Teaching to children to read - Any tips?

[CHOCOLATEPEANUT]

My daughter is 2 years and 7 months. She did everything early walking 9 months, talking in sentances 18 nmonths. We have just come back from holiday and two guests in our hotel said she was exceptionally bright. She wrote her name last week and I have never shown her how but her name is on things like her door and in her room so I guess she copied it.She loves books and we sit down each morning and night and read a few favourites. She now recognises words and and fills in the missing words when I read. I have just bought the Oxford Learning Tree books and I wondered if anyone has used them and if they have any tips on teaching children to read?

I could read before I went to school as my mother taught me but she died 7 years ago so I cant ask her

Sorkycake,
I indentify with everything you said.
Thats why I now Home Educate!!

My daughter no longer needs the 'gifted' label because there's no one to compare her to and she learns at her own pace which is an alarming speed!!

However, on the other hand my youngest dd now 3 knows only a few letters and is a long way off reading. But it really doesn't matter, she'll learn when she's ready and I don't want the pressures of the school enviroment if she is 5 and still not doing so.

Chocholatepeanut, check out Linguatots on the web. I bought some French nursery rhymes for my 2yo DTS and they love it.

Also, do not apologise for your DD's ability and ignore the naysayers - they are just jealous!

A word of caution - remember that advanced "academic" ability does is not always coupled with advanced social ability - a 2.5 year old who can read is still a 2.5 year old. Skipping classes is not always a good idea because they still have to learn all the "taking turns," "playing cooperatively," "sitting on the carpet," "doing what they're expected to do when they're expected to do it" lessons. They also have to make friends who will be their friends all through Primary and in some cases Secondary school. My friends little girl is very bright and what the school suggested for her is that she learns more things rather than shoot too far ahead of her peers. So she learns Spanish and the violin, which satisfies her "hungry" brain, and while she is obviously ahead of a lot of her classmates at literacy and numeracy, she is not so far ahead that she has lost touch. Her mother also does a lot of cooking and making with her.
And please don't forget how important play is - bright children often have a particularly rich imaginative life that needs to be encouraged. But they also need to kick footballs, swim, get muddy and goof around!

I agree that the social aspect is important - that is one of the main reasons ds is now in Reception.

He seems to have been 'born old' and associates much more with his sister (only a year or so older) and her friends and was dreadfully unhappy when placed with his 'peer' group, which were mainly made up of summer born children nearly a year younger than him.

In Reception most of them are later birthdays, and none of them are particularly tall so he fits in very well. He loves being part of the group and has no problem with the sharing, taking turns (learnt that at 6mths ); sitting still is more of a pronlem but then he is a typical boy and no different from his classmates - would much rather be outside!

At this age, only the parents can know their children well enough to know what is best, and pigeonholing at such a young age can be seriously damaging - we can only do what we think is best.

DS and DD learned to read very quickly at age 4, using the "Key Words" scheme devised by William Murray. Murray's research revealed that just 12 words account for a quarter, 100 words account for half and a mere 300 words account for three quarters of all the words used in normal speaking, reading and writing. He devised his books around recognition and repetition of these "key words."

The books are still available today, better known as the "Peter and Jane" books. A bit out of fashion now, as the 'whole words' approach has gone out of vogue. But I found it very effective.

I don't like the new phonics tbh, I prefer the whole word approach - dd just sounds out the word nad then says it - she is til in the early stages but cna read - food/not/yes/bad/dog etc easily she is 4 on sunday and has had some development delay but she seems to be great in some areas which is terrific
I forgot about this thread and Sorky asked was my ds showing any other signs
Basic answer YES! Walked early/talked early/ puzzles/games/ flew through school now doing very well at good grammar.
But like others have said the social devlopment does not always match the academic progress - ds has suffered badly sometimes - square oeg in round hole.
Anyway I digress

Pifle - if she sounds out the word, that is phonics.

If she only needs to do it once she has a very good auditory memory and os processing to automaticity very quickly, bit is not learning the word as a separate shape.

Phonics is better for the majority of children, but others can thrive on different methods as in everything

Happy birthday to your dd for Sunday!

Peter and Jane are still going, but for those who can't stand the characters (especially drippy Jane) there's also a new Ladybird scheme along similar lines involving Tom and Kate, real children with lunchboxes and crocodile fixations who are occasionally naughty. I found that series very effective with my own children. I would make sure you cover all the phonics sounds at the same time though, as it can cause problems later on if children don't know them.

The joy of learning a language with sooooo many exceptions to phonics rules
WE got a pre reading set when in the US - dd can figure out NOT then know instantly ROT DOT HOT POt etc
she still uses a phonics method for words she has not committed to memory though.
I'm pretty much letting her figure it out, just offering her lots of opportunities and books to help her.

I taught ds1 to read with Peter and Jane! He was about at the level of an 8 yr old when he got to school. He had always been fascinated with words though. I hate phonics, fine if you're learning Italian but English! So many exceptions that the rules are only just rules.

The phonics "rules" in English are more a set of likely options (three possible common sounds for "ea" as in feather, break and beak and probably a few exceptions if you think for long enough) but they are worth learning early on. I do buddy reading with Year 5 children, many of whom do not know phonics beyond the individual letter sounds, and when I've suggested to the teacher that those children really need to do some intensive phonics work their reading really has come on afterwards.

I agree with the two vowels business for pronunciation, and whether and weather etc You have to teach them all the options from the off
I'm lucky dd has a seemingly amazing memory... She has just mastered OO and EE
I love watching her figure it out, tis truly fascinating, she is very different from ds, who seemed to just one day aged 3 be able to read very well...

My 2 boys got on really well with the Phonographix system of synthetic phonics - you can get a book to help you teach it at home called Reading Reflex by Carmen McGuiness and Geoffrey McGuiness. Brilliant. Simple, and irons the bumps out by teaching them all the different ways to make each sound. Whole word strategies mask the fact that some children, espec boys, store the word in their visual memory but then when that hits overload [when they are 8 - 10 at school] you find out they don't actually know how to break down complicated words into digestible sounds - ie they can't actually read so well. And teach them whatever they want to know. Why hold back to suit someone else?

I think phonics is best because children learn to spell at the same time as learning to read. My son whose development has been mixed has done really well with phonics. It allows him to learn new vocabulary when reading. He is getting quite fluent with his reading.

The problem with whole word is that there is a limit to the number of words even a gifted and talented child can remember. Blending is a hard skill to master and I think that a lot of children have to work quite hard to master blending and segmenting.

Some gifted and talented children are dyslexic. Synthetic phonics is better for dyslexic children. I can give you some links if you are interested.

I agree thats social skills are equally important.

My dd and I share lots of activities,we cook, sing and dance at a music class,make crafts and so on

Shes a very sociable little girl and when I picked her up from her school session this week,the teacher said 'shes such good company and very good with the other children, making friends and helping the younger ones' This makes me more proud than any other achievment as she is a really nice little girl who has lots of friends and to her it makes no difference that shes bright, she just gets on with it

Here is Peter.
Peter is here.

Here is Jane.
Jane is here.

Here is the dog.
The dog is here.

Reader kills self.

Sorry. This is how I learnt to read, narrowly avoiding suicide. I have an amazing affinity for words though and could always spell words I'd never even heard, etc. Numbers on the other hand...scary things!

Hunker, when I was 3, I used to modify Peter and Jane i.e
Here is Peter
and
Here is Jane...... In the tent ( It was actually a tepee but I was ignorant of Native American culture)

I recommend a website called www.starfall.com.

My 3 year old is picking up her letters very quickly playing games on here.