Have you taught your pre reception child to read ?

[HelloDolly]

Our school asked us not to do anything with the children, ie letter work or reading, so the children all start from the same point.

I personally think this is awful, my daughter knows 21 letters without the pictures and I had fully intended to get started with basic words this summer but don't know what to do know.

My DS could read at 3 cos his Nursery taught him. I knew no better until my sister (a teacher) wanted to know if I was mad.

It has never been a problem at his school they simply give him more advanced books to read than the other kids.

I really believe that parens play a huge role in their children's education -I really do. As a parent (whether I am a teacher myself or not), I know my child better than anyone and am best placed to know what they need/how they will respond etc etc.

I firmly believe that reading is the key to success but for me, it is much more the 'attitude' towards reading rather than reading per se. For me, reading should be a normal, every day activity which adults do - and children see them doing. Reading should have several roles - learning and PLEASURE.

I didn't necessarily mean that strong early readers are poorer writers - in fact eveidence would probably suggest the opposite. However, I do believe that for some children, the sheer frustration at the gap between what they are able to read and what they are able to write may be demotivating in some cases.

My Mum was told not to teach us either, but ignored it. I could read very well before school and it has always stood me / us (my sisters could also) in good stead. this was fostered through a love of books, again something that has stayed with us all.

Love of books / reading because kid wants to: excellent

Forcefed hot housing of not ready child: bad

develop their talents as best you can. whatever they may be. reading is only one- drawing, gardening, sport, dancing- whatever

my dd has very good rememberance of stories and can 'read' them once we've read them only once or twice (shes 3 BTW)
she started nursery at end of april and they do phonics and sounds every day, but because the teacher doesnt tell parents what theyre doing, i cant help dd with how shes being taught there, so i just carry on at minute doing our own phonics and reading..if teachers want your Lo to learn a certain way ask her to show you what they do..but holing them back to start at same level..no..thats wrong and child will be frustrated if theyre more advanced.

When I mentioned holding back, I was referring to my own 1970s education.....

My situation is fairly similar to SunnyD - I have a dyslexic son in Y4. His problem was not picked up by the school. I am now doing lots of rhyme work, memory games, clapping and poetry with dd. If she's ready I'll teach her. At 2.5 she recognises most letters (sounds without schwahs only in our house) and we use lots of games and picture cards. Dd1 read early and has always been ahead of the class - luckily her reception teacher had some sense and gave her harder work. A pity it didn't continue in Y1...

I'm starting to worry as dd1 (2.4) already knows her letters and is starting to read a few words (her name, cat, dog), im worried that when she starts school (which is'nt for a long time) she will get bored.

I hav'nt gone out of my way to teach her anything, she just picks things up from the tv, books and toys. I dont want to hold her back as she loves to learn.

Thanks for that everyone

DD has always been very interested in books and pretends to read them to her little sister.
They also play cafes a lot and both DD#1 aged 4 and DD#2 age 2 have a note pad and pencil and write our orders down and then go and "cook" it.
We would never dream of hot housing them, I'd actually rather they didn't go to school at all until 6 but there we go.
I can't unteach what has been taught already and I think i'll let her lead the learning over the summer holidays.
thanks again

I would take it all v v slow - like 18 months minimum from introduction of letters to any sort of 'blending'
I know people whos children ( usually dd's) are very quick off the mark only to not really take that well to it and end up feeling stressed about it all round.
Take it slow slow slow and then you may find it just runs on its own!

I would take it all v v slow - like 18 months minimum from introduction of letters to any sort of 'blending'
I know people whos children ( usually dd's) are very quick off the mark only to not really take that well to it and end up feeling stressed about it all round.
Take it slow slow slow and then you may find it just runs on its own!

I would take it all v v slow - like 18 months minimum from introduction of letters to any sort of 'blending'
I know people whos children ( usually dd's) are very quick off the mark only to not really take that well to it and end up feeling stressed about it all round.
Take it slow slow slow and then you may find it just runs on its own!

Marne, there's a lot more to Foundation Level at school than learning how to read and write!

Play is still very important, socialisation (?) is a huge part of children's learning experience at nursery/reception as far as I can tell from dd's experience.

We were lucky that dds school lets them go at their own pace. There is none of this, 'You have to wait to do level 3 books' stuff. She knew her letters before she was 2 and would point them out, at 3.5 she was teaching herself to read, the school started not long after with her.

At 9 she is an excellent and enthusiastic reader. I think this is because she led the pace. If I'd tried to push the issue she would have reacted against it.

Well, clearly the Inferiorettes are extremely stupid, as DD1 at the geriatric age of five has only just progressed to leaving me numerous notes saying TO MUM I LOV YOY and her sister, despite turning three last weekend, can't read a thing

I shall just have to hope that somehow, just somehow, they manage to emulate their mother's journey from illiteracy at five to a scholarship to read English at Oxford at age 17.

MI

am also oxford graduate with seemingly unliterary infants.

though dd2's nursery class teacher did start teaching her to read, in the 3-4 year old class. so it must vary between schools and areas, this was a school nursery class and there was no restriction on learning to read in it. short of my own children's reluctance.

Hi MI!!

Another Oxford graduate here with illiterate children. DD1 is finally getting into the swing of it at the end of Reception, but DD2 who will be 4 in September remains resolutely and absolutely uninterested in learning any letters and certainly can't write her name.

DD2 was born on the 21 September and I'm profoundly grateful for those extra couple of weeks as the idea of her starting Reception after the Summer is positively risible. Actually 21 September is just a rough estimate and I'm sure that the Cambodian orphanage who, in the hope of making her just that bit younger and hence more adoptable, nudged her birth date towards the end of September had no idea how well that would serve her in the English educational system. Funny old world!

early reading has nowt to do with IQ

reading should be a pleasure, whatever the age - whether they eventually learn to read at age 4 or age 8

Haven't read all the posts but I didn't teach either of mine to read before school (even though I myself could read fluently at this age according to my mother). I am glad I didn't because they use Jolly Phonics at my school and it probably wouldn't have ocurred to me to use that system, not having experienced it myself. I remember being bored stiff in infant school listening to others struggling with a page of reading while I had finished the whole book, so that was probably another reason for not wanting my 2 to be too "advanced" when they started. Having said that, children are generally taught differently these days and literacy is done in groups according to ability and on a one-to-one basis so may not be an issue these days...

If you decide to go ahead, i would check which method the school uses to avoid confusing your child too much at the early stages.

It is Issymum when you look at it like that they have done her a big favour. DS is another just coming to the end of reception and his reading is just starting to come on now. He loves being read to - currently DH is reading BFG to him and I am rereading Richard Scarry's Big World book (that was mine) at his request. But is still on pink labelled books from school - whatever that means.

As an aside, he also gets a school library book for us to read to him once a week. This week he has got a book about Merlin the wizard and it is far too advanced for him. I almost choked when I read the sentence "He made love to me like a man, and I became pregnant". DS was fairly uninterested in this and I asked him if he knew what pregnant meant. He didn't so I went for the "baby in tummy" explanation and hurriedly turned the page.

Yes, I don't think anyone on the thread was saying you really, really have to teach your child to read before school - just that if they are interested and you are keen to, why not?

I really do respect my children's teachers (my mum was a primary school teacher), but I'm an educated, one-time-intelligent adult with an interest in things pedagogic - I don't think the teachers necessarily have any 'magic' knowledge that makes them the only ones able to impart certain types of learning.

But I do take the points about not wanting to teach them in the 'wrong' way. However, if you have a child who is ready to learn to read and eager to learn to read, teaching them is very, very easy.

Take heart MI - at least she isn't writing 'MOM' I lov yoy.

In my day we weren't even at school until the term after we were 5, there was no such thing as reception, I was sitting on the kitchen floor under the meat mincer in the kitchen learning how grown-ups mopped the floor at that age.

I agree with the whole 'support any genuine interest as you read' approach, but wouldn't , myself, set out to a specialist shop to purchase JollyPhonics before reception.

Oxford grad with one early reader, and one bottom of the lteracy class kid! So it all balences out.....and I was a very early reader and am crap at spelling