It seems that competitive parenting is creeping into my social circle of what were, up until now, laid back lovely parents of toddlers.
DS is 2.5 and his friends are all of a similar age, give or take a few months. Of late, everyone seems to be dashing out and purchasing Jolly Phonics packs or similar, because, apparently, their DCs really, really want to read.
DS loves books and we read together for around 1 hour a day, but I just can't bring myself to start formal education. My heart says we should have lots of fun reading together and understanding books, but my head (and my fellow parents) tell me that it's important to give him a head start before he starts school.
Please, fellow mumsnetters. Reassure me that they are all bonkers.
AIBU?
to not be teaching my 2 year old phonics?
nancerama · 11/11/2013 14:39
It always makes me chuckle how some parents feel the need to push reading. Why isn't there the same pressure for maths or science?
By sharing books, singing songs and generally talking to your child, you are teaching them to read. Decoding is only part of reading - I would be able to read an astro physics book, but I couldn't tell you what it meant 
@ jollypanics
magic I feel even more panic about maths, because we are still trying to force our 15yr old to learn times tables, due to primary school not teaching them to her. I just wish I'd taught her them by rote when she was little so she wouldn't have to struggle now.
My child taught himself to read by watching Superwhy. Everyone thinks I am a pushy parent rather than a lazy one who lets her kids watch too much tv
The Jolly Phonics songs are on youtube.
Utterly bonkers! There are about a billion other things your 2 yo could and should be doing instead.
at jolly panics.
@ jolly panics !
Ds1 is now 16 - I do remember when he was about two, someone bought him one of those v-tech alphabet electronic thingies - it had different setting for the phonic sounds, and for the 'name' of the letter etc.
I do remember that at two, he gave it a good solid two year old hammering for the noises
I also recall that if you put it on the phonic setting, and pressed 'F' and 'C' in quick succession, you got a passable imitaion of 'FUCK' - amused me and ex-dh endlessly 
at about 2 and a half, he started to show an interest in letters, and we played alphabet bingo, and alphabet snap, then later he caught onto blending letters into words yadda yadda - same for ds2 really... it was like watching something catch fire - the transition from letters, sounds,blending, reading happened really quickly.
we didn't do jolly phonics etc, we just played games with them, but they were reading by nursery so nursery did biff chip and kipper, with the dodgy bloke hiding in the bushes..
It was a bit like potty training - you read all the bumpf, and it sounds like splitting the atom - looking back, it was a case of keep reading to em, keep em interested in stories, and engage with them, and let them lead you - it's not a contest.
Mine were early readers, but by yr 2, the ones that took more time had all caught up.
Oh - and on a long car journey recently, I found that I could still recite 'Peace at last' verbatim boys are now 16 & 10 and were ptsl!
Madness. Although like someone upthread, people might think I am a pushy parent whose 3yo can spell lots of words but the little weirdo taught himself by asking what the track listing on various CDs were and using magnetic letters to copy
He scorns phonics though, prefers letter names!
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