your baby can read

milliebear00001

There is little benefit in teaching children to read before school, and we rarely see any difference by the end of key stage 1. What they really DO benefit from, is listening to others read to them, and sharing/talking about books. If children are interested in learning letter sounds, then you can encourage this, but the 'flashcard' method is not the way we teach reading in schools and can be detrimental to children who are used to that, and then have to start a 'different' way of learning. Similarly, Early Years teachers spend quite a bit of time 'undoing' the incorrect 'sounds' childre have been taught to attach to letters by their parents. As you've seen, some children, who can already read, are often bored when they hit school because they have to go over the basic sounds with the rest of their class, and this can be very damaging in terms of their experience of early school.

Play games, read to them, talk to them, play with them. These are far better preparation for school.

tandraig

I learned to read well before I went to school! how? by my mum reading to me every evening (bedtime stories) and she would point to the words she was reading - also, I LOVED my books......and would ask what words were apparently.
then I got to school

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boring until the teacher realised I could already read and got me reading books from the junior school. was reading famous five and 'adventure' series at age 6. but still had to plough through all the !!!!!! and jane and janet and john until she was convinced.
my mum - bless her, read to me from when I was a baby!
my daughter had her library ticket when she was nine months - and i read to her too. and yes she could read well by time she was in school - but did they give her books appropriate for her reading level? did they heck!! in fact I had one teacher tell me it was schools job to teach children to read and I may have done her irreparable harm by teaching her myself! B***

my daughter was so put off by HAVING to read all the set books I had the devils own job getting her to read at all.
Even now - she rarely reads for pleasure - which i think is a real shame. and i blame her primary school!!!
my sons however - they were read to as well - but didnt take the interest my daughter did. had to force them to read set books. but now both of them will read for pleasure - mainly if they see a dvd and want to read the book! was i wrong or was school wrong?

milliebear00001

The school was wrong for not providing reading material at the correct level.. I've never met a 4/5 year old child who could decode a 'difficult' book perfectly. Is that what you're saying you could do? We do get some, rarely, who can already decode the sounds well and are far in advance of their peer group. What we see a lot of, are children who can 'flashcard' read, but cannot decode sounds appropriately. This means that they struggle when it comes to 'working out' longer words with complicated sounds. Our way of teaching reading in schools is heavily based on decoding the sounds within words, and this is the way that suits the vast majority of children, and the way that gets them up and running quickest. As I said, a child who comes into school able to 'read', is not always top of class when it comes to reading at the end of Key Stage 1. There is little long term benefit in being an 'early' reader.

tandraig

milliebear00001 wrote: »

The school was wrong for not providing reading material at the correct level.. I've never met a 4/5 year old child who could decode a 'difficult' book perfectly. Is that what you're saying you could do? We do get some, rarely, who can already decode the sounds well and are far in advance of their peer group. What we see a lot of, are children who can 'flashcard' read, but cannot decode sounds appropriately. This means that they struggle when it comes to 'working out' longer words with complicated sounds. Our way of teaching reading in schools is heavily based on decoding the sounds within words, and this is the way that suits the vast majority of children, and the way that gets them up and running quickest. As I said, a child who comes into school able to 'read', is not always top of class when it comes to reading at the end of Key Stage 1. There is little long term benefit in being an 'early' reader.

so they were right for being wrong! because educators have decided a four year cannot read and understand what they are reading? oh and as for longer words - at four I could read and pronounce mynnyddislwyn correctly - and we arent even welsh speaking. I may not be able to spell it correctly though!

I have absolutely no idea what you mean by 'decode'. I could read and understand what i was reading....I used to make up my own endings to books. and write my own stories.

you sound like the the teacher who taught my daughter - wouldnt deviate from curriculum or the 'recieved wisdom' of the day.

and as for there being little long term benefit - I can read (and understand and remember) 350 pages of a book or a report in about two hours. can you?

oh - and btw - I was diagnosed as slightly number dyslexic and on further investigation, word dyslexic too. but I read so fast and type so fast - most people wouldnt notice. am sure its because mum taught me to read almost before i could walk (and i did that at nine months) otherwise am sure would have been right up poo creek! if mum hadnt taught me and it was left to teachers.....would I be reading now? I doubt it.

pandora205

I think this programme is a commercial gimmick and an expensive one at that. It is just flash cards plus speech and movements, something that any parent could easily improvise. However, word recognition is not the most important skill at preschool stage. Far more important are:

• language development: using and understanding a rich vocabulary and syntax (grammar) and having the experiences that help develop this
• book sharing: knowing that books represent meaning, and that this can be a sequential (a story) or describe the world; related to this is the knowledge that printed words represent spoken words
• phonological awareness: being able to 'hear' sounds and manipulate them, e.g. through rhythm and rhyme in songs, poems and stories, playing games such as Simon says, tongue twisters, etc.
• recognising symbols in the environment (shop signs, road signs, etc.)
• and most importantly learning to love books, comics and text of all types....

These are the prerequisites of reading. So, save your money, talk and listen to your child, share books and play games. There is plenty of time for formal 'word level' work in the future, and better resources to use than this.

M_A_R_I_E

Well said Pandora!! Here here!!

tandraig

Looking back milliebear - I know what you mean by 'flashcard read' the child recognises the words but almost as if they are labels without understanding the meaning. that right?
didnt apply to me or my daughter hun. its hard to explain to people - its like from an early age words were like magic to me and meat and drink! I soaked up books and words and knowledge! I also spent almost a year and half in hospital before i started school - eager to learn more.
then - after 3rd year started falling behind even though was far ahead of class in reading and every subject except - Arithmetic!!! am really number dyslexic though it wasnt realised then. so was often struggling and labelled stupid as i really couldnt understand times tables and simple addition take away or OMG fractions! why the numbers dont stay still or change when i'm not looking is still a mystery to me! luckily i have since had a fantastic tutor in college who taught me coping mechanisms (and thanks neil - how i wouldve got a distinction in statistical mathematics without you i dont know) so know I know i am not stupid.

M_A_R_I_E

Tantraig you are obviously in the minority. Those of use in education see children struggling with reading on a daily basis and teachers do often have to 'undo' some of the - well meant - work done at home by parents. These schemes you can buy that op mentioned only add to the problem. You are talking purely from your own personal view - not the view of the majority. Many children do flashcard read and struggle with comprehension later in school as a result.

milliebear00001

tandraig wrote: »

Looking back milliebear - I know what you mean by 'flashcard read' the child recognises the words but almost as if they are labels without understanding the meaning. that right?
didnt apply to me or my daughter hun. its hard to explain to people - its like from an early age words were like magic to me and meat and drink! I soaked up books and words and knowledge! I also spent almost a year and half in hospital before i started school - eager to learn more.
then - after 3rd year started falling behind even though was far ahead of class in reading and every subject except - Arithmetic!!! am really number dyslexic though it wasnt realised then. so was often struggling and labelled stupid as i really couldnt understand times tables and simple addition take away or OMG fractions! why the numbers dont stay still or change when i'm not looking is still a mystery to me! luckily i have since had a fantastic tutor in college who taught me coping mechanisms (and thanks neil - how i wouldve got a distinction in statistical mathematics without you i dont know) so know I know i am not stupid.

Decoding means being able to use the letters in a word to break that word down into the different sounds it is made up of. This ability is key to being able to read. I have taught many children to read, and seen first hand the difficulties they experience as a result of 'flashcard/sight' reading having been taught to them before they have adequate knowledge of sound-letter relationships.

Your personal experience is not the experience of most (or even many) children.

My point (in answer to the OP) was that early reading is rarely beneficial in the longer-term.

Caroline73_2

M_A_R_I_E wrote: »

Tantraig you are obviously in the minority. Those of use in education see children struggling with reading on a daily basis and teachers do often have to 'undo' some of the - well meant - work done at home by parents. These schemes you can buy that op mentioned only add to the problem. You are talking purely from your own personal view - not the view of the majority. Many children do flashcard read and struggle with comprehension later in school as a result.

So what would you suggest that a parent does with a 4 year old who is 9 months off starting school does with a child that wants to read?