Anyone out there with a 2 year old reader?

[KYHokiemom]

My ds turned 2 this past April and is fascinated with letters and words. He knows his letters, sounds and vowels and is now piecing together 3 letter words as of this past week. Anyone else have this with their dc? I am not interested in pushing him, but want to encourage his skills and desires. He is starting on the Bob books, too. He is the youngest of 4, so I guess all of the reading that goes on in this house is rubbing off - literally! Any suggestions or thoughts would be great!

[KAR120C]

DS was a little older, but still very young (3? it's been a while... LOL) and he pretty much let me know exactly what he wanted. Oddly enough, that was the "peak" of his interest in workbooks, too. Starting when he was 2 and ending when he was about 4 or 5, he adored workbooks. After that, not quite so much.

 

So I guess I'd just say follow his lead and hang on for a wild ride ;)

[lwilliams1922]

my 2nd daughter is an early reader as well. My 12 year old read at two as well. I saw the same signs that I did with dd#1. I don't see it in #3 but I guess all kids are different.

 

I don't push her but she pushes us. She asks a lot of questions. If i didn't have a 1 yr old and a pre teen I might be doing more. For now we just read a lot.

[hsmamainva]

My 8yo was like this!!

 

He wanted to "do school" because he saw his older brother and sister "doing school", so I started Kindergarten with him when he was 3. He used Sonlight Core K, BJU Math K, and Get Ready for the Code books (the Bob books are great, too!)

 

I would follow his lead. If he's ready for more, let him do more! That's the beauty of homeschooling!

 

He may slow down in the future...he may not. (My 8yo is working on a 5th-6th grade level now)

 

Btw...you may want to read some of the posts on the Accelerated Learner's Forum for more ideas or suggestions.

[Academy of Jedi Arts]

Yes, my dd was reading at that age. We have always kept a lot of books at varying levels around. Dd would make rapid jumps, practically going from reading children's books to anything in the house seemingly overnight. She never went through a formal reading program, although I did keep a copy of Phonics Pathways for her to pull out and she would ask about things in there. We never sat down and did the whole book though.

 

I agree with just following his lead, and yeah- it's going to be a ride for sure.

[sweetbaby]

Wow! That's amazing! We're working on potty training still. :lol:

[Kim in SouthGa]

this is facinating! My 17 month old daughter loves books and loves to scribble. She loves for me to write words...I'm always writing words like Mom and dog and sounding them out for her, never thinking in a million years she would read early! But she is quite adament when she wants to do it! ;) She has always been very vocal and has quite a large vocabulary for her age (at least I think so). Is this how your dc started off? Not that I am going to push her to read, I just think the whole idea of a two year old reading is amazing!!

[Laura Corin]

My ds turned 2 this past April and is fascinated with letters and words. He knows his letters, sounds and vowels and is now piecing together 3 letter words as of this past week. Anyone else have this with their dc? I am not interested in pushing him, but want to encourage his skills and desires. He is starting on the Bob books, too. He is the youngest of 4, so I guess all of the reading that goes on in this house is rubbing off - literally! Any suggestions or thoughts would be great!

 

One thing that I would say is that he may reach a particular level and stop progressing for a bit. Calvin had all his letter sounds before he was two, but didn't let on that he was reading until he was four (at which point he went from C-A-T to Harry Potter in fifteen months).

 

I'm not sure whether he needed extra time to mature into full reading, or didn't want to tell us that he could.... It came to the same thing: I let him be and he read when he was ready.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

[Guest Bethany]

One thing that I would say is that he may reach a particular level and stop progressing for a bit. Calvin had all his letter sounds before he was two, but didn't let on that he was reading until he was four

 

:iagree: My oldest was the same way. She knew all the letter and letter sounds before she turned 2, but didn't read until 4, and wasn't a proficient reader until 5.

[nmoira]

Yes, my dd was reading at that age. We have always kept a lot of books at varying levels around. Dd would make rapid jumps, practically going from reading children's books to anything in the house seemingly overnight. She never went through a formal reading program, although I did keep a copy of Phonics Pathways for her to pull out and she would ask about things in there. We never sat down and did the whole book though.

 

I agree with just following his lead, and yeah- it's going to be a ride for sure.

 

This is largely our experience. At some point -- late 3, early 4? -- we went through OPGTR, reading the word lists and stories (i.e. no lessons). She was a very strong reader by that point and I figured she might pick up something of the underlying structure, or she might not, but it couldn't hurt.

[bairnmama]

My ds is like that, too. He picked up all the letters and their sounds at age 2 while I was working with his sister and he can sound out words, he just normally doesn't want to. So, I just keep plenty of books around on various levels and he picks up a few during the day. I also let him play Headsprout when he wants to and let him stop whenever. Sometimes he really surprises me... like the time his sister was struggling with a word in one of her books. He just leaned over the page, gave a quick look, and said "roof". He was right! I just let it all alone and figure he'll ask for more help when/if he needs it! Have fun!

[FO4UR]

My dd knew all her letter sounds at 2yo, though she isn't blending yet. She is more fascinated with writing letters than reading at this point so that's what we are doing. I don't typically PLAN on teaching her, but she demands it:tongue_smilie::lol:

 

Go with it. :D

[Lovedtodeath]

My DD was reading at three. We then put the CC on the TV and her reading level keeps going up!

[KYHokiemom]

My dd5 (the 3rd of 4) was saying letters and sounds at 3 and reading 3 letter words shortly there after, then she just wasn't interested. She is now 5 1/2 and reading at an early 1st grade level. My 2yr old just LOVES words. When I read a book about colors to him tonight, he sounded out the color words instead of looking at the pictures. It's just his thing! I really believe that every child is different. My oldest is now in 4th grade and is reading at an 8th grade level (and I'm underguessing this.) He didn't really read until he was 6, though. His comprehension level is post secondary. Sometimes I think he comprehends better than me! I don't want this post to encourage anyone to push their child. They all read at their own pace. I just want to make sure that I am being responsible with my 2yr. olds gift. Thanks for all of your thoughts. I will continue to let him be excited and immerse him in language!

[Sahamamama]

My ds turned 2 this past April and is fascinated with letters and words. He knows his letters, sounds and vowels and is now piecing together 3 letter words as of this past week. Anyone else have this with their dc? I am not interested in pushing him, but want to encourage his skills and desires. He is starting on the Bob books, too. He is the youngest of 4, so I guess all of the reading that goes on in this house is rubbing off - literally! Any suggestions or thoughts would be great!

 

The day after my oldest daughter turned two (February 2007), she came to me and said, "Mommy, could you please teach me to read today?" as if I had nothing else to do that day. At the time, I had newborn twins with pyloric stenosis (stomach muscle clamped shut -- projectile vomiting all day and all night), so I calmly said to this child, "Um, not today, Sweetie, maybe when you're three."

 

She seemed content with this for about a month, then wanted to learn to read again. She already could recognize and "name" the letters, upper and lowercase, by 18 months, so that spring (2007), after the babies were cured, we began talking about letter sounds. We made little books with some pages I found online -- "My First Letter A Book," "My First Letter B Book," and so on. Here's the link for the pages, if you want to slow it down a bit and have him do some color, cut, and paste activity -- good for motor skills, at any rate!

 

http://www.first-school.ws/theme/alphabet.htm

 

For us, though, we stopped around letter M because I realized she didn't need or want the busywork and already knew the basic consonant sounds. She was ready to move into learning to read, and kept asking to be taught. So, I bought the Ordinary Parent's Guide (Peacehill Press) and the CD to go with it. We learned the "Short Vowel Rhyme" and the "Consonant Rhyme" simultaneously, because the short vowel rhyme was too short, LOL, and within a day she had learned it. By the end of September we were on to "at, cat, bat, sat," and by her third birthday (February 2008), she was proficiently reading any 3-letter C-V-C word (not with an R-controlled vowel). We also learned poems from First Language Lessons (just listening to the CD). :001_smile:

 

We slowed down a bit when we came to consonant ending blends -- juMP, beLT, taSK, giFT and so on, but she wanted to go on with it. We are now hovering around Lesson 53 -- squish and squint and squid. Next we move on to consonant digraphs -- CH and SH and SHR -- which she already knows, but we'll still read the words in the book.

 

My goals for this fall/winter are to go back over everything, read Bob Books (sets 3 and 4, she's done 1 and 2 over and over), read other real books and have her sound out everything for which she has had phonics instruction, and learn a few more sight words than what is included in OPG. Then in the spring, we will work on long-vowel sounds. That's the plan, but it could change.

 

For what it's worth, I think that birth order matters in this area -- your young "eager reader" is the youngest child, so in that case I would encourage all the reading he wants to do and all the reading aloud to him that anyone else is willing to do! You have other readers in your household to supplement what you can do. For me, with this child, for some reason I feel there is wisdom in... well, not exactly holding her back, but... not being "too eager" as a parent and pushing/focusing on academics at this early age. We "do school," as she puts it, about 3 days per week, about 20-40 minutes each session, not counting daily read alouds (30 minutes to 90 minutes, or until my voice wears out ;)), music, "art", play time, being outside, nature walks, or social activities. This means that a few times a week, we sit side by side at the big table and "work on phonics."

 

We also use a magnetic letter board with a great set of letters from Scholastic, can't say enough great things about these magnets! Here's the link:

 

http://shop.scholastic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay_34048_-1_10001_10002

 

I can ask her to spell "frog," for example, and she gets out the letters and puts them on the board: f r o g. In order to spell, she really has to THINK about the phonics she knows, and apply it to a word that is hanging in the air, until she makes it concrete. It's wonderful to see her learning in this way. When she uses the magnets to spell out words she can read, I can almost see the little lights go on in her head. Adorable.

 

Well, sorry so long-winded, as usual. :blush: I do get so excited about anyone learning to read, especially young readers, since I was one and now have one. I hope you understand what I was getting at, about neither rushing nor stopping, but just going slowly. I would rather do this than have my daughter feel pressured in any way, or get into the bad habit of guessing. I've also noticed that if she has some "time to chew" the new material, it becomes automatic in subsequent sessions. In other words, often she needs the presentation, a bit of practice, a break, and a review. Good luck with your little guy and never give up doing read alouds, no matter how great of a reader he grows into! Keep him on your lap until he doesn't fit there, then push him over to the side and keep on reading! :D

[EKS]

My son was able to sound out words at 2. Just take his lead and you'll be fine! You may want to post at the Accelerated Learner board as I know there are folks over there with experience with this.

[Rosie_0801]

Wow! This just spins me out. I was thinking it was pretty cool that my dd (now 17months) understood that books can be read out in both English and Auslan. She's just started drawing and for some reason the other day, I wrote our names down on her piece of paper. I was quite surprised at her interest. I would probably have forgotten the incident if it wasn't for this thread. We usually attend a Steiner/Waldorf playgroup where such things are not encouraged. Books are not even part of the environment, they're into oral storytelling. Guess I'll have to do it again and see what happens. She likes to know the English and Auslan names for everything (obviously, being a toddler). I wonder if she can learn the names for the letters. Not that I'm going to try and bully her into reading, or anything. It's just that she can't comprehend many ideas that aren't simple nouns (can't understand colour yet,) and I've always though of letters as being really arbitary, but I suppose to a toddler they are no more arbitary than anything else. I don't imagine she could learn letters in English, but she probably could in Auslan; most of the letter handshapes are pretty easy to form.

It's really weird when these sorts of ideas come past. I guess an adult's idea of what is too hard isn't the same as the kid's idea, and I guess they know far more about their interests than we do, even if they don't have the vocab to describe it. Geez. At this point, it's almost outside my comprehension that dd's English is going to catch up with her Auslan, let alone overtake it! She actually produces the occasional three word sentence in Auslan, but has never even put two English words together.

Anyway, I'm getting rather off topic, but I'm glad you've made me take notice of her interest in me writing. Being pregnant and lacking energy has made me neglect her a bit lately, but this might be a fun sitting down game to play sometimes. Sitting down games are very good for this Mamma.

:)

Rosie

[Laura Corin]

I wonder if she can learn the names for the letters.

 

I would start her on letter sounds, rather than names. The letter sounds lead directly into reading, whilst the letter names are a cul-de-sac. Both my boys learned the letter names after they could read well.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

[Rosie_0801]

I would start her on letter sounds, rather than names. The letter sounds lead directly into reading, whilst the letter names are a cul-de-sac. Both my boys learned the letter names after they could read well.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

 

Yeah, I knew that. I was actually thinking about her Auslan, but didn't say so. I know what I'm talking about, even if no one else does! I was thinking pictorially instead of in sounds, if that makes sense. Unsurprisingly, letters in signed languages only have names, not sounds :)

I was wondering if she could learn the letters, because they are pictures that have a name, or if she wouldn't because she doesn't understand shapes yet. I don't even know if she doesn't understand shapes because she can't say them, and there is not a lot of point signing about them, or if that is some sort of developmental idea she hasn't come to yet. What do you guys think? Do kids categorise letters as shapes? Or are they a category of their own?

I tried writing the letters on paper, but she's very enthusiastic about drawing at the moment so wasn't interested in the letters, though the words were worth paying some attention to I guess because she knows what Mammma, Dad and cheese are (since she was eating some!) I'm going to get some fridge magnets or something and see if, being a different kind of game, it makes a difference. Not that it matters, I'm just curious if it does make a difference. If not, they go away in the cupboard until later. Mamma has found a new game to play.

:)

Rosie

[Laura Corin]

I was wondering if she could learn the letters, because they are pictures that have a name, or if she wouldn't because she doesn't understand shapes yet. I don't even know if she doesn't understand shapes because she can't say them, and there is not a lot of point signing about them, or if that is some sort of developmental idea she hasn't come to yet. What do you guys think? Do kids categorise letters as shapes? Or are they a category of their own?

 

 

He was fascinated by symbols of all kinds: street signs, the 'close' symbol on lifts, logos, numbers... He seemed to like shapes that stood for other things. I don't know how that fits into not being able to express her understanding of shapes...

 

Laura

[Rosie_0801]

 

Well, we went to the chiropractor this morning and I signed letters and said the sounds while we waited. I bought some magnetic letters on the way home, and when she pulled the 'b' out, I said 'b' and she signed it! So, I guess symbols are just another type of picture that has a name and presumably the reason most kids don't learn them earlier is because most parents don't think of talking about them, understandably. I mean horses, dogs and frogs are much cooler :) It'll be interesting to see how long it takes for her to be able to identify the written letter, or maybe she'll get bored of the magnets before we get that far.

:)

Rosie

[TXMomof2]

My ds was 2 when he taught himself basic phonic sounds using the LeapFrog refrigerator magnets. My 2.10 he was reading extremely well. I used the Phonics Pathways book and continued doing lots of read alouds. He's now 5.11 and still loves reading. I don't test anymore, but about 1.5 years ago he was on a 5th grade level.

 

IMO, take your child's lead in teaching to read, gently moving at their desired pace, and continue to read, read, read to them. We read lots of books as RAs that were above his age, but colorful and full of new words.

[Lovedtodeath]

Rosie, what's AUS?

[Rosie_0801]

Rosie, what's AUS?

 

You mean "Auslan"? It's AUstralian Sign LANguage.

We try to keep the two languages seperate, but have really wanted to make sure, right from the beginning, that she understands that material can be presented in either. So, when we were playing with the magnetic letters I was including the spoken sound, and the fingerspelling. Some of the letters are easier to sign than say. Some are easier to say than fingerspell. Quite different to ASL (American Sign Language.) ASL fingerspelling is much harder to produce. Anyway, producing the sign or the sound shows she has some comprehension of the concept, and it's groovier when she has both down pat. Not that it matters, but it seems to be a fun game for the moment.

 

:)

Rosie

[Reya]

My ds turned 2 this past April and is fascinated with letters and words. He knows his letters, sounds and vowels and is now piecing together 3 letter words as of this past week. Anyone else have this with their dc? I am not interested in pushing him, but want to encourage his skills and desires. He is starting on the Bob books, too. He is the youngest of 4, so I guess all of the reading that goes on in this house is rubbing off - literally! Any suggestions or thoughts would be great!

 

My DS read his first word as 2yrs 1 week. I decided that maybe I should teach him the letter sounds then. :-) Despite knowing HOW to sound things out from a very early age, he has always gravitated more toward sight recognition than letter processing...which came out and bit us on the rear even though I sat him down and began formal, phonics-based instruction at 3. So I think there's a benefit to a very laid-back but 100% phonics approach that makes sure that the kiddo is trained to process by letter automatically, not by word recognition, as soon as spontaneous reading begins. I think this would solve the very high levels of poor spellers among the gifted, too!

 

Word Mastery is my very, very favorite program. It's SIMPLE. It's gentle. It's got real print, not a special letter marking system. It goes to a nicely sophisticated level. And it's FREE! I WISH I'd used this from the start with DS. It would have prevented sooooo many problems.

 

http://www.donpotter.net/PDF/Word%20Mastery%20-%20Typed.pdf

[Lovedtodeath]

Reya, this is awesome! Do you have it in the freebie thread?

[Reya]

Reya, this is awesome! Do you have it in the freebie thread?

 

I put the entire site there! (donpotter.net) There ARE some typos in the transcription, but not too many.

 

I tried a number of other systems, but they didn't work with DS. Many were just too slow. Others had too many frills. And almost all of them stopped at end-of-first-grade/beginning of second. Not so good. I also really, really like Remedial Reading program posted on the same site. It takes the guessing right out of reading!

[Nan in Mass]

I wonder if reading will be easier for her? She's used to the idea that ideas and things have a visual representation, not just a sound one.