At what age do kids learn to read these days?

[harrogatemum]

This has probably been asked millions of times but how old are kids these days when they learn to read? Is it at school or do parents tend to teach them before they go? My twins are only 19 months so its not a real concern at present, just wanted to get an idea of different peoples experiences.

yes i tended to assume that jigsaw ability, with shape sorting and general model making ability, was related to spatial or numerical ability, rather than literacy ability. right brain and left brain skills.

DP is very good at all the maths, computing, physics stuff and was apparently the last to learn to read in his infant class. am vaguely hoping my jigsaw puzzle girl is following his pattern.

when i had two children -4
now i have 5 - never

My childre continue to baffle me, since DS1, my jigsaw whizz, is not that good at maths, whereas DS2, who is useless at jigsaws, is excellent at maths too.

I guess he just doesn't like jigsaws or perhaps he is not very visual-spatial - he has a very precise auditory memory and is interested in foreign words etc.

My two maths whizz nieces were very good at jigsaws too, and both learned to read early.

Mmm. Perhaps I'm thinking too much about this 'jigsaw' theory . Someone in the US has probably done a study....

well yes, actually, my dd2 who's better at reading, and worse at jigsaws, is probably better at maths as well as reading than dd1 the jigsaw-doer. really she's just better academically all round than her older sister.

but it sounds better to say they are differently good at things. it's a shame for dd1 that jigsaw-ability isn't one of the key skills targets really.

The jigsaw thing is just about attention to detail. I would say a better indicator is the level of detail in their drawing eg elaborate fingers and toes! As a parent you are better to foster a love of stories and also rhymes/songs for the rhythmn of language. Even better to model reading yourself, especially dads! An indicator of a 'reading readiness' is a child who will sit and turn the pages of a book, reading their own story (rather than the one printed there!). This shows they know what a book is, that pictures and text are different and both help tell the story. Please don't start with phonics, it's artifical. Recognition of whole words (eg their name, Tesco!) is more helpful. IMO they are an aid to help readers later. Every child is different (boys are often later) - some fluent (if basic) reading by 7 is expected in school.

Think it depends on the child. My two couldn't be more different. DS really struggled and was well over 5 by the time he was really reading as opposed to just recognising familiar words. DD is completely different and at 4 has already started to make out unfamiliar words using letter sounds.
AT the end of the day they all end up reading & I think the most important thing is to keep it as enjoyable as possible so that they want to read, rather than being forced to do it.

yes, well perhaps doing jigsaws is a hard indicator that a child will occasionally sit still and concentrate at an unnaturally early age - which would give you the basic starting requirement for learning to read.

But I think Emmylou is right - and i'm off to Jigsaw. Has the sale started yet?

Anything to help my DS's education.....

My DS concentrated far better at 2 than he does at 5. What is that all about?

So did my DS1, Bozza. He did lots of things better at 2 than at 5.

Quick question to WheretheWTA - why is phonics artificial? I wouldn't introduce phonics lessons to 19-month-olds (not that the OP was suggesting that at all!), and would just point out familiar names/letter sounds if they were interested, but what is artificial about phonics?

Phonics is only artificial in the sense that the whole of our alphabetic system, whereby we represent sounds by symbols, is 'artificial'. Whole words aren't 'organic' or 'natural' - they are combinations of symbols representing sounds.

worms - can of!

WelshBoris

Can I just say that I wasnt suggesting that kids need to read at an early age, I just wondered!!?? I wont be pushing my children into reading until they are ready - I was just unsure as my husband adn I had very diff experiences - he learnt to read at school, I could read before I went so was very vague about what was "normal" if such a thing exists.