Early readers.

[lynn]

My dd is 26months and has shown prereading skills of rhyming, narrating stories we have read or telling stories of things she's seen or does, "reading" her books etc. Do I let her just do this for the next couple of years or should I start introducing 100 easy reading lessons or phonics pathways? Will she be bored when we actually start doing phonics for spelling reasons if she is reading early or does it all fall into place? No, I don't want to push her I just don't know where to go with where she's at. Does this make sense? Thanks for any advice on this.

[Brenda in FL]

26 months seems awfully early to start 100EZ. I would just encourage her where she's at for now. She'll probably let you know when she wants to "really" learn how to read.

 

I used 100EZ with my oldest two children, but started between 4 and 5 years old.

 

My third, who I really didn't think was ready to sit down and do "reading lessons." consistently at age 4, began sounding words out on his own. When I discovered that - we started reading Bob Books on a regular basis. I probably will not do any formal program with him at all. After he's done with Bob Books - we'll just do beginning readers and start SWO A.

 

Be careful starting Bob Books too early and don't use them repetatively (I cannot spell that word) - They are too easy for the kids too memorize. We read one and go on to the next.

 

So, all that to say - that if your dd continues as you think she will - you may not even need to do phonics and starting SWO A at Kindergarten won't be boring.

[nancypants]

My oldest was an early reader. He had his favorite book memorized when he was younger than two (I can't remember how old he was but I'm gauging it by when we moved from the house where I remember him saying it.) I just kept reading to him and singing songs, looking at books and talking about the sounds that letters made. He started reading when he was three. We used Phonics Pathways. He just turned 8 and just finished reading Lord of the Rings and is now reading The Silmarillion! (which I won't even attempt to read! LOL) Follow her lead but keep it totally fun at this point. It's so exciting when they initiate these things!

[nmoira]

 

My dd is 26months and has shown prereading skills of rhyming, narrating stories we have read or telling stories of things she's seen or does, "reading" her books etc. Do I let her just do this for the next couple of years or should I start introducing 100 easy reading lessons or phonics pathways?

If your daughter is headed towards being an early reader, lack of direct phonics instruction won't hold her back. :) I would simply follow her lead and answer her questions.

[Michelle in MO]

I was a very early reader, and so was my oldest daughter. I was reading well in kindergarten, and my oldest wrote and illustrated books on her own when she was very young.

 

Personally, I have absolutely no memory of phonics instruction. It was probably there, I guess, in kindergarten to some degree, but I just don't remember it. I think Nmoira is right---just keep reading aloud to your daughter, allowing her to color, write---whatever. She may pick up reading almost intuitively, without you having to give her direct phonics instruction.

[lwilliams1922]

Be careful starting Bob Books too early and don't use them repetatively (I cannot spell that word) - They are too easy for the kids too memorize. We read one and go on to the next.

 

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I have a 2 yr old that memorizes her story books. We have a lot that we rotate in. She memorizes the titles of most books after hearing it once.

then if she happens to hear the book read 2 or 3 times she memorizes the story and pretends to read it to herself or the 1 yr old.

 

Can someone tell me whats wrong with that?

 

I have a 12 yr old that did they same thing at that age. She learned to read on her own. By the time we tried to teach her phonics she already had it. Shortly after memorizing words/books I noticed she was able to read words she hadn't seen before.

 

now dd has always been 5 yrs or more above grade level in reading.

 

Is there something I need to be aware of with the 2 yr old memorizing books? She just LOVES to get in your lap to hear stories.

 

During the day She also asks a lot 'what does that SAY?"

she memorizes words she sees around the house as well.

 

:confused:

[Laurie in VA]

I agree with everyone else. Both my DDs were very young readers (3yo and 2yo) and both learned naturally. We read aloud a lot and they asked lots of questions.

 

I started 100EL very gently with DD#1 at 3-1/2 but didn't finish until she was 5. She already knew how to read, but I felt phonics was really important so we took it easy and slow as she wasn't too fond of it.

 

DD#2 read at 34 mos. and we didn't start 100EL until she turned 3-1/2. She also does ETC-1 and loves it. We also have taken it very slow with her (we only "do school" as she asks, so might go weeks without any phonics).

 

I think if you keep reading lots and lots of books, answer your DD's questions, and just follow her lead everything will fall into place. I am not a huge fan of TV, videos, etc. for really young children but Leap Frog does have wonderful DVDs called Letter Factory and Talking Words Factory that my DD s loved at your DD's age.

 

HTH! Enjoy this time with your DD!

[KellyGirl]

My 4 yo suddenly knew all (or at least most) of his letters and numbers when he was about 30 months old. He had been obsessed with books since before he could crawl. Having already taught a child to read, I decided that I should teach him to focus on the sounds of the letters rather than their names. I bought a little box of letter flash cards and introduced them 2 or 3 at a time. He LOVED it. And after a month or two of that, he was begging to really learn to read, so I got 100 Easy Lessons and he basicly never looked back.

 

I do believe that if I had "left him alone" he would have taught himself, but he and I both really enjoyed those early lessons. I would NEVER suggest pushing your child, but if your wondering if she is bored I don't think it would hurt to see if could retain a few letter sounds - see if she enjoys learning it or if it stresses her out, kwim?

[Chris in VA]

lwilliams1922--There's absolutely nothing wrong with what your daughter is doing. That's how sight word vocab is built. What I think the other poster probably meant was that she was trying to encourage her child to use phonics to decode, and instead, dc simply memorized the sequence of the words in the book. Perhaps that child wasn't ready to use those phonics, or perhaps dc needed to see the words in isolation for practice.

 

Many children, as they are learning the concepts of print, go thru the "pretend reading" stage. It's a natural activity that shows they understand that the book contains a story. It doesn't necessarily show that they understand the print makes the words (as opposed to the action of turning the pages or the pictures themselves making the story), but it is a step in the right direction.

 

Let her memorize away. Let her enjoy your reading to her hearts content. The amount of reading aloud a child is exposed to is the single greatest predictor of reading success--this is from my reading studies for my Praxis* exam! (See--I'm getting something out of it!)

 

*Teacher cert. exam

[dirty ethel rackham]

If your daughter is headed towards being an early reader, lack of direct phonics instruction won't hold her back. :) I would simply follow her lead and answer her questions.

 

Agree here. My son taught himself to read at age 4 (or probably before, but I thought he was memorizing.) The only thing we would do was point out letter sounds in books. He loved any and all books on the alphabet. His favorite book at 6 months old was a small board book that I picked up at a garage sale that gave a picture for every letter of the alphabet. I think we would play little rhyming games in the car.

 

I would not do a formal program, but just make phonics part of everyday conversation.

[Karen FL]

My sister and I memorized books at age two and were reading well at age 4. We were not taught phonics. I think our PS system may have been using whole language back then.

 

When my 5/y old son started to memorize Bob Books I didn't think it was a good thing. He would guess at words in other books. For example, he would think that all words that started with the letter "c" were the word can. He would guess that all words that started with "s" were Sam.

 

That, to me, is an example of what makes memorizing not a good thing. Perhaps memorizing books at the early age of 2 or 3 is a good thing?

[Brenda in FL]

I'm sorry - there's nothing wrong with it in the way you describe!

 

But - if someone is using readers like Bob Books to assess how their little ones are progressing - it can be misleading if they do memorize them or get so familiar with the pictures that they aren't "reading" the words.

 

I hope that explains what I was trying to say a little better. There's absolutely nothing wrong about children memorizing their favorite stories!!

[Mabelen]

My oldest was also doing those things and she NEVER needed any phonics instruction. She learned to read by herself. By the time she was 3 she was reading English well, and I don't mean reader books, but just regular books for children. Shortly after she turned 4 she started reading Spanish too, and that also without any instruction whatsoever. Now at age 11, she is still a voracious reader.

 

My opinion is that at this point you have the luxury of just enjoying reading to her and letting her progress on her own that way. From what others have shared, she might very well be one of those kids that just learn to read on their own; that is an accomplishment you don't want to take away from her. If she doesn't, then you have still plenty of time left for phonics instruction.