Teaching 4 year old to read - where to start?

[amyboo]

We live in Belgium and DS1 is bilingual French-English. My DH and I are both English, but DS1 goes to a French-speaking school full time. He won't start learning to read in French at school until he's 6.5, but he's starting to show an interest in reading English books at home. As he's got 2 months off school this summer, it seems like a good time to teach him to read.

So, I was just wondering if anyone could tell me where to start? (or rather DH - he's a former teacher and is much more patient than me!). Is there a series of books we should invest in? Or do we start with some kind of flash cards? Do we start teaching him the phonics sounds? He watches alphablocks so is already pretty familiar with the idea of sounds and letters. Is there an alphablocks series or something that we could use?

Any help would be very gratefully received! Thanks

Learn sounds and letters through the alphablocks DVDs. Then subscribe to Reading Eggs website and iPad apps. Reading Eggs is a great supplement to the phonics reading schemes that others have mentioned.

I would hate any parent to feel that they need to teach their child to read or write before school but if your child is showing interest it's worth knowing how schools approach it.

Couldn't agree more Mrz.

Sites such as this, whilst full of fantastic information, can also leave some parents feeling pressurised.

I certainly would have panicked slightly if I had read a thread such as this one, before ds started school. That's just me though, I'm not saying every parent would feel the same.

I think reading a bedtime story and showing your dc a healthy interest in books this way can reap benefits, as it has done in ds case. He quickly picked up reading at school and I knew he was being taught the correct way.

And meaning, I couldn't agree more but.....

But this thread isn't about teaching your child to read before they start school in an English speaking country at 4/5 years old, where they will presumably learn to read there. It was started by someone who lives abroad where the school starting age is later, and where (presumably) they wouldn't learn to read in English but in French.

In my case too DS had already been exposed to a bit of phonics from his English preschool so he was showing interest and constantly asking me what things said and making deductions like "Mummy that says T-O, but it says "to". So T is "t" and O is "oo"." (he knew the basic alphabet letter sounds) I didn't want him to get confused so I tried to learn as much as I could to support him in it.

It's not the same situation. I agree there is no need to push your child into reading, they'll do it when they are ready.

mrz thanks for the book recommendations :)

Blimey - could you read the thread before attacking me please motleycroup and mrsz! I don't live in the UK, I live in Belgium. DS1 goes to a French speaking school, so if DH and I don't teach him to read, no one will... Thanks for the other tips everyone.

Where have I attacked you amyboo?

Sorry, you're right. I misread your convesration with motleycroup. It's more his/her tone I don't really like - about "feeling pressurised to teach a child to read"... I'm not trying to get DS ahead for school, I'm just trying to make sure he can read in his mother tongue. Thanks for all the tips.

I haven't read the thread right through but just wanted to contribute my experience as very similar to you OP.

I taught my bilingual DS to read in English while he was at a French school as we were being posted to the Middle East and he was going to school with the UK curriculum. I followed a book from the 1950s (with brilliant reviews) from amazon co.uk which taught totally in phonics and backed it up with the Oxford Reading Tree and he was reading fluently within 6 months - I am not exaggerating! He is now totally bi-lingual but I must stress that phonics teaching is the way to succeed. Also I taught him every day without fail and bribed him with new Lego. I have just tried to find the same 1950s book on amazon and unfortunately can't find it.

DS is pretty much reading fluently now too. We're on stage 4 phonics now and he's picking up the new sounds lightning fast. He has trouble with sounds he hasn't come across but I only have to tell him the sound or remind him about the sound once and he's got it - tricky words recently he's struggled with have been "agile" and "knife".

I haven't really tried to do it on any time scale, we started before Christmas. There have been periods where he didn't want to do it so I left it and times where he did.

Oh come on, yes I've jumped in on a thread and gone off on a tangent and for that I apologise but 'attacked' you, bit extreme!