Teaching dd to read

[HauntedsandCastle]

How do I start? Good books, easiest way etc?

She counts, knows some of her alphabet.

She's 3,

TIA

[jabberwocky]

Ds is at the same stage. He's really interested and asks all the time how to spell this and that. We do things with the magnetic letters on the refrigerator, He is playing right now with a See Spell Puzzle that has pictures and the name beside it where you put in the letter puzzle pieces. I also got a stencil set where each page has a capital and lower case letter so that he can learn those.
We also play games like "How do you spell boo?" then - boom, then zoo and zoom, like that.
I have the Jolly Phonics workbooks, we just need to get a routine down to work with them.

[threebob]

You read her lots and lots of books, and answer her questions. And then you chill for another year AT LEAST, knowing that you are doing fine.

[rosie79]

Don't.

She doesn't need to learn to read yet, all that will come later and even if children are showing a great interest in reading and books that can be encouraged without teaching them to read! What is the rush?

Many well meaning parents attempt to 'teach' their children to read, but are not qualified teachers so don't always teach in the right way etc. Then when they get to reception the teacher has to rectify all the bad teaching and the children are more confused. It's like well meaning parents teaching their children to write using capital letters or teaching the names of the letters before the sounds.

Just enjoy books and reading with your DD, set the foundations so that when she's older reading will come naturally and with ease. You want her to enjoy books, and pushing her to read too soon could take the fun out of it for her!

Sorry if I sound harsh, but there is really no need to teach reading so young!! In some European countries they leave it till age 6 or 7, and these children then do better than uk kids in reading and writing ability when they are older.

[HauntedsandCastle]

rosie79, not harsh at all. I guess that's what I wanted to hear, tbh. I would like to get her to recoginise the alphabet & numbers, do you think it's still too early for that too?

I posted after dh aunt (I should know better) rang from the uk and said her friends grandchild is tha same age as dd and she can read/write her name. Now I don't know how much is true, but just got me thining!

Thank you

[rosie79]

Point out letters in her name first, but just say the sound (phonetic) of the letter rather than the name, and if she shows an interest you could mention the sounds of letters in books too, but just in a casual way and not focussing on that over and above just enjoying the story! If she shows a keen interest you can encourage learning more letter sounds, if she doesn't show much interest then don't worry, it isn't important at three!

As for numbers, don't worry about her recognising written numbers yet, but by all means count with her whenever you get the opportunity, this will help her understand quantity and learn the sequence of numbers. Their written form is of little importance at this age.

Hope that helps! Don't worry about what other people say their children can do, or three year olds they know can do "this and that". Often it is exaggerated anyway! Quite often we have parents of kids starting reception saying "oh and he can already read and count, add, etc. etc...." (the list is endless) and actually when I start teaching the child they can't do these things and are at a similar level to all the other children their age! (did I mention I'm a primary teacher?)

Hope this helps !

[figroll]

My eldest daughter could "read" simple reading books at the age of 4, my youngest didn't really start until she went to school.

When my eldest was at primary I actually discovered that she was just very good at memorising every word in the book. They need to reach the right stage of development before they have the necessary understanding to read properly and I don't believe that this comes until they are a bit older. (I am sure there are exceptions to this).

By the way, my youngest is now a far better reader than the older one, so boo hoo to early reading skills! I have to agree with Rosie here - don't compare your dd to others. It is really difficult not to look at others and feel proud when yours is doing well, but at 3 there really is no rush.

[HauntedsandCastle]

rosie, thank you. That makes alot of sense. She knows m is her initial and for mummy and d for daddy. She does recognise these letters too. We use her letters in the bath. It's good to have it from a teacher's pov!

Figroll, always the way isn't it!

Thank you for your posts, very helpful! Will relax more now! (and I'll tell the aunt what you said , rosie!)

[rosie79]

Glad I could help!