Teaching my DD to read - where do I start??

[Learningtoread101]

Hello

Im looking for some advice. My DD is 3.5 and I think she's ready to start learning how to read. She knows all of her letters and their sounds, she can already decode some simple 3 letter words (car, dog, bat, bee etc) by sounding out the letters and then stringing them together. Id like to start to teach her to read, but I am clueless re where to start.

I know phonics is the way that is taught most often, but do I teach the phenomes first, or reading books, or is there a workbook? She is in nursery, but it is very play based and they dont really do any formal learning. Believe me, Im not pushy - I just think she really is ready (she asks me what words say etc).

Any advice on steps would be most appreciated

Thanks

[ReallyTired]

jolly phonics is good for this age group and compatible with what the majority schools use. The finger phonics books are really good for teaching the letter sounds. You can get a jolly songs CD with fun songs for learning the sounds.

If you want to teach reading in anger then the jolly phonics teachers manual is a good place to start. It sounds like your daughter is doing really well with learning to read already. Learning to blend and segment longer words is just practice. Decodable books like jelly and bean are good for first books.

I would avoid the Ruth Misken books or Oxford Reading tree decodable books because so many schools use them. They are good books, but your daugher would be bored reading them twice.

[Callthemidlife]

ORT does however have sets of 'read at home' books which I found useful and which the schools don't use.

[cavell]

I used the book "Step by Step" by Mona McNee with much success.
There is also a free website which contains much of the materail from the book:

www.phonics4free.org/phonics-repository/getting-started-1