Teaching your child to read before school

[prufrockrocks]

Is anyone trying to teach their toddler to read before he/she starts school? I know a bit or two about phonics and am trying to teach DS some sounds and letter shapes, but I'm not sure how much is going in, or if I really should even be trying (he's just turned 2). Is it worth it? Should I just leave it to the school and help out later if need be? Does anyone have any products/websites etc they would recommend for teaching young children phonics?

My early reader hasn't been bored either. I would've been very unhappy if the school had made the class learn phonics as a whole regardless of ability. DD1 would have struggled as it would have been too advanced initially, and DD2 would have been bored stiff! That approach will kill the subject for DCs at both ends of the spectrum. Thankfully, at DCs' school, their levels are assessed over the first half term of reception, then they are placed in the phonics level that suits their ability, with reassessment every half term. Some of the RWI levels would have DCs from 3 different year groups in it.

It's not a competition

My dd was reading at 3. She began to take an interest when her older db was learning and doing homework. She took off. He turned out to be dyslexic. Although l am a primary teacher l never taught her phonics. She just wanted me to make our own books with stories of her life. She was a fluent reader, reading classics when she started school. She has always been an amazing reader.
However her dB who really struggled has a much better job earning more money. She focused on her interests he powered ahead once he got out of school.
Be lead by the child but 2 is too early.

If she likes it it’s fine.

My mum taught me to read pre school because I really wanted to learn. It was a fantastic gift she gave me.

I disagree. I could read before I started school, I was always advanced and it has really helped me being a good reader throughout my life. As a result I always did really well in written exams and now later in my career as I write excellent reports etc. I will be doing the same with my DC

Agree 💯

This is how I learnt to read, probably at the age of 3. I don’t really remember learning to read, I just could. I started school at 4 and a half because I could already read, and write full sentences (not by rote).

Like the pp I could read and write before I started school but not because I was taught but because I had 2 older sisters and there were always books being read to me . I can’t remember a time when I couldn’t read and was reading proper books ( famous five etc showing my age ) before I started school . I found it incredibly difficult when our children were learning to read because I couldn’t get why they couldn’t just get it .

Ds could read before he started school, I spent hours with him looking at books & comics. He first picked up shop names & gradually started to recognise words as I read to him. By the time he started school he could comfortably read three letter words, knew sounds like 'ch' 'sh' 'tr', could spell out names for his toys & his own name, he could read about 50% of most of his story books & read to me with me helping on more complicated words. He has a photographic memory, I only had to show him a word once & he knew it. He found going back to basics to do phonics boring & moaned every time he had a phonics lesson, the reading books from school bored him so we only actually read one book in three, I just used to fill in the reading record to say we had read the book & he read one of his own books.

I was the same, I was born with dislocated hips that weren't diagnosed until I was 1 & spent nearly a year either on traction or in a spica cast, my mum used to spend all day reading to me. She says I started to pick up words from books by the time I was 2 & even after getting out of my cast, I wasn't interested in running round, all I wanted to do was read. By the time I was 5, I could easily read n Enid Blyton chapter book in a couple of hours. When we were going on holiday my mum would make me a car bag with books, comics & things to play with, I would have read the lot before we were halfway there. My cousin is 3 years older than me & I used to share a room with him on holiday, I was reading books that were more advanced than him.

Early doesn't mean better.
A 2 year old really does not need to know how to read, concentrate on life skills- potty training Getty g dressed and undressed, shoes and socks. And enjoy being little!

I taught my children to read by accident. I pointed to each word as I read a story and talked about what was happening in the illustrations. They somehow picked up the ability to read through that. I don’t remember them being bored in reception class, they loved school and playing with their fellow pupils.

I was taught to read at 3 by my father....this is early 1960s. Mine could both read before they started school.

Sorry but you don't teach 2 year olds to read unless they show a particularly strong desire (you do get the occasional one) which it doesn't sound like your dc does. Lots of good tips on what you could focus on instead in this thread

I could read before I attended school and was self taught. It’s called hyperlexia which I didn’t find out about till relatively recently. I did teach DS to read because it seemed natural plus his Father could read before he went to school so we just saw it as normal.

If your child isn’t interested then why would you? One of mine read very young because they were interested and were picking things up without being taught, the other two had no interest until later so I taught then when they were keen(we home ed).

I didn't. They caught up really fast in Reception and were free readers by the end of Year 2.

I could read before school but think I just picked it up from my parents sharing books and reading with me, and having some educational toys (Fisher Price desk!) they didn't sit down and teach anything.

Definitely go for it. I taught my two year old to read- she totally loved it. I’d say personally don’t bother with phonics per se, go for sight reading instead. Immediate rewards for a young child- and my child got so much enjoyment out of being able to read herself. I got loads of reading schemes off eBay, and just through pointing out the words and doing flash cards with her she cracked it. At 4.5 she can’t remember not being able to read, and adores books.

Omg that is lucky! :) The start of learning to read always feels painful to me. Sounding out each word in phonics C - A - T only to guess the word ball? LOL I was not too fussed early on though and they learned at their own pace. But would love if my older two could teach our youngest :)

I learned to read on my own when my dad used to always just read to me the simple reading books. I just followed along looking at the words and when I was 4 (this was in the US, were you do not learn to read until later, at least during my time there). I remember tell him "Let me do it, I can read!" And he was shocked.

My eldest used to love being read to for bedtime. It was the only time of the day he would be still (adhd).

Then along came the second. The older ones would also read to the next two.

no one was forced to read. They picked it up from being read to and the reader using their finger to point at the words. We’d also talk about the story to help with comprehension.

Colours came from pointing out cars and other things in the environment. Counting came from simple things like board games. Telling time from having clocks around the house.

none were bored in school , a good teacher will differentiate work.

Skills needed are self care, cutlery, motor skills (lots of scribbling) recognising own name, clearing away their toys etc. Toilet training unless additional needs. Using a proper cup.

The love of reading runs in my family. However, I did not learn to read until I started school age 7 and 10 months (I was educated abroad). I went to pre-school nursery. I don't remember anyone in the family encouraging me to read, I just observed my parents reading. When I started, I was slow at the beginning, then read voraciously. As I result, I never struggled with spelling and my writing composition was 4 years ahead of my peers (according my my mum who had been relayed this information by my teacher). I also had a great knowledge base at secondary school. Even now, I read some pages of a book every day before bedtime. When my son started school, he was very slow at the beginning. My husband was very concerned, I wasn't. I had to tell my husband repeatedly that the benefit of reading comes from the joy of reading, not from being able to decipher words. So we borrowed lots of books from the library and and read to my son and his brother every night at bedtime. Like me, my son was slow to start with, he couldn't read anything beyond simple words until the end of the 2nd year. Then suddently he read the entire book by himself and there was no going back. He is now in secondary school, with fantastic vocabulary and spelling. I bumped into his former primary school dinner lady the other day and she remembers my son as "always reading when other children were playing". My 2nd was the brightest child in the class (came top at SATS without any revision at home). He started reading in the 1st year. He won poetry contests. He is now at secondary and still reads, not as much as before. I remember talking to my son's primary school headteacher and she told me she only started reading age 7 "when suddenly it just clicked for me". I still maintain, the benefit of reading comes from the joy of reading, not from the technical skills. The British education system will try to get you very worried if the child cannot read properly by age 7 which is the age when they only start teaching reading in Scandinavia.

This!
I could read before I went to school and have always lived reading but I wasn’t ’taught’ - my grandad just read with me all the time and he was my hero so whatever he did, I wanted to do.