if the material were new to DD. The scope and sequence is pretty lined-up with OPG until you get to...5??? I believe where they swap in the order they teach things.

 

I got and still get a lotta heat from other local hsers for teaching a 3-4 yr old how to read but she had all the readiness signs and was starting to sight read with her books, which I *didn't* want. I thought it better to start early, then to wait for the sake of her age and then have to break her of sight wording and/or 'guessing'-reading. It's worked out great for us. :)

[tuzor]

Wow thank you all so much for the suggestions. I really haven't a clue how I would make it on this journey without the advice and suggestions of so many hs'ers. We use lots of starfall.com and we have the Leap Frog Letter Factory as well. I am going to check into some of the resources recommended as well. I think that I will start slowing working with him on the skill of blending letters. In addition we will continue to read, read, read. Thanks agian.:grouphug:

[StartingOver]

My son started at that age, and my daughter is starting now. We use OPGTR, but they don't see the book. We do the lessons on the white board, chalk board, with blocks, letter magnets, or on the sidewalk. Anything to keep it fun !! Small bit of info at a time.

Edited March 1, 2011 by StartingOver

[Tracy]

At 3yo, my dd had known her basic phonics for about a year and loved Starfall and playing Princess Pea of SuperWhy. So I bought the first level of the Nora Gaydos books, and I just had her start reading them to me. Within 3 months, she had graduated to books that we could get at the library. Some kids are just intuitive readers, and they don't need a curriculum to learn to read.

 

Three years later, we are using SWR to help her to understand those rules that she already knows intuitively.

[FO4UR]

My middle child learned to read via her brother's lessons. I vote "keep doing what you are doing."

[petepie2]

I started my DD at 3.5 yrs old in OPGTR and used a magna doodle for many of the lessons. I also started Bob books pretty early into those lessons and that made a HUGE difference. Reading the Bob book was a reward for doing a lesson. She's now 6.5 yrs old and her reading level is probably around 5th grade. I'm now doing the same thing with my 4.5 yr old DS, although I'm able to skip the magna doodle and just use the book. We also use ETC to reinforce.

 

For both of them, I started reading lessons once they knew their letters and sounds and had phonemic awareness. The ETC primer books are good for the latter.

 

Kids can learn to read when they're ready....sometimes that's at 3 yrs and most of the time it's later....they'll also progress at whatever pace suits them....you'll know once you get into it whether or not your child's really ready.......just do what you think is best for your child and don't worry about what others think your child should or should not be doing at age 3!....they're all different!