Preschooler very interested in trying to read- best approach?

[Mimia]

DD is 2.6 and has become very interested in trying to read. She knows all her letters upper and lowercase which she has just picked up and also asked us to identify letters to her too. Now she is following writing with her finger and picking out letters. She is starting to "read" some very simple words through remembering them. She has seen fun with phonics on cbeebies before and sat glued whenever she has seen it. Now she is starting to ask what sounds letters make and I'm rather clueless! I don't want to teach her the wrong sounds and I also don't want to seem pushy. Also I was a very early reader (before 3 according to my mum)and I have some vague memories of feel abit left out and bored when it came to learning to read at school, I don't want this for DD if possible!

No helpful advice for you, but interested in this too.

I would say that DS had a phase of being fantastically interested in letters etc. when he was very very little (can't remember what age now exactly but I think before two). He learnt them all too then moved onto other obsessions for a while and forgot about half the letters. He is now coming back to it again, hence my interest. So don't be surprised if your DD's interest waxes and wanes - it's nothing you've done.

My ds was never interested at that age, she sounds advancedI guess that stoking her interest isn't going to hurt.When ds began to show an interest in letters I just went with it and if he asked about letters/words I explained.(He had a thing for street names iirc,and also shop names.With numbers it was bus numbers)

The Read Write Inc scheme is really good, and DS (2.7) really enjoys it. You can buy the parent handbook, flashcards (which teach the sound and how to write the letter) from Amazon

Personally, I wouldn't stop her if this is what she wants as you could make her miserable. My son knew all the alphabet at 14 months, I taught him to read at 3 and a half by teaching him to read 'the' and 'to' by saying the letters phonetically then saying them without the gaps. He has always been an excellent reader and has continued to be ahead of his class. There has never been a problem with this at school.

MY DD has just started learning at FS2 and they use Jolly Phonics which is basically songs about each letter (for example, a a ants on my arm, a a ants on my arm, a a ants on my arm, they're causing me alarm - to the tune of Skip To My Lou - a guaranteed hit, I'm sure ) I can send you the worksheets they use if you'd like them so you can do the songs but be warned - they'd probably drive you mad!

dd was 3ish when she showed an interest ....i got a few jolly phonics workbooks(both our local schools use this) and a book of the songs with a cd attached......she loved them and would choose to do them for a few months then she had a break of a few months then she dug them out again. she's now in reception and doing well.....but certainly not bored!...they pitch the reading books at the right sort of level....and they have so many other things to do!

Thank you for the replies, just off to browse amazon to look at the suggestions. I want to be led by her really so I suppose going with it at the moment is the only option, I'm just sure that I saw somewhere that it can cause problems when parents try to teach phonics preschool because they often teach the wrong letter sounds. Although I could just have made that up in my head!

ps as with scootergrrl, i'd never take the cd in the car on a long journey again!

the phonics books tell you how to say the sounds and the cd drives it home btw

Interesting.

My DS is 2.2 and he has been showing an interest in words and letters and today told me I'd written "mama" on his blackboard, which I had. To be honest I've put it down to a lucky fluke, as I had no idea that it was possible for toddlers to read!

We do read a tremendous amount together, maybe I should give him a bit more credit.

I think Jolly phonics is great for pre schoolers. The Ruth Miskin scheme although good is really better suited to school children.

Jolly Phonics do a brilliant DVD, jolly songs, finger phonic books and lots of other resources.

I think she would like the jolly phonics books from looking at them, the read write ones look quite structured for me. Plus the CD could be good to help me out!