Starting to read: what age? And are there two competing approaches - phonics and ...?

[BelfastBloke]

Could someone just give me an overview of what's coming up? I think my DD of 3yrs4m is interested in reading. She can count but doesn't know too many letters, really.

What is phonics? What's the alternative? Only vague impressions of all this.

I think the best thing to do is just read alot with your child adn ask questions about what you're reading. When my son was little, I would ask him to point to the words and point to the pictures ie to help him understand there were words and pictures on the page and to understand the difference and then point to the beginning of the story (ie top left of the writing) and then end, and I'd read just a few lines pointing to each word as I read. The objective wasn't to get him to be able to read the words himself, but just to understand there was a direct connection between the words I was saying and the writing on a page. It sounds obvious, but to a child it isn't obvious until you point it out.
If you want to progress from there, you could take the approach of kindergarten and reception classes and introduce a letter every few days, with associated pictures of objects (B = ball, balloon, etc, emphasizing the "b" sound).

Phonics involves teaching sounds rather than letter names (ie when you write or show a B you say "bbb" rather than "bee". The idea is children eventually learn to blend the sounds to make words. Many people (especially here on MN) think it's great. I think it's a good complement to the old-fashioned A, B C's but I think children should learn from the very beginning that letters have names and sounds (just like animals have names and sounds) and some letters have 2 or more sounds (just like animals can have two or more sounds)....).
In any case.... have fun! Watching a child learn to read and to engage with books is a joy!

You might find the following webpage a useful and informative read -talks about the different methods, controversies, research etc.

www.dyslexics.org.uk/teach_your_child.htm

Thank you both, and especially thank you maverick for such an interesting link, which led on to other interesting links. Having neglected my kids while reading all those links I've now got a very clear idea of the issues involved.

BelfastBloke I think this is a very BIG tip RELAX. My son 6 yrs isn't a whizz at reading and can't do his numbers very well but verbally can say and remember the most amazing stuff. Always make reading relaxing for you & your kid. We read to him every night and sometimes books beyond his age group. When he is reading we never rush him and never never show frustration. We never get him to read anything beyond his comfort zone just a little stretch but a lot of building on what he already knows. Since starting school we get him to read for about 10mins everyday its just the drip drip effect that works with our boy.
We have our moments of forgetting this and pull back. It is all coming together now. We have promised him the Beano every week (once a month at the mo) when can read a whole cartoon to himself.

If she's interested then I'd start by printing off her name on a piece of paper. I've always started flashcards (whole word recognition) with their name and "mummy" and "daddy".
If you print off 2 of each you can play games like pairs with it. Make it fun. Go as fast as they want and don't push it. All mine have learnt to read by school age and have loved reading. I found once they know a few words they want to point them out in books/when they see them, and that helps them pick up other words.
All of mine have had times when they are keen to learn more words and times when they don't want to know. If they don't want to know then that's fine. No pressure on them to do it at all.
And for some reason all of mine have had a block on the word "this". Don't know why.
If she's not interested then don't worry. It's not going to effect how good they end up reading. Just keep on reading to them.

I really recommend Jolly Songs - a cd available from Amazon for under a tenner. It has a particular action and song for each letter sound and is great fun :) my DD loves it.

Ah, cheers. Is Jolly Songs part of the Jolly Phonics range? I'm planning to buy the storybook now.

Indeed it is. I haven't got the story book but I do have the poster (couple of quid on amazon) which is lovely. Also got the set of 7 workbooks, though we haven't used them much yet. We are doing things in a very low key way.

Word of warning: Do NOT buy The Jolly Phonics DVD, it is the worst thing I have ever seen in my entire life. Stick with the books and CD, much more fun.

cheers chloe, let us know.

i bought the jolly phonics storybook yesterday

I agree re the jolly phonics book - I get a lot of requests for the cd!

I did the letterland books with my DD and she knew all her letters, but took ages to read (and then ended up very good at reading). Jolly Phonics is VERY popular.

Just make sure she loves books and point out common letters, such as Mmmmm for Mummy and Dddddd for Daddy as you go around your every day life.