Teaching toddlers to read

hana · 22/02/2004 13:36

lots of people swear by the Jolly Phonics series - they are available at ELC, and most bookstores. There are other schemes as well, but I remember a thread a while back saying that this one was best and also widely used in schools and nurseries. There is also Letterland and , umm, another that I can't think of !

LIZS · 22/02/2004 14:29

Does he go to a nursery, playgroup or preschool yet. If so is it worth asking what they use later on so that you can follow the same approach? Jolly Phonics do cards and games as well as workbooks and videos which are probably better when they are a little older - have a look at this and Amazon sell much of the range as well as ELC. We've also got some Kipper letter and number flashcards which are nice for little ones. dd who is 2.5 is the same and loves electronic toys which use letter sounds such as Vtech Little Phonics Alphabet teacher and Leapfrog Imagination Desk.

tamum · 22/02/2004 14:33

Twiglett, not sure what I'd recommend, but if by any chance you'd like a pack of nearly-new reading materials consisting of a mixture of Jolly Phonics and Ladybird, I'd be glad to make one up and send it to you! I was just despairing at the amount of stuff I've got that I'm not going to use now. My dd is now at school and is past the stage of using the stuff I have here. Just let me know if it would be useful and I'll get it sorted

hmb · 22/02/2004 15:30

The advice I was given was not to use the same scheme as the school will use. If you do, then he may get very bored while he waits for the other children to catch up. Some schools will let children skip levels, but not all do. And by using a spearate scheme you will increase his confidence and vocabulary.

Dd has worked her way through 4 reading schemes, rather than being put up a level every time she finishes one. That way her reading has become very confident and she didn't stand out too much in the class. It also made sure that she was old enough to understand the stories than she was reading IYSWIM. Broadening them out has a lot to offer, and schools try to do this than simple advancement.

marialuisa · 22/02/2004 16:07

Hi Twiglett, DD is the same sort of age as your DS, they use Letterland at nursery and she is completely enamoured of the series! She can read simple words and recognise sound patterns e.g. a and t make "at" then read fat, hat, cat etc. changing the first sound. She also likes the stories that explain certain sound combinations e.g. for "sh" and "ch". Her school doesn't follow a set "reading scheme" so I've got no worries about overlap and TBH she gets more enjoyment from recognising words in different contexts than she would from reading very basic "This is Biff" This is Chip" style reading books.

Have fun!

miranda2 · 22/02/2004 16:32

my ds is 2.5 and i was just wondering the same thing. Tamum - if twiglett doesn't want your 'pack' can I have it?? I've made a few homemade flash cards and he is definitely getting hte idea that the word means the picture, though turns it over to see the picture before telling you the word. He likes playing the game though.

Original poster

twiglett · 22/02/2004 17:40

message withdrawn

OP posts:

Original poster

twiglett · 22/02/2004 17:42

message withdrawn

OP posts:

hmb · 22/02/2004 17:47

I'd also hit the local library. That way you can get a huge range of books for no cost at all! You can change the books as often as you like and children enjoy a wide range of books, drawings , styles etc. And it is a trip out, that mine enjoy. They also like the responsibility of chosing a book, and there is no problem if they don't like a book, as it hasn't cost you anything,

Support your local Library!

Original poster

twiglett · 22/02/2004 17:49

message withdrawn

OP posts:

hmb · 22/02/2004 17:54

My two have been the same twiglett, and it is one of the best things that I did with them. When I was a SAHM going to the library to change books was an outing that we all enjoyed, and as well as picking books for them I also got to hurredly pull down a few from the shelves for me!

And we'd have a chat with the librarian, share local gossip and find out what was going on in the area. Lots of libraries do preschool 'readings' and these can be grat fun. Our local library has animal shaped beanbags for the children to sit on, while they choose their books. they love it.

tamum · 22/02/2004 17:58

Ah, twiglett, I didn't mean to make you cry I'll be glad they're getting some use. Shall I email you through "contact a talker"? Or you can email me, whichever you prefer. Miranda2, would that be alright, if twiglett passed them on? I'll probably find a load more in a few weeks, so if I do you can have next shout!

(good point about libraries, hmb, I wouldn't have a housefull of books if I'd thought of that!)

Original poster

twiglett · 22/02/2004 18:02

message withdrawn

OP posts:

hmb · 22/02/2004 18:06

Have the houseful of books anyway! Both dh and I read (several books a week) and the kids seem to be folowing in our footsteps. We now have 8 book cases in our house and they are all full to bursting! And that is after my pre Christmas 'cull'. Heaven help us if we didn't all belong to the library

If ever I am rich I want to have a house big enough to have a Library

Oh, and the Neuroscience stuff has been a great help Tamum, just put up some posters of the structure of nerves in my lab.

tamum · 22/02/2004 18:26

That would be nice, having a library! I have reached the stage where if anyone ever wants to borrow a book I know I've got a week's work ahead of me trying to find it. I must stop buying books, I must I must.....

Glad the neuro stuff was useful- it's so well-produced, isn't it?

hmb · 22/02/2004 18:30

I'm going to cite Ottikes when I become bankrupt!

The neuroscience is great, because it made them realised that when they are learning is linked to cutting edge stuff!

GeorginaA · 22/02/2004 19:25

We've started with a Jolly Phonics pack which isn't cheap, but I have to say it's absolutely FANTASTIC! Ds gets really excited about watching "that inky mouse video" and after about four weeks recognises the letters "s a t i p n" (the first book) out of context (i.e. while out and about or reading other books - doesn't need the characters or order to recognise them) and the letters c & k occasionally.

He's too young to have the pencil control to write letters (he's 2yrs 9mths) but he loves tracing the letters with his finger in the tactile books and loves doing the actions for the sounds. Mostly, I just enjoy doing them with him and I really look forward to our Tuesday half hour (that's when we tend to have a quiet period in our week so I can sit down with him and do it).

mrsforgetful · 22/02/2004 21:49

Cringe time.... mine began reading from recognising 'ASDA' and TESCO' on food etc (and a few more words!!!!) .....we progressed with normal books picking out 'starting letters' (phonics) and capital letters/full stops.....by 4 and starting school they couldn't 'read' as such but by the time they all went back after their 1st christmas after starting school they have all been ahead of the 'norm'....I talk alot to my boys and though i am not Knocking any 'system' for encouraging reading- i do feel guilty to some point when it can appear that i have not 'actively taught ' my kids to read pre-school- however infact i know i have still given them a 'springboard' to reading ....and i just wrote this post incase i'm not alone in my 'laziness' of teaching reading to pre-schoolers!!! !!!!

Also a few years back there was a GREAT programme on BBC about somewhere like NORWAY that doesn't teach reading or writing to any child before age 7- and instead they do all the 'basics' which build the handeye co-ordination etc..... all needed for the next stage of reading/writing.....and by age 11 there is NO DIFFERENCE between a child taught at 4 and those taught at 7!!!! Amazing !!!

GeorginaA · 22/02/2004 21:59

Hey, don't cringe - sounds a very effective method to me!!

I'm not sure I'm giving my ds any great advantage. It's just something he was very keen on (loves books, constantly pointing at words and asking me what they say) and me wanting to make 100% sure I'm teaching the "right" things (i.e. so I don't just end up confusing him and setting him back).

I'm very enthusiastic about reading and have tremendous fun seeing ds get enthusiastic about his letters. I'd feel slightly jealous of his teacher and wonder if I was missing out a bit on not participating in that joy as he starts to realise the squiggles actually mean something! I couldn't home educate - I don't really have the patience for teaching other subjects that I'm not interested in... but this is something I can do and enjoy doing.

I do sometimes worry if it'll mean ds will be bored when he gets to school if he has to repeat it all again though

emkaren · 22/02/2004 22:03

I'm from Germany where children don't start school until they are six, and I must say I am always amazed at "you British" (sorry to generalize) that you're so keen to teach your children to read sooooooooo early! I really wonder why? Why can't it wait until they start school - isn't that what school is (partly) for? And I also read that in countries like Norway the reading ability at 11 is just as good as here - so why not let the children get to grips with other things first before teaching them to read?
I don't mean to upset anyone, I'm just genuinely interested!

mrsforgetful · 22/02/2004 22:13

Georgina...in my opinion the best bit of them learning to read (and YOU can help here!!!)...is when they realise that an 'exclamation mark !' is used to 'shout' or 'call' or add excitement to the sentance....they LOVE that bit!!! X

Original poster

twiglett · 22/02/2004 22:39

message withdrawn

OP posts:

hercules · 22/02/2004 22:43

when ds was this age i made labels for things in the house and stuck them on everything and left them there for more than a year eg table, fridge etc etc

hmb · 23/02/2004 06:41

EMkaren. Dd effectivly taught herself to read at the age of 3 and a half. She knew her letters before she was two and started to build phonetic words on her own. I didn't push her in any way, I just went where she led me.A t 7 she now has a reading age of 10. She reads for pleasure every day. It is just the way she is.

Why should I have stopped her from doing something that she was ready to do? Would you stop a child from walking becuase it was 'too early'? Ds is n3 and a half and he has just begun to show an interest in words and letters, a different child.

GenT · 23/02/2004 06:57

don't mean to hijack the thread.... but..

hmb - you mentioned local library, which is sort of funny. At dd's hearing check when she was 7 months, they gave her/us information for her to join the local library. I guess they have a section just for them at that age. I showed the info to DH and I don't think he could visualize dd getting much benefits at that age. I personally thought it would be a nice place to start, find out what's available, perhaps make new friends, borrow a book instead of buying one, I saw a few cost effective benefits. TBH I don't think dh has even been in that local library.

I love books, don't read as much as normally but have a bit of a reference library that one day will need a room of it own....away from page tearing little fingers.

Even at 7 months dd seemed interested in reading or something similar, as she would imitate her grandpa when he was reading a paper. She would try to grab it and I would have to give her her own bath book or another book. She would actually plop herself in a comfortable position, that is lying down and one foot crossed over the other, and she held the book, turning the pages and babbled to herself. DD would do that for maybe 15 mins, hey it kept her out of mischief at least. She was a sight!!!

What age did you take yours to the library? It seems that the parent accompanies the child and they have storytime. I should really check it out - if I don't think it would be useful at that age, just save it for later. No harm done.