Did you teach your child how to read?

[shygirl]

I have a 2 year old, he'll be 3 in July.  He already knows all the letters in the alphabet really well.  Even though he is still pretty young, I figured I'll go ahead and teach him the sounds the letters make.  It appears he already knows that, at least the basics.  I'm not certain where he learned it. Probably some of the "educational" tv shows he watches with my husband during the day.

So, then, I thought, well if he already knows what sounds the letters make, then I guess I may as well start teaching him how to put sounds together and read a word.  But once I started doing that, I got really confused because letters make different sounds depending on what combination they are in.  I didn't know exactly what the beginning is.  Also, vowels are confusing.

I thought I would buy some flash cards.  I went to Target just now, and the only flash cards they had was learning by sight.  They didn't have phonics flash cards.  Is learning by sight the new thing now?  Memorizing whole words? 

SO, then I googled how to teach a child to read.  Lots and lots of websites popped up.  Too much to look at.

Anybody here teach their child how to read?  Can you recommend any products?  Methods?

[pinkiu]

I'm an early childhood Language Arts and Reading professor. Go ahead and teach sounds authentically. Don't worry about the irregular sounds now. Start with your child's name sounds and other simple CVC words (consonant/vowel/consonant). Do lots of rhyming and alliteration (first sound in a word). Play clapping games to segment sentences then syllables and then finally sounds. Don't buy flashcards. That's so unnecessary. If you like the idea of games, you can make great games for free. Go to Teachers Pay Teachers for lots of free ideas or Pinterest. You can glue the printed part on file folders or tagboard and cover it with clear contact paper for durability and.

[Judah]

I found that the simple words in Dr. Suess books almost taught themselves once the child knew the sounds of the individual letters.

[Minmom3]

We started off using the books they already knew from bedtime reading by me.  They watched Sesame Street, so mostly knew their letters already, and what they sounded like.  Then, I'd point out words that were easy, no goofy rules to trip them up, that were words they knew to speak, if not yet to read.  I think the Stop sign was the first word they knew to read.  After that, I took them through the McGuffy Readers, which are beyond old (1800's, I think) which I had as a child, and MIL bought for them, and we plowed through them too, because the repetition in them helps a lot.  After they got reasonably good at reading (not until age 5) I had them read aloud to me at bed time, and when a word confused them, we sounded it out together, and if it was one of those tricky words, I explained the rule for why it was different than they thought it should be.  We went at their pace, and never pushed.

Caveat:  I LOVE to read.  I'm a complete book-a-holic, and will read cereal boxes in a pinch.  DH does not read for pleasure very often.  So, they DID see reading modeled a lot.  One thing I want to warn you of, is that I've read about a lot of children who were pushed to read earlier than THEY really wanted to, did extremely well in kindergarten, first and second, but burned out by third.  So, just make sure this is paced at your child's rate, not yours.  Our grammar school was STUFFED with high achieving children of high achieving parents.  The pressure level was so high the principal set protocols in place for dealing with it.  Not saying that YOU will do this, just putting my 2˘ out there.

My kids are now in their 20's, and all read for pleasure.  Not the worlds best students, by any means, but they do like to read.

[Jones]

When my daughter was 3 she asked me to read her "Ochinope". It turned out she was trying to read "Pinocchio" backwards. She'd learned letters and sounds and decided to try surprising us; a sad failure, as I couldn't figure out what she was talking about. Sadly, she gave up on reading pretty quickly, interest only sparked again when she was 5. Since then she's done great with sight words, and sounding out words with clear rules (including silent E). Side note: She likes to talk about the silent E sneaking up on other vowels and kicking them in the rear to make them make their name noise. Apparently it was a funny story the teacher or teaching assistant told to help the kids remember the silent E rule...which she'd had issues with, prior to that day.

Would definitely second the Dr Seuss books, as well as just pointing out certain simple words in the store. Young children can learn exceptions to rules later, just get the basics down until he's ready, IMO.

[WillyNilly]

I don't have kids, so I can't answer from that angle, but i do know I could read before kindergarten (because I remember the teacher going over basic words and I was confused because it didn't occur to me everyone couldn't read).

I don't remember everything of course, but a few things I do remember are: Dr Suess, and other rhyming books.  And being read to (especially sitting on my dad's lap so I was facing the book the whole time vs him sitting across from me like one sees at reading time or side by side for bedtime reading). And the library and getting to pick out my own books. And having some read-a-long book/record sets, where I would play my record and it would read the story and I would follow along with the book. I remember there used to be a series of books with a label, something like "I can read!" I remember looking for those specifically as a small child because I knew they were my level.

[shygirl]

Thanks for the ideas everyone!  I checked out the Teachers Pay Teachers website and saw some things that seem perfect for this situation.

I will definitely follow my son's lead on this, I want to foster a love of reading and not burn him out before he even enters the school system.  We already read every day, and he LOVES it.  I've actually found him "reading" some of his books on his own.  I've read the books to him SO MANY TIMES that he's memorized them. 

Anyway, Dr Seuss is a good idea.  (Tomorrow is Dr. Seuss' birthday!) 

[magician5]

My older son used to come home from school in despair saying "I can't learn to read!" We tried "Hooked on Phonics" and I thought it was good, but it didn't do the job for him. Then ... he could read! I never learned what did the trick.

Way back when, I remember distinctly how I learned, much ahead of "schedule". It was a great system ... "Uncle Scrooge" (McDuck) Comic Books. I wanted to know what the story was about, so hard that I did as I was instructed and "sounded out" the text. It helped that I had a parent I could run to every couple of minutes and ask what a harder word was.

[MommyPenguin]

I homeschool my kids, so if you don't and don't want to buy a product, this might not be for you.  But I'm a big fan of All About Reading.  It does a great job and has fun games (and a zebra puppet, who doesn't love a zebra puppet?) to teach pre-reading skills (rhyming, breaking a word apart into phonemes, putting parts of a word together to make a word, clapping syllables, etc.) and reading skills.  It focuses on teaching kids the rules and not many sight words (they try to familiarize kids with words, so words become sight words in that sense, but it doesn't tell you that a lot of words are rule-breakers, so just memorize them), so it does take kids a while before they can read Dr. Seuss (because it has words like "should" and "anywhere"), but it moves fast.  My 4-year-old loves it.

If you don't want to invest in a program, I'd suggest looking into the BOB books or something like them (may be available at the library).  The earliest BOB books are decodable CVC words and a few easy sight words, like, "Bob and Mac can sit.  Can cat sit?"  It's useful to spend a while getting really familiar with some of those words like "the" and "on" and "and," even if they're sounding them out at first, because it makes reading more complex stuff a lot easier if kids start to recognize the simpler words on sight.

[Camarynne]

I was what they call a spontaneous reader. I was three years old and the first word I remember reading was Chevrolet. Completely freaked my parents out. I still love to read.

[snappylt]

Shygirl,

I read to my boys every single day until they reached their early teens.  Usually I read to them at bedtime.  I'd start with a book such as Dr. Seuss that the youngest enjoyed, then as he fell asleep I'd move on a a more involved book for the older boys.

Two of them seemed to begin to figure out the sounds and letters on their own from the simple books we read together.  Yes, I'd point to letters an we'd talk about the sounds of the letters, but for us that was an aside to enjoying the fun stories together.  They were reading simple things before they were four.  Another of my boys didn't figure it out until the summer after kindergarten - it was fun to see the (figurative) light bulb go on over his head as reading suddenly made sense to him one day.

Anyway, I really do cherish those hours we spent reading together.  I'm sure it helped them with their language development... but we also had great chances to discuss history and morality and even religion when those topics would come up in stories as they grew older.

One son stumbled upon a series of children's books written by an author with a very different understanding of our religion than our own.  We went ahead and read those books because he loved the adventures the kids in those stories had.  But we also took the opportunity to talk about how the author's understanding of our religion was different than ours.  The author would have his characters announce that one could not be a ____ {insert name of our religion here} if one also  ____ {insert name of frowned upon behavior here}.  I talked with our boys about how their mother and I see it differently.  Some good discussions there.  Also, the books were written over a 30 year span, so sometimes we would try to guess when they were written by what sorts of cars and appliances and clothing were mentioned in the stories.

Probably my all-time favorites to read together were the Harry Potter books when they were older...

... Sorry. I got carried away with fond memories.

Anyway, I'd encourage you to read aloud to your child every day if you possibly can.  it is perfectly fine to re-read the same books when children are younger and at first your child may learn to "read" by really just memorizing the books.  But over time, all of that exposure to words and stories is, I believe, very likely  to pay off in helping your child become a real reader.

My own suggestion would be to use flash cards sparingly, as long as they are fun, and to concentrate on enjoying the stories together.

Good luck - and enjoy yourselves!

[Slartibartfast]

We've got this fantastic fridge magnet toy which definitely helped get Babybartfast reading early.  (She started sounding out words at around 3.5; now at age 4.5 she's reading easy books all by herself and slightly harder books with help.)  There are ton of alphabet-related toys out there, but you can put any three letters in this one and it will read the resulting word back to you.  It's got a pretty big library of real three-letter words in there, too, so if your kid puts in a real word it will acknowledge it and make some sort of sound effect (like a meow for "CAT").  It will also acknowledge three-letter words which aren't phonetically obvious, like "eat" or "ice."  Babybartfast spent HOURS playing with it while I was cooking dinners, and she really loved discovering new words.  I don't think it's the only thing that led to her reading development, of course, but it definitely helped a lot.

I'd also encourage age-appropriate interactive educational games (on computer, iPad, phone, gaming system, or whatever you've got available).  You can usually pick up children's computer games at thrift stores for $1-$2 each - kids don't care if the graphics are ten years old, and being able to interact with the game makes the educational aspects stick more than just watching a TV show.  The Clifford computer games are currently Babybartfast's favorite - and she was well able to work a mouse and keyboard by age 3 or so.  She probably would have been even faster at a touchscreen if we had had an iPad back then 

[cicero]

I didn't exactly teach D's to read but he did pick up a lot of the basics , letter and then word recognition, because I would read to him every night before bedtime. I joke with him that he had a library card before he was two...

One option is to make small signs and post them on objects , e.g., window, door, etc. It will help him associate the concept of 'a word/sound' with 'a thing'.

With D's, who had ( and still has) an amazing vocabulary, I played tons of word games, like rhymes that we made up, saying a word that starts with the last letter of your word, etc

I have a 2 year old, he'll be 3 in July.  He already knows all the letters in the alphabet really well.  Even though he is still pretty young, I figured I'll go ahead and teach him the sounds the letters make.  It appears he already knows that, at least the basics.  I'm not certain where he learned it. Probably some of the "educational" tv shows he watches with my husband during the day.

So, then, I thought, well if he already knows what sounds the letters make, then I guess I may as well start teaching him how to put sounds together and read a word.  But once I started doing that, I got really confused because letters make different sounds depending on what combination they are in.  I didn't know exactly what the beginning is.  Also, vowels are confusing.

I thought I would buy some flash cards.  I went to Target just now, and the only flash cards they had was learning by sight.  They didn't have phonics flash cards.  Is learning by sight the new thing now?  Memorizing whole words? 

SO, then I googled how to teach a child to read.  Lots and lots of websites popped up.  Too much to look at.

Anybody here teach their child how to read?  Can you recommend any products?  Methods?

[Softly Spoken]

*SQUEEEEEE DID SOMEONE ASK ABOUT READING?!?!*  Okay stand back lol...

“You may have tangible wealth untold
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold,
Richer than I you can never be,
For I had parents who read to me.” - S. Gililand

Childless one chiming in with her own childhood experience FWIW: When I was a baby, my parents propped me on their lap in the rocking chair and read to me. Apparently my first words were "Read book."  I have a cassette tape recording (remember those lol) of me reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas." It is hilarious because a) I think I had it memorized and was not actually reading it (my pronunciation is evidence that talking was a relatively new thing for me) - my mom was prompting me with the opening line on each page and b) I also injected commentary about the funny pictures that were included in the book.

I thought stories were wonderful and couldn't wait to figure them out on my own. I can't remember how I transitioned from the being read to, to reading to myself and being able to recognize new words, but it happened very quickly. Hearing the words first and then seeing them apparently helped me make the connection faster. YEMV of course. I LOVE reading and I LOVE writing - because my parents took the time to introduce me to the magic of storytelling. They didn't drill me on flashcards. They didn't sit me in front of some educational video. Not that I'm bashing those methods, but I am glad they weren't used on me because they wouldn't have been my thing. In reading fun and funny stories to me, they basically said "Here is this wondrous thing we (grown-ups) do (reading and writing entertaining stories)...if you want we can show you how to do it." Young children are very much in "monkey see, monkey do" mode - I enjoyed being read to and then I wanted to read, a natural side effect of the "I do it myself!" phase.

Never underestimate the power of a good book. I will add Steven Kellogg to the suggestion list next to Dr. Seuss. His tall tales and great illustrations have stayed with me all these years. I still think about Pinkerton the great dane.

I grew up on the Berenstain Bears, Wee Wisdom, Highlights and...well just about whatever caught my eye in my regular trips to the library.

The Little Critter books are awesome. Actually Mercer Mayer is just awesome period. Before Monsters, Inc. there was "There's A Nightmare In My Closet."  He has Phonics and "I Can Read" books. He has amazing insight into what it is like to be a kid, so his LC books are funny and entertaining but also address every possible life experience you can think of in a great educational way! The only thing I loved more than his Little Critter were his monsters - after all these years I still remember the amazing adventure portrayed in "One Monster After Another."

Richard Scarry's books were great for me when I was about pre school age - I loved Huckle Cat and Lowly Worm. Lots of cute books that taught you the basics.

Tomie dePaola's books about Strega Nona and her bumbling sidekick Big Anthony were wonderful, as are his books about Bill and Pete (a crocodile and the bird who rides him). He loves to tell fables and old cultural tales. He has some good books with Christian themes, the most beautiful and touching one (IMHO) being "The Clown of God." Even as a little child I was moved by the magic and spirit of that story.

Maurice Sendak has written many other good books besides "Where The Wild Things Are."

The one other author I will single out is Bill Peet - he was an illustrator for Disney who helped create many of their classic movies. He also helped bring inanimate objects to life in many memorable short cartoons. He wrote many wonderful stories about animals who had amazing adventures. My favs are "Ella," "Cowardly Clyde," and "Big Bad Bruce." I have a autographed copy of "The Ant and the Elephant."

Other random suggestions of books that fired my imagination and thirst for reading as a child (funny, silly, exotic, realistic, etc.):
Animalia by Graeme Base - I haven't read any of this author's other books but I really should - his illustrations are UNBELIEVABLE and the amount of detail to get lost in is simply indescribable. Just look at this book once in your life, you owe it to yourself and your children - if you have none look at it anyway!
Groundsel by Fergus Hall - Very very strange-but-fascinating fable about the need for time and seasons, with really interesting illustrations.
Mr. Monkey and the Gotcha Bird - This is just a funny jungle adventure book - I remember my dad doing the voices of the animals.
Runaway Marie Louise - A little mongoose on an adventure.
Monkey and the White Bone Demon - asian-inspired illustrations and an animal action-hero left quite an impression on me if I can still bring this to mind randomly after over 20 years.

Of the 5 I just listed, I only own the first two; I took the other 3 straight from memory. I don't know if that says something about me, or something about the books.

I could list my entire library but I'll leave you with what I've already put here, before I get lost forever in the Amazonian Labyrinth. 

TLDR; Try and encourage and foster your child's enthusiasm for reading, but (as a PP said) don't worry if they don't "take" to it.

[Lindee]

I've always read to and with my children and have lovely memories us us snuggled up breathlessly waiting for the next page. My son just picked it up as we went along and was reading well by the time he started school but I still laugh when I remember his little sister at nearly 3 barrelling in with one of his school readers, pushing it into my hands and with her hands on her hips demanding, "Teach me to read, RIGHT NOW!.

So I did.

They were very different though, even though he could read well my son loved being read to at night after he'd finished his own reader and would plead in desperation for the next chapter while I recall his sister cheerfully telling me one night after only a few pages "that was quite enough, I have a short attention span you know".

She told me recently that she became a Clinical Psychologist after reading Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware novels as a teenager. So you never know where books will lead you.