Teaching reading

[Joswis]

Hi all,

My GS is almost 3 and his mum and myself want to start him on early letter and sound identification. We have a big family history of dyslexia (grandparents, uncles, mum) so there is a good chance he'll be dyslexic.

We don't want to do so much it turns him off, just get him started. He can count to 10 already and can count items rather than just reciting numbers. But I have a feeling, reading might be a different issue.

Does anyone have ideas for videos or resources? I feel he'd respond well to screen based things, possibly with music, although multi sensory resources would be good too, because they work well for dyslexics.

Thank you!

[Scarby9]

Read to him. Lots.
Sit him next to you so he can see the book.
Talk to and with him. Lots.
Talk about everything he sees and does. Give him the words he needs to describe his world and the worlds he encounters through books.
For a gentle introduction to letters get foam letters for the bath and callthem by their names as you and he play with them. Introduce their 'sound' - It's the letter 's ' (letter name) and it makes the sound ssss.
Get an alphabet jigsaw and do the same as he completes it.
Play sound-talk (oral blending) - Where is your c-oa -t coat? Show me the p-e-n pen.
Gradually leave a longer gap before you say the complete word to allow him to predict it.
At this age, these activities are preferable to directly 'teaching him to read' but have the effect of tuning him in to speech sounds (phonemes) and introducing him to letters. Along with vocabulary and language development, these are the bedrock of learning to read.

[Joswis]

I really like the play sound work. Thank you. I know dyslexics can have issues with mishearing syllables, so it would work for him even if he is D.

[Itmaybeus]

Don't assume he will be dyslexic /give him a wrong label. Dyslexia isn't usually tested for till at least 7 as some of the traits are seen in children learning to read /write anyway. I have a family history of dyslexia going back many generations and only 1 of my 3 children has dyslexia.
I'm not a teacher but as a parent I was told that schools often find teaching children who have learnt differently difficult as they have to 'relearn'.
What I can tell you re my dyslexic child is that he has consentration issues and struggled with things such as holding a pencil. I'd concentrate on getting gs school ready - able to sit, concentrate, be able to hold a pencil, get dressed /undressed, take turns so when he starts school hes ready and able to learn.
Reading to a child is really helpful to, and getting them intrigued about books and information will help long-term with a thirst for learning. My dc are all different two loved facts, one was into fiction so concentrate on what would interest him.

[Sandytoes86]

Along with what the pp has suggested Have a look at ‘Jolly phonics’ resources. There are songs and actions for each of the letter sounds . All free on you tube

[Scarby9]

Yes, the research suggests phonemic difficulty rather than just the 'word blindness' that used to be described.
Anything you can do round oral word play would be good - alliteration ( Sammy's sizzling sausages' or rhyming - ig pig, mean queen.
Songs and nursery rhymes are also great - and once he knows some well you can innovate on them eg. Humpty Dumpty sat on a log, Humpty Dumpty saw a great... frog.

[Scarby9]

Sorry, should have said - those activities, as well as being fun and easy to do any time, any place, will sensitise him to onset and rime ( spl - ash, d-og) which helps him distinguish speech sounds and blend them for reading

[Oatbaroatbar]

I would start with a really relaxed approach.
We had some magnetic letters and both of my kids liked taking them off the fridge saying ‘what’s this one called, how about this one’. We also had an alphabet puzzle where you put the letters in order. I’m fairly hands off with their play time apart from when I’m needed but both seemed to learn their letters this way.
Both tolerate numberbloks, alphablocks and I can see how it would help to have it on in the background.
Lots of books and reading. Both loved sitting on their own “reading” their books when they were 2. Singing, rhyme time etc I think helped too.
Lots of paper, pens, crayons around for mark making and eventually writing.
At preschool they seemed to pick most of it up there. I have a summerborn who’s the youngest in the year and their teacher tells me how impressed with their reading and writing which is a massive relief!

[Joswis]

Yes, I think anything fun is good. He's very active, so any specific activity has to be limited to about 10 minutes, before he is off again, jumping/running/climbing. He's great with numbers.

He has been slow to speak, partially through a tongue tie (we think) so just want to encourage him, without being formal about it. He likes being led in activities so the fun activities suggested on here are great.

It will be wonderful if he ISN'T dyslexic. But his mum, my daughter, wasn't diagnosed until she was 8 and that caused lots of ongoing problems later.

We want to make it part of his play, instead of a chore. If it's fun, he'll learn. If it isn't, he'll switch off from it.

[user68634]

A lot of research says the later children start the better the outcome. However, that isn't possible with the UK school system so I understand you wanting to encourage it early, I have with mine too.

My nearly 4 year old knows most letter sounds and has done for about a year but hasn't progressed from here to blending. There are some good phonics songs on YouTube. I like Kids123 phonics videos and Supersimplesongs phonic songs.

Apps and computer wise, Reading Eggs is really good but it is a paid subscription (months free trial). Teach Your Monster to Read is another one made by Usborne. It is free on a computer or a paid for app.

I pay for a subscription to Starfall too. It is American, so some things are a bit different but it does teach letter sounds and lowercase letters alongside capitals which a lot of American apps don't. My son likes this website the most and it isn't just letter sounds but maths games and songs and stories.

Alphablocks on Cbeebies is good and there is an app you can get with the letter sounds.

Orchard Toys Match and Spell game is great too for helping to learn letters as you can start with just matching and naming then make it harder as they get older. I just select the CVC words for now.

My son knows letter sounds but does not grasp the begining sound in words yet. My older children were exactly the same. Knew all phase 1 and 2 phonics before starting school but still fell well behind others because they couldnt hear starting sounds. They were both summer born and I just think it's something they have to be ready for. My son is winter born so has longer to grasp it hopefully. I've recently been playing Sound Detectives from Orchard Toys to try and help his listening skills and sounding out words occasionally but not sure what else I can do, but I'm not pushing it yet. (would welcome ideas from any teachers)

[crazychemist]

Seconding alphablocks and teaching your monster to read as being really good fun - my DD loved both.

Otherwise, you can play at blending and segmenting completely separately from looking at words, just like @Scarby9 suggested - we did this with DD before we started getting her to look at actual words. It worked really really well and when we finally showed her words she read straightaway. Very low pressure, no flash cards of any kind.

[mdh2020]

Use Oxford Reading Tree. The books are staged and based on phonic. Young children love listening to the stories even before they can read them for themselves.

[Fandabydosey]

Teachers are highly qualified and do it as a job. It is often harder for children to unlearn bad habits or things they haven't learnt in the right way. They are often at a disadvantage if they have to unlearn things learnt things in a different way to the way his school teach him each school will have their own method of teaching basic skills. If he has dyslexia then the school have the knowledge and best experience in how to teach strategies to help with difficulties he may have. School readiness is not being able to read and write it is not knowing shapes colours and numbers. School readiness is a mindset, it's being confident to ask for help, using the toilet knowing how to share and make friends and enjoy learning new things. Give him a passion for learning about the big wide world and it is the very best start in life. This is what you should be focusing on. If he does have dyslexia then you can't teach it out of him and you run the risk of confusing him more. Read stories and with repeated phrases in and let him finish them. For example in the story 'going on a bear hunt' throughout the story there are lots of repeated phrases you start by reading "we're going on a bear hunt" then pause and wait for him to continue with the next phrase. Obviously he needs to know the story well for this to work.
Make up silly rhymes and listen to sounds in words. Be careful not to emphasise the uh sound on letters. Draw pictures using anything you like from water on a fence to flour and paint brushes. Using imagination and practicing mark making skills is useful. Please don't pressure your grandson into writing. Upper arm muscles and whole arm movements need to be strong before you can expect a child to hold a pencil. Let the teachers teach skills that they are experienced to teach especially if there is a history of dyslexia

[Sceptre86]

Read to him lots. Let him choose the books and then ask questions after or ask him what his favourite part was. I would sing lots of nursery rhymes with him, they help kids to recognise patterns in words and recognise rhyme. After that i used flash cards to make sure my dd was confident with the letters out of order. After that we used the jolly phonics app to teach her phonics. We took it slowly 10 minutes a night before bed and if she wasn't interested that night we would try again the next. She took to learning the phonics really well. I used twinkl to print the phonics at different levels and printed them, put them in poly pockets and stuck them to her wardrobe drawers, we practice once a day for 5-10 minutes. Just before her 4th birthday something clicked and she started to read. She is now nearly 5 and becoming quite a confident reader. It is great to see as I love reading myself and have so many of my childhood books for her to read.

The main things is to go slowly at a level appropriate to your child, make it fun and no pressure. 5- 10 minutes a day is enough. Best of luck!