Interesting article on early reading vs late reading

[GardenTenders/Kim]

http://rewireyourbrainforlove.com/why-early-reading-is-bad-for-your-child-early-brain-development/

 

PLEASE don't attack me. I am just searching for information and seen this and thought I would share with some. Let me add, with much frustration, on the part of teachers, my parents and me as a small child, I COULD NOT read until I was somewhere around 8 years old. Trust me this ws not for want of trying on the part of many. Once I began to red there was no stopping me and I would be willing to bet long before the 5th grade that I had surpassed all my peers that had been reading since 4-5 yrs old. By 12 I was reading college level (trust me I was tested). I am not saying that early reading is bad for everyone, but there maybe something to this.

[Joker]

I just skimmed it but it seemed to be more about putting your tots in front of a tv rather than "tuning" into them. My younger started reading at 3 yrs. but there was to tv involved - it was all her. I couldn't have stopped her if I wanted to. My older didn't learn until 7 yrs. They both read on the same level and neither has slowed down. I agree there could be issues if parents were forcing young toddlers to learn to read but I don't know anyone that does that.

[TracyP]

I am mostly in agreement with the article but I didn't see it as being about early vs late reading. I saw it as a rant against the "Your Baby Can Read" program. I also think it is a horrible program.

 

She encourages meeting your child where they are developmentally and I also agree with that.

[Mommy22alyns]

I just skimmed it but it seemed to be more about putting your tots in front of a tv rather than "tuning" into them. My younger started reading at 3 yrs. but there was to tv involved - it was all her. I couldn't have stopped her if I wanted to. My older didn't learn until 7 yrs. They both read on the same level and neither has slowed down. I agree there could be issues if parents were forcing young toddlers to learn to read but I don't know anyone that does that.

 

:iagree: Both of my girls were like this.

[Soror]

As a mom to a nearly 7 yo who still hasn't take off with reading yet, this is encouragement. Especially when constantly surrounded by those talking about their 3-4-5 yrs old reading like crazy. I think this is where he needed to be. Just as I am fairly sure his sister will be sooner as it just seems more intuitive to her already- although it still looks like it will be 5 or so for her,so not what anyone would call super early.

[StephanieZ]

I think teaching any child under 8 or so with anything on a screen is nonsense. In very small doses (under an hour a week or so), I am sure most screen time is harmless, but in regular doses, it is both a waste of valuable time and a distracting/ADHD inducing mess.

 

Reading, taught by an involved parent one-on-one, is an entirely different subject.

 

My kids were all very easy to teach reading at 4 years old. One on one, engaged, lovely. Some of my favorite memories of that age was helping my dc open the doors to books.

 

Yes, if my kids were in a typical school, there would have been no long term advantage academically, and perhaps a penalty, due to the fact that typical classrooms are unwilling or unable to differentiate instruction, and they'd spend many hours bored to tears while their classmates learned to read.

 

But, with homeschooling, there was no such complexity. We just keep moving forward at a healthy, challenging pace.

 

Some kids are surely not ready at that age, but mine were all more than ready. I would never have stuck them in front of a DVD, and I think those baby DVDs are an evil marketing tactic.

[ElizabethB]

I'm a fan of early reading, but only with phonics. And, some children are not ready. My daughter learned to read early, my son is still at the c-a-t cat stage, and he wasn't ready to start until he was 5.

 

I agree that the Doman method is harmful.

 

I read a study when I first started tutoring that showed that those that learned to read early stayed ahead all their their school years and were very successful. Unfortunately, this is before I had a web page and kept track of things, and I have not able to find the study again. I worked as a statistician at the time, and the statistics on the study were quite sound and it was a very large study. (It was an older study, it was at least a decade old when I read it and I first started tutoring in 1994, I read it soon after that.)

 

Those that are being taught with sight words are not really being taught to read, they are taught to guess at words and many students taught this way will later have problems, I've remediated a ton of these students.

[GardenTenders/Kim]

My plan is to let my daughter go where her interests are. So far no indications that she wants to read at almost 4. I plan to use a lot of play and introduce it slowly, but I do get negative feedback for this and it frustrates me to no end. Don't make me feel like I am a bad parent or my child is stupid and tell me I am not "challenging" her enough. UGH!

 

Yes it dealt with the DVD's but also touched on early reading and how most children little brains aren't wired properly for it yet.

[Pink Fairy]

This article doesn't relate to my experience as far as early reading actually being detrimental. For my kids, the earlier they've started reading the better they've done in school, and not because of anything I do or don't do. That's just how they were made, which also applies to the two who didn't read early. My 9yob struggled to learn to read (I think he was reading at 6.5yo), and he still struggles with school today. My 12yog learned to read at 5yo, and I would describe her as a fairly average student. Again, none of this is because of what I do or don't do, this is just how God made them. I think it's fine and to be expected that different kids have different strengths and weaknesses, and in my family no one is pushed to read early but I don't hold them back either. I can see that problems will begin if you can't accept where your child is developmentally.

[twoforjoy]

My plan is to let my daughter go where her interests are. So far no indications that she wants to read at almost 4. I plan to use a lot of play and introduce it slowly, but I do get negative feedback for this and it frustrates me to no end. Don't make me feel like I am a bad parent or my child is stupid and tell me I am not "challenging" her enough. UGH!

 

My son was an early reader, but I don't see DD going in that direction, at least right now. DS was super, super verbal from a really young age; DD is really going at her own pace, language-wise. She's not behind, but she's at the later end of normal development so far (and has been with most things).

 

I do not plan on pushing her. I wouldn't have introduced phonics to DS until he was 5 or 6 if he hadn't expressed interest in learning to read earlier. And I wouldn't have continued if it had seemed too frustrating or difficult. I just don't see my DD being the type to come crying to me at 3 because she doesn't know how to read (like my son did--he's always been a pretty driven kid), and that's fine with me.

 

My son always wants to buy her the "My Baby Can Read" set, though. And he tells me, "But, Mom, our baby *can't* read!" I've tried to explain that babies are not supposed to read, so it's really okay. ;)

[ElizabethB]

I've tried to explain that babies are not supposed to read, so it's really okay. ;)

 

:iagree:

 

:lol::lol::lol:

[AnitaMcC]

I didn't push any of my kids. They learned to read simply by being read to from infancy. When they started school they learned from there.

 

All but one of my kids learned to read at a typical pace/age. They just being read to when they were little. Twins would sit in my lap for hours looking at the books while I read to them. Ds#2 was too hyper to read with me, but he loved being read to while he was "practicing" his gross motor skills. Ds#3 loved to sit with me while I read, but "only" for about 30 minutes at a time (twins would go for over an hour). I would sound out words for them when they asked what a word said (when they were about 2-5 yrs old) and so they got a little phonics in, but never any lessons. Simply we just had fun with reading.

 

Ds#1 was a "poor" reader until summer before 3rd grade. But at end of 3rd grade he was tested (IQ and achievement thru psych) and he measured at reading post high school level.

 

He could.not.do phonics. He had to memorize what words looked like and that was how he read. But then between 2nd and 3rd grade it just clicked for him. And from there he was reading way advanced for his age.

 

Now writing was/is another story. He measured at 1st grade level when he was going into 4th grade. He still struggles a bit with writing. It isn't the mechanics of writing that is difficult, but the thought process and getting from brain to paper is the challenge for him. It takes him a long time. If he is very knowledgable with the topic then it is a bit easier.

 

And funny thing is, Ds #1... the one who struggled to learn to read, is the only one of my kids who will read just to read for fun. Dd, Ds#2, Ds#3 will not pick up a book for fun. Dd will if it is poetry or a topic that she wants to learn about (Kung Fu-LOL). She can't stand fiction literature.

Edited July 8, 2011 by AnitaMcC

[butterflymommy]

My 12 y.o. did not start to read well until she was 10-- and it was not for lack of trying to teach her. Now she is a voracious reader with hundreds of books under her belt. She also "speed reads" with nearly perfect recall.

 

My 14 y.o. taught himself to read by age 4. He played "Reader Rabbit" obsessively on the computer. He also is a "speed" reader with incredible recall.

 

I find it so odd that they both learned at different pacing/ stages, yet are now both avid readers.

[WishboneDawn]

http://rewireyourbrainforlove.com/why-early-reading-is-bad-for-your-child-early-brain-development/

 

PLEASE don't attack me. I am just searching for information and seen this and thought I would share with some. Let me add, with much frustration, on the part of teachers, my parents and me as a small child, I COULD NOT read until I was somewhere around 8 years old. Trust me this ws not for want of trying on the part of many. Once I began to red there was no stopping me and I would be willing to bet long before the 5th grade that I had surpassed all my peers that had been reading since 4-5 yrs old. By 12 I was reading college level (trust me I was tested). I am not saying that early reading is bad for everyone, but there maybe something to this.

 

I believe it. I was an early reader myself but my daughter didn't read until she was 9 (she learned on her own - we were unschoolers at that point) and then she was reading adult novels within a year.

 

My son is 9 and finally reading but his delay was due to much different factors.