Reading- where to start?

[Mishy1234]

DS is 2 and 4 months and loves books and being read to.

When and how should I start teaching him to read? Is it just a matter of carrying reading to him at this stage or should I be doing something more?

I'm not fussed about pushing him if that's not appropriate yet, but was just wondering what the next step is and when the best time is to take it.

My DDs were both early readers. I just pointed at words as I read them, it helped that they had favorite books that we read again and again. They just seemed to pick it up as we went along and were reading independently by age 4. I didn't push it or make it a formal lesson type of thing, it was a natural progression for them.

Get hold of the Jolly Phonics Finger Phonics board books -a set of 7 which introduce very young children to the sounds of English and the alphabet code.
www.amazon.co.uk/Finger-Phonics-Books-1-7-Jolly/dp/1870946316/ref=pd_bowtega_1/202-3622612-1314237?i e=UTF8&s=books&qid=1182955354&sr=1-1 These sturdy books cover all the sounds - excellent alternative to the usual 'alphabet' books.
Also, look at Jolly Songs on audio CD: A collection of songs set to popular tunes for each of the 42 letter sounds.

HTH

Don't teach him to read, leave this to his teachers once he starts school.

Instead concentrate on just fostering a positive attitude to books and reading, read to him all the time, give him lots of opportunities to look at books and 'read' them, go to the library and borrow books, buy cheap books from charity shops, so he has a constant supply of different books.

Staple scrap paper together for him to make his own books, scribe stories for him, type up stories together etc etc. If he's ready he will learn the basics of reading just through that.

Don't, whatever you do, try to start on a 'reading scheme' or attempt to teach jollu phonics, you could do more damage than good if you are not trained properly. I am not a reception teacher any more, but when I was it was very hard to re-teach phonics to children who had been taught them wrong by their parents

overmydeadbody,

Perhaps if you could give the OP some pointers as to what not to do, it would be helpful.

Sorry Mishy, maizie is right, it's just erally hard to type out what not to do, in terms of teaching phonics, but the main thing to remember is that phonics don't have an 'ah' sound at the end of them, so don't say that the letter 'b' says "bah", or 'h' says "hah", they don't, they are a short sound, without any 'ah' at the end, but that's almost impossible to type out!

I am sure there is more information online along with audio examples of how to teach phonics if yo search!

omdb Do you mean that B should be spoken as "buh"?

DS is 3.7 so I'm thinking about letters and reading but haven't made any headway yet.

If you've got an iPhone, there are a few phonics games you can download from the AppStore!! Saves you getting the sounds wrong!!

I too am wondering about teaching my 3yo to read and or write as she seems really keen!! However, her pre-school have said that they aren't allowed to do formal teaching in this area?!!

Interesting topic as I was just thinking about 'teaching' my 3 and a half DD to read before she (hopefully) starts nursery. Maybe Ill pass on the Phonics stuff then! What about 'flash cards'? I remember my gran teaching me to read with these about 100 years ago....

My 3.2yo is just starting with the Very First Reading set, where the child only has to read a few words (eg "tap tap tap") and the adult reads most of the story, which is really encouraging her to keep going. I only do a couple of pages at a time, and really follow her lead- as soon as she looks even slightly bored we put the special ribbon in to keep our place and we go and read a book together that she knows. Could take a while to get through the full set like this, but it isn't a race!

Sorry, that link should have been this

Advice from my MiL (retired reception teacher) was that before attempting to teach a child to read check that pre-reading skills are in place.

These include

• knowing that the squiggly things on the page are words which tell the story

-knowing that you start at the front of a book and how to turn the pages -knowing that you read left to right, starting at the top and working along and then down etc

• being able to tell where a word starts and stops (ie what the gap means)

Ds1 started learning his letters at age 3 and was keen to read but was actually quite shaky at several of these (esp. the left to right thing). We concentrated on reading together lots, then as he got to know his letters he could guess which word was which on the page (can you find the word 'dog' ds?) and knew where to start reading on the page (could show me where to start). He actually took a year to be really ready to read but is now picking it up v. quickly.

Anyway OP my advice would be not to rush it. Read together and see if he can retell stories by looking at the pictures .

If you want to start to help him develop his reading skills in a fun and lighthearted way, you could try playing some reading games. I find it hard to get my 4 year old DS interested in learning to reading, but if we play games he doesn't even realise he's learning.

You can try phonics games which help teach awareness of syllables, rhyming and isolating, blending and segmenting sounds. For example, try a sorting game by sound - put several different objects which all start with one of three different sounds in a big bag. Label the outside of three small boxes with the letters associated with the sounds you have chosen. Ask your child to pick one object at a time from the bag and place it in the box which is labelled with the first sound of the object?s name.

You could also try word-based literacy games such as this one. Choose around eight words familiar to your child and write each one on a piece of card. Give your child fun instructions to follow which involve the words. For example, ?Jump to the word dinosaur. Put a toy car on car. Pretend to eat the chocolate. Put the hat on your head.?

Or make a book with your child based on a theme, such as "The P Book" with each page dedicated to a different word that starts with the letter 'p'. Illustrate the word with a drawing, or pictures which your child has cut out of a magazine.

There are some other good ideas here.

If you are having fun with your child, you can't go far wrong!

Interesting - I was just about to post the same question!

Daughter is 2.2 and has the pre-reading skills wb referred to. She loves books and knows most of her letters - a combination of letter jigsaws, alphablocks on cbeebies and a phonics DVD (I only let her watch the actual letter bits, not the phonic sounds as I'm not convinced on phonics and think it may be a little too structured for her age).

I may try some of the products suggested by others on here, though I am encouraged by sue52 saying it just happened naturally.

I disagree with overmydeadbody about teachers having to undo teaching and then re-teach the correct way. This sounds more elike the school having to undo and re-teach their preferred way. Given how keen my child is now, I wouldn't want to leave it until she is nearly 5 for her to start actually reading. I have more time to dedicate to her than a teacher trying to teach a whole class to read. I could read before starting school, but my mother is a little hazy on what she did, unfortunately!