Reading Advice for a toddler

[Fatback]

Any suggestions on some resources to keep my 2.4 yr old amused.

He is obsessed with doing his "letters" as he puts it. He wants to sit down and go through the alphabet and will happily point out letters in books, adverts on the tube, newspapers etc.

I have been keeping it as a game for the past two months, but he is becoming increasingly frustrated at not being able to actually read words. Gets a book out tells me all the letters in a word but not able to connect this into a word.

Does anyone have any suggestions of books, courses that can take him into the next step and avoid the screaming tantrum that comes with me ignoring his request to "do letters and numbers" and not being able to "read the words". Have read up abit about phonics but nnot really sure how this actually works.

Get the Jolly Phonics dvd.

My first (now 5) was a very enthusaistic and early reader. We used two piece puzzles that have the picture on one side with the word below it and you have to match up just the word on the other piece (there are plenty of similar products around) and she also loved LeapFrogs Word Whammer Fridge Phonics which tells them the letter & sound when they place one in and asks them to find the letters one at a time in order to make 3 letter words such as "cat", "dog", "hat" etc. Both things they can work away with independantly once familiar with.

We also used a Fisher Price Power Touch though I don't think you can get these anymore, there must be similar products available. You can insert elctronic books that read the stories for you or tell you what the word is when you touch it.

We also sent her to a Montessori preschool which were great! They let her do all the phonics etc she was interested in at her own pace and kept her really stimulated and she was reading before starting school, now 5 is reading at about a 9yr old level.

Good luck!

Get fridge stick on letters and let him start with three letter words (and his name) . Words that are similar are great to play games with - turn "big" to "bag" or "bog" by showing him the vowels to pick from. Then turning "big" to "pig" etc etc etc.

I found that my DS loved learning the letter sounds and guessing and saying words with them in. Can get ones for the bath, but we find that as DS1 and DS2 (3 &1) and I often all eat in the kitchen close to the fridge we can play games little and often - which suits DS1 very well - he often pops into the kitchen to "write a story" on the fridge. But I think having the letters in a three dimensional format, that can move and interchange suits boys particularly. DS1 cannot yet really draw or make letter shapes at all (he can barely hold his crayon!) - so the fridge letters are great to allow him to explore letters and sounds.

Do the same with numbers and simple sums. Its magic!!

Enjoy!

Glenn Doman 'Teach your baby to Read' suggests flashcards written in large RED letters-simple words.Make a game eg find 'cat'its fun,they love it,it doesnt interfere with teaching of phonics at school but does give confidence.