Learning to read 3.5 years

[Imjustagirl222]

I have a 3.5 year old boy who has been read to lots since birth and is read to every night and throughout the day when he asks. He loves a book which is great!
we are in Scotland so he isn’t due to start school till next August when he will be 4, then turn 5 in the autumn.
my question is, as I keep seeing all these videos online of people doing phonics with their kids, should I be doing this to? Or just continuing our daily reading? I don’t recall my parents ever doing phonics or reading with me 😂

No, he's very young and school will start with phonics in P1. And teaching him yourself now might be confusing. Just keep reading to him!

No just do as you’re doing and be led by him. If he likes the alphablocks on CBeebies he might pick up some phonics on the way. If he enjoys scribbling and drawing help him do counter clockwise circles in preparation for writing. He might learn some letters or he may not.
My youngest taught himself to read pretty much so if they want to, they will. But pushing phonics and stuff so young is more likely to put them off learning and associate reading with stress.

Keep doing as you are OP. Don't worry about doing phonics with him, they'll do all that when he starts school. But by reading to him you're giving him a great start!

Just continue reading to him. You don't need to fo phonics. Talk about things you can hear (birds, cars etc) but phonics is not necessary at 3.5 plus if not done correctly then child will have to re-learn the sounds anyway.

I did this with my son when he was 3, because he had a keen interest. It was during lockdown when I was homeschooling my eldest who was in reception and he wanted to be involved.

We started with single letter sounds and did things like letter treasure hunts in the garden, digging for letters -basically easier versions of what I was doing with eldest. He was blending by 3.5 and able to read basic texts.

However, the key thing is he was desperate to read. I wouldn't lead this or push it in any way as it isn't necessary and you don't want to put him off.

Also, I'm a teacher and I have a very good understanding of phonics teaching. If you haven't done it before you do need to learn the basics. Bear in mind also that there are different phonics schemes and not all schools do it the same so you don't want to cause confusion by the time he starts school.

My son was reading fluently by the time he started school but he is old for his year and was nearly 5 by then. It was hard for him to sit through phonics in the classroom but we have since found out he is ND and he finds it hard to sit through anything!

OP I taught mine to read at a similar age. He’s 5 now and can read really well. I’m a teacher so I enjoy it 😊 no need but equally opens up a world of books and reading to them

I have started with the letter sounds with my 2.5 year old as I am teaching her 4 year old sister who won’t learn English at school as we don’t live in the UK. My two year old knows about ten letter sounds but we are really not pushing it with either. I’m sure your son will learn quickly at school regardless if you start early or not.

Ok thanks everyone! Was starting to get nervous seeing all these videos on line of people doing phonics with their kids - I know online life is not real but just wanted to sense check!