Guest Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Well, I have an unusual problem. My 3yr old knows the sounds letters make but not the names! We love starfall.com here. Is this so much of a problem for learning to read? Should I teach him the letter names first before starting to teach him to read? My concern is he will forget the sounds then. Any opinions? Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMindy Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 In fact, in sounds like your child is ready to start sounding out words! :-) As long as your child is having fun, I say keep pressing forward with it. I had an early reader also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in SC Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 It's not necessary to know letter names in order to read -- only their sounds. Ruth Beechick is an advocate of doing things in just this order, and I believe there are other 'experts' who also endorse this method. Your ds will need to know the letter names eventually, but it's not necessary to begin reading, imo. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Thank you both. This is my first time teaching a child to read as my oldest went to a specialized private school and my second taught himself by this age. Not bragging, I promise! I am a little nervous. it is the only area I feel that way about. Thank you both again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canada_Mom Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Just thought I'd let you know that this is how Spalding (Writing Road to Reading) encourages learning. That each "symbol" (letter) represents a different phonem and to not necessarily teach kids the names of each letter. I may be remembering this a bit *off* as it has been a while since I read this part of the textbook but I do remember reading somewhere in the text to not teach the child the letter names initially. I remember this b/c dd already knew her alphabet when we started Spalding and I wondered what that would mean for us... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrtle Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 I succesfully taught all three of my children to read without teaching them any letter names. I taught the names of the letters about a year later when we began formal spelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whybenormal Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 That's awesome! I'd say you are at a real advantage here! Half the work of teaching reading is done already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 I'm just teaching my 3yo letter sounds as well, though she is picking up a lot of letter names on her own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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