Beginning Reading

[SuzySunshine]

A is 5 1/2 and will be on kindergarten in the fall. When she did kindergarten round up one of the things they said she needed to work on was letter recognition so she'd be ready to read. We bought some glad cards and she knows them, no matter how you shuffle them and can instantly tell you what it is. We do a lot of reading to them and she lives looking at books, every once in a while I'll see her telling the story from the pictures which I know is good.

So here is my question? I can 't figure out what to do next, I suspect age needs to start working on sounding out, etc but when I ask her what sound does B make or what makes this sound she doesn't know... So does Antony have a program you recommend or some basic things I can try with her? Teaching is definitely not my strong suit!!

[Pollyanna]

Honestly, I would watch Super Why with her and shows like that. Hang a poster of the alphabet with pics next to her bed and when you take her to bed make up fun stories with the sounds and pictures then let her school take it from there. I hate this early push to read. None of my kids were good readers until midway into first grade and then a light went off. Some kids will excel with phonics and others do better with whole language. My point is to just continue to read to her, make letters and learning fun, and then let the school take it from there. If she needs extra help at that point you could step in with more specific learning tools.

[L.Jane]

Honestly, I would watch Super Why with her and shows like that. Hang a poster of the alphabet with pics next to her bed and when you take her to bed make up fun stories with the sounds and pictures then let her school take it from there. I hate this early push to read. None of my kids were good readers until midway into first grade and then a light went off. Some kids will excel with phonics and others do better with whole language. My point is to just continue to read to her, make letters and learning fun, and then let the school take it from there. If she needs extra help at that point you could step in with more specific learning tools.

This. This. This. I also play a game with my kids where we say things like, A is for apple.. ah (sound of a) ah apple. B is for bear. Buh Buh bear... and so on.. It gets them to think about the letter with a word and the sound it makes. Eventually I dont have to say the word, and they can think up their own words. We just call it the alphabet game and its good for long car rides or when we are waiting in line.

Also, start with her own name and the sounds then that.

[v-girl]

Leap Frog has a whole series of alphabet and reading videos that are on Netflix. Honestly, that's how Kenny learned his alphabet and the sounds. Hehe!

[SuzySunshine]

Thanks gang - as you can imagine we live in a neighborhood with very educated parents - there is a large group of kids coming to A's school next year that all went to preschool together at a different preschool and I'm hearing that they're usually farther along then the kids that went to A's preschool. I worry how the teachers are going to handle that and wonder if I need to work with her more so that she doesn't get left behind.

Thanks for the suggestions, we'll just continue to work on the basics. And she watches Super Why a lot and loves it.

[MrsK]

Honestly, I would watch Super Why with her and shows like that. Hang a poster of the alphabet with pics next to her bed and when you take her to bed make up fun stories with the sounds and pictures then let her school take it from there. I hate this early push to read. None of my kids were good readers until midway into first grade and then a light went off. Some kids will excel with phonics and others do better with whole language. My point is to just continue to read to her, make letters and learning fun, and then let the school take it from there. If she needs extra help at that point you could step in with more specific learning tools.

Yes, to all of this. I've been doing this with my boys. (K1 knows his letters and letter sounds. K2 can almost sing the alphabet.) Also, the Leap Frog movies are called the Letter Factory, Word Factory, and . . . another about starting school that reinforces the letter sounds. Start with Letter Factory. It's great. It's phonics and teaches the shapes and sounds of each letter. K1 learned his letter sounds after watching it only a couple times. Word factory teaches about vowels and consonants and how sounds "stick" together to form words. K1 has been watching that and he's starting to be able to figure out simple words. We also do a lot of "environmental print". We'll be out and he'll see a sign and say, "Hey. There is a 'P' in that sign!" Then we'll talk about the other letters in the sign, the shapes, and logos and help him figure out what the sign my say. For instance, the Petsmart sign might have a picture of a dog and cat. Also, we talk about letter sounds and how things might be spelled. "Oh, the kitty cat is named 'tu-tu.' What a pretty name! What letter do you think 'tu-tu' starts with? What letter makes the t sound? Can you think of other words that start with the t sound?"

I know this all sounds like a lot but I assure you, it's not obnoxious. These discussions happen organically throughout the day and he usually initiates them. I also praise him a lot during these discussions so he enjoys them and feels good about showing off his new skills.

[SuzySunshine]

And maybe that is the other thing that bothers me - R is definitely getting it, all on his own, all by listening to what we talk about with A - he's going to be reading by this time next year I almost guarantee it - all on his own. We've already had one situation here in the last few weeks where R bypassed her on something and I could tell how upset/left behind she felt and I don't want that to happen with her education already...

[MrsK]

BTW, what preschool are your kids and the neighbor kids attending? You can PM me.

[MrsK]

And maybe that is the other thing that bothers me - R is definitely getting it, all on his own, all by listening to what we talk about with A - he's going to be reading by this time next year I almost guarantee it - all on his own. We've already had one situation here in the last few weeks where R bypassed her on something and I could tell how upset/left behind she felt and I don't want that to happen with her education already...

Younger siblings catch on faster. I think we expose them to these skills sooner than we do the elder siblings. K1 could not sing his abcs when he was 2yo and K2 can. K2 surpasses K1 all the time. Some of it is that K2 really thinks he is the same as K1 and pays attention while we instruct K1. Part of it is his temperament and abilities. Your kids will have different skills so I'd emphasize that she excels in other areas and there are many things she does better than R. (For instance, K2 has a long attention span, he paints and draws well and even holds his crayons properly but K1 is very entertaining, is good with language, and he always finds inventive ways to play.)

[Pollyanna]

Cheri, DO NOT worry about A being behind before she even starts and DON'T listen to other parents talk about how far ahead theirs kids are because the went the preschool Z. All kids learn at their own pace. Some of the kids in dd19 first grade class were in the highest reading group and their parents worried (out loud of course) how the school could keep up with their child's brilliance (insert eye roll here). Fast forward to high school and the majority of those kids are taking regular classes and attending State U just like the average kids. I promise your school can manage all sorts of learning levels with no trouble.

[v-girl]

My girls went to one of those preschools that had all the kids reading and writing at age 4. It all evened out by the end of Kindergarten.

[spotty_dog]

Any kindergarten teacher worth their salt will be able to work with that they are given. DS was middle of the pack in his class for letter and letter sound recognition when he entered; we actually had to drill him in the alphabet the week before kindergarten started because it had never seemed important that he know the *order* of the letters if he knew their *names* and sounds. But he left reading, as did many kids who came in unable to name half the alphabet. It all washes out.

Your kids will have different strengths at different times. If you don't make a habit of comparing them, they won't feel competitive or undermined when one surpasses the other. DD (4.5) is now reading the books we bought to give DS (6.5) a little extra reading practice over summer. It doesn't seem to upset him, and he coaches her on the few words she misses.

If A is pushing *you* to learn more reading skills you can get a program like Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Be warned, it takes a lot of patience if they are reluctant/uncertain/easily discouraged. Otherwise, just play on starfall.com and/or get that Leapfrog magnetic alphabet thing for the fridge.

Finally, OMG HOW IS SHE GOING TO KINDERGARTEN IN A FEW MONTHS SHE IS JUST A BRAND NEW BABY!!!

[Flynn]

Early reading is NOT a predictor for future academic success. It JUST IS NOT! It *might* determine which children really enjoy reading on their own and those students tend to develop a more advanced vocabulary in addition to a few other helpful skills IF they keep feeding their brain with books.

Like many have said on this site, early reading has somehow become a gold star for anal parents everywhere. Some parents can't wait to tell another parent, "My kid started reading at 3 and a half so of course we are looking into highly capable programs....bla bla bla."

Keep reading out loud to A. Go to the library often and feed her brain with all sorts of topics and kinds of books. Let her get excited about choosing her own books. Read what you are interested in, in front of her. Practice the sounds each letter makes. Reading Raven (an ap on the iPad) is a great FUN way to sound out letters and be quizzed, earn points and buy fish for your virtual fish bowl and you can set up different long ins for each child! Additionally, don't let A know that you are a bit anxious that R has passed her in this area. Point out all the things she does really well and explain how every kid is different ....you know the drill.

We had a bit of an issue early on with extremely generous relatives buying all sorts of stuff for our kids...some of it bordering on *crap*. We redirected their generosity saying that one "toy" was plenty but we would never ever put a cap on books. I freely admit I'm a weirdo in this regard but each of my kids have at least 50 books in their room at all times and we organize them together in a way that they can find what they want easily. It's their own Dewey decimal system. Our house is teeming with books for everyone who lives here. Our older kids now have Kindle Fires and are always allowed to read or listen to their audio books when choosing individual stuff to do this summer.

My daughter could read at an early age but didn't want people to know because she loved it when we read TO HER. Somehow she got it into her head when she could read all of that QT would stop. Her teachers caught on that she was sandbagging and we just let her work through it. She's going into 5th grade at can read at least at an 8th grade level but more importantly she loves to read and we are constantly looking for the next series or individual book to LOVE.

Hang in there. Kindergarten is a great time for a family but it's the big fish pond where some parents can really start comparing your kid to their kid. It's very different from pre-school.

Have fun with this! It's a new way to get to know A and what she likes as an individual little person!

[Deebs]

My kids learned a ton from Leap Frog videos. I only work with my kids on reading, phonics, etc if they're interested. DD loved to play preschool. DS not at all. He started reading on his own at two years old. DD #2 sometimes plays school with the older kids, but is far behind where DS was at her age. I'm not at all worried ab it. Our school aims to have kids reading by the end of Kindergarten. For some that means they come in reading, and for others it comes together in the final weeks. IMO, the best thing you can do is read to your kids and engage them in learning everywhere (the grocery store, street signs, etc).

[metroguy]

my suggestion is to keep reading to your kids. my kids love to be read to. i spend at 1/2 hr a day every day reading to them. my wife also spends about 1/2 hr doing the same thing.