So.......... How do you teach an interested in learning pre-school child to read?

[pippylongstockings]

My son is 3.8 and very keen to learn - he recognises all his numbers up to 10 and most of the letters of the alphabet (just getting things like m & w mixed up) however how do I help him with the next stage which would be learning to read ?

I sit and read with him pointing out words like cat, and, the, mat and try and sound the letters out to him phonically but I'm not sure if he just recognises words that are repeated alot (as most children I know seem to have a sort of photographic memory.)

Am I expecting too much? How long does it take for the peices to fall into place?

He would love to be able to sit and read a book and get's upset that he can't.

DS1's school uses Read Write Phonics. I wanted to know how to help him along when he asks to 'do letters' (he's 4.5) so I got this Parent handbook and these flashcards.

I've found they've really made me more able to help him.

They do a whole series of simple-to-less-simple story books but, to be honest, you're probably best off starting with the flashcards.

I think reading to him as you do and sounding the words out phonetically is a good idea. I did this with my ds1 - I only sounded them out when he asked what a word said, not every word, but if your ds is very keen to read he might be happy for you to do that with lots of words. We also did it with words he saw around on signs etc. Now, at 4 1/2, he is starting to do it himself. So I think he was slowly taking it in.
Also, we have bought some phonic magnets from a website called learnwithmagents.com. You can make words and sentences on the fridge/wherever, and the child can easily see the phonic parts of the words.

My DS has just turned 3 and is about at the same stage...can recognise his name, knows his letters, etc. As far as I can see you need to teach the sounds of the alphabet and of the phonic alphabet (as in, AY BEE, SEE and A, Buh, Kuh), then start teaching phonic sounds like 'TH' and 'OO' - i'm not doing this in a structured way but do get him to spell out words when we're reading together, and he has a LeapFrog Wordwhammer which teaches letters, sounds and simple three letter words, and he likes that.
What fun!
AA

You can teach well-known words as whole words, and you can also teach him the letter sounds and how to blend them together.

Make it fun - start with the letters a, s and t as they are all quite different and can't be confused easily. Make a little book together with a page for each letter, and cut out pictures in magazines that start with that sound. Write the letter on each page, and let him write it as well if he wants. When he knows the 3 sounds, teach him how to blend them together, sounding each one out at once and then running it together faster.

You can also write words on cards and stick them around the house, like "fridge", "chair", etc. Make it a game to take all the words off and find the right place for each one. For more information, you could try these books - very good games, etc and I know of people who have used this.

It's actually really easy to teach a pre-schooler to read, easier than a child over 5. Just make it fun, relaxed and no pressure, and enjoy it!

Oh, and ELC do a Jolly Phonics range which follows the synthetic phonics used in many schools, you could try that.

my dd2 is similar age and stage, but i've stopped doing much more with her, as i know the school she will be going to prefers it if they don't read before they get there, presumably so they can teach them all together.

haven't quite made up my mind how far i let her get, so she doesn't get bored when she starts school

Just keep reading with him, talking about books and the stories and go from their. Point to the words as you read so he is more familiar with them.

Make sure he knows the letter sounds rather than the letter names.

I wouldn't do anything particularly formal though.

TBH I wouldn't be bothered about the boredom when starting school thing. A good school should differentiate. It's far more frustrating for a kid to be told, "Wait till you go to school". I could read at two, and it gave me a life long love of books. If your ds is interested, go for it.

We had the flash cards, and magnetic letters and dd mastered all her letters by about 4 ish. She can now write her name with out copying but hasn't shown much interest in reading whole words - though in recent weeks she's been watching the Fun with Phonics programee on BBC and has picked up a bit. One thing we do do everyday, usually in the car is play I-Spy. Great for linking the sounds to words and increasing vocabulary.

You can do things like say to him...I really j-a-m...jam my best colour is r-e-d what is my best colour. This will practise word building and letter sounds

I'm really dithering about this at the moment but I've just ordered some of the items recommended.

I am concerned that dd will be out of step with her peers and might be bored at school as happened to both her parents. I suppose schools are different these days - I hope so. It's a long time to next Sep.

I was quite decided NOT to teach her to read and let her pick up some reading if it happened but now that it's happening I see it really isn't that simple. For a start, she's keener on writing, which needs to be taught as she does it oddly.

Both dh and I could read before school but had very mixed, rather unsatisfactory experiences of education. We very much want to avoid that with dd but sometimes I'm not sure what the best way forward is.

Every time I hear someone argue against teaching reading before school I think 'Oh yes that's right' nad then another person says 'No - don't hold them back' and I think that sounds right too! I though it would just leave her to it (as I was) but I find that I can't not get involved.

Sorry for the novel!

I'd continue with what you're doing.
We also bought various sets of flashcards and would ask ds if he could read the word (usually over breakfast and usually only five words in total so he didn't get bored). He was also able to pick them up and go through them by himself if he wanted to.
We also had a set of letters for the bath and would make a new word each day (and repeat old ones), purely while it was fun.
I think children learn by sounding the words out phonetically and recognising common ones, so a bit of both does no harm.
He also had a little "computer" which tested him on his alphabet which helped cement it in his head I feel.
Otherwise just read lots with him I'd say (incl. signs etc when you're out).

I have to say I am very much of the opinion that you should enable your child in whatever they show an aptitude for...i don't push DS but I do encourage him and actively teach him at times. He would soon let me know if he wasn't enjoying it. I'm not worried about him being bored at school yet (however that might be cos im still not fully resolved to go down the mainstream education route!!).I guess it seems a while off and I'm not going to not teach him things just so some teacher can manage a class more effectively.

My son is 3.9 yrs old and very interested in words.
I recently got a book on teaching your child to read using phonics. I also bought a set of 'my first reader' books for him. This was after a good year of just encouraging his natural interest in letters and words - pointing out road signs and shop names etc, answering his questions (What's that, mummy?- pointing to an exclamation mark, etc).

I am in no way a pushy mum - more of a complete slattern and fretting, unconfident mum, actually but I completely disagree with the whole 'don't teach them to read before school' nonsense. My son wants to read - it's like a huge, fun game to him. I was just the same as a child and could read fluently by the age of 5 yrs old. Why stifle that? It's lovely, in my opinion.

The only thing I would say is that it should be fun. My sion usually suggests doing reading' most days, but he totally takes the lead. If he gets bored after 5 minutes, we stop. If he gets excited and wants to try writing some words or reading a story, we go for it.

should have said 'doing reading'