your baby can read

fernliebee

bonty44 wrote: »

Some of you have expressed this so much better than me, blame it on pregnancy brain!

I just automatically get defensive when people start talking about why parents shouldn't teach their children to read. I honestly think people expect me to be running a mini-school at home! A love of reading comes from a love of sharing books, stories and a good imagination, and I would not swap all that time of my two littlies snuggled up to me for anything!

I feel the same! It opens up the divide between home and school. Sure some parent's may teach children in a different way, but to call it 'wrong' is incorrect IMO. I can't believe that a child who can read at 3, has a love of books but has trouble decoding will end up more disadvantaged than a child who has never been read to and doesn't get much help from a parent when it comes to sharing books. OK maybe academically it may be easier to teach a 'blank page' but is that really what primary education has degenerated to?

Whilst I am in no way saying it is best to push your child to be able to read by age 3, I am saying that parents should let their children take the lead when it comes to pre-school learning. It should be about fun, games and love- if they have these then education will not be far behind.

IMHO

Gingham_Ribbon

confuseddad wrote: »

Just wonder how she would be if she was already reading and so far ahead of the rest that she is not part of the class. Would that be worse?

It depends on the reason. If it's a highly able child there are a lot of problems associated with that, especially in classrooms. If it's a bright child whose parents have encouraged a love of learning, that's different and easier for the child. If it's a child who has been forced into structured learning by pushy parents, that's different again.

tandraig

may I make it plain that although my child had her library card by 9 months - this was because they had a great range of baby books and i was rather cash-strapped!
I never ever formally tried to teach her to read - but like me she loved books and was interested in the words in them!
I did the same with the boys with less success - whether its because they didnt get quite as much one to one reading with them - or they just didnt have the love of stories my daughter did I really dont know!
there is no way I would go out and spend money on reading system for a baby!

M_A_R_I_E

Tandraig - I totally agree. I think that is what most people are trying to say (in a round-about way!). Encourage a love of reading through a range of books but don't force it upon a pre-schooler and certainly not through an expensive reading system.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Parenting Poker, I call this.

Why the desperate rush to make them read/conform/be better than the next child? Both my DDs are on G&T Registers. I felt no need to have two little performing chimps at my side.

They had stories. When we went shopping, I drew little cartoons of products they could go and find, next to the words and with the quantity beside it, and they would take their own lists and get the groceries.

I counted steps, went 'big step' 'little step', picking things up whilst holding them 'up high' or 'down low', we built things, we fixed things.

They made a mess and made noise. Lots of big art works, lots of music.

I started hearing the 'oh, he's been reading fluently since he was a year old' 'really? mine was already a member of Mensa by the day after she was born' type of thing. But the boy that allegedly could do that is still in the lowest group now, so it obviously didn't help much.

It goes like this...


' I've got a kid with a reading age of 17 and a half, together with a pair of tap classes....

I'll see your tap classes and raise you a place in the ASDA catalogue...

I'll see your tap, your ASDA and I'll raise you a Chinese speaking au pair, a PADI Bubblemaker certificate and a starring role in the latest Disney TV advert...'

M_A_R_I_E

Ha ha love it JoJo - my point exactly!!

tandraig

jojo - dont play the oneup parent game! my daughter was ahead in reading yes - but in other things she wasnt so great - gossiping with her friends was high on her agenda! i soon realised that the parent game was about making the parents feel good and dropped out! my kids were praised for their acheivements -for themselves - not because they were first in class! i learned that some parents deluded themselves - little tommy was a little !!!!!! not a contender for the nobel peace prize!

fernliebee

Aw Jojo, that gave me a giggle! It is so true, I avoid those parents like the plague. If anything it makes me want to just list the things my DD CAN'T do, just to help them along in their pathetic game. I don't actually care what other kids can do compared to my DD, they all do things in their own time and after a while they even out anyway. I was so bright as a child but I think I stopped about age 12 and stayed there Somedays I could swear it was even younger!

I praise DD for her achievements but I think it is good for them to get used to the idea they won't be the best at everything, as it can be a huge shock when they get beaten at something. I try and keep grounded, small achievements can be great for your little ones, but I'm just as impressed when she blows a snot bubble by accident when she laughs or comes over to me wearing a pair of knickers on her head Hopefully she will soon learn that this is because I am her mother- not everyone else will be impressed. I am a strong believer in everyone having strengths and weaknesses, I was a good reader, but I wasn't great at maths. Children aren't stupid though, they know when adults are being genuine in their praise, or if they are just saying it so as not to hurt their feelings, be honest with them (to an extent ) let them know that it's not about being the best, just doing their best.

milliebear00001

I am a bit peeved that some people appear to be misrepresenting the views of the teachers on here. Nowhere (so far as I can see) has anybody said parents should be told NOT to teach their children to read before school - only that the research shows there is little long-term benefit in having this ability. Similarly, nobody has said parents teach their children using the 'wrong' method - only that they sometimes attempt to teach recognised methods (such as phonics) badly. The assumption is that teachers don't kbow what they're talking about, despite that fact that they have probably experienced hundreds of children's reading patterns, and have extensive training, based on extensive research, into teaching children to read.

What I have said, is that teaching children to read phonetically (by blending sounds, taught correctly) is the way we should be teaching children to read. That 'reading' is not the same as decoding a word - comprehension is at least half the aim, and comes later than decoding skills. And that no child has EVER been successfully taught to read English by solely using sight reading/flashcards. Children need to be taught to hear the sounds in words. Any parent who feels the need to teach their child to read, should be following that method simply because it is the BEST way to teach reading.

If you want to teach your child using flashcards and sight words, then that is your prerogative as a parent, but I guarantee it will not work on its own. At some point that child will need to learn to read 'properly' using blending and segmenting of sounds. Flashcards only delay that inevitability, and your (and your child's) time would be much better spent enjoying books, and learning to 'sound out' words if they are ready and willing.

NB - there are loads of soundfiles on the net guiding correct pronunciation of letter sounds. As a quick test - try saying the letter sound for 'm' without opening your mouth. That should give you the correct version, rather than the incorrect pronunciation favoured by many parents of 'muh'.

milliebear00001

tandraig wrote: »

jojo - dont play the oneup parent game! my daughter was ahead in reading yes - but in other things she wasnt so great - gossiping with her friends was high on her agenda! i soon realised that the parent game was about making the parents feel good and dropped out! my kids were praised for their acheivements -for themselves - not because they were first in class! i learned that some parents deluded themselves - little tommy was a little !!!!!! not a contender for the nobel peace prize!

Met loads of little Tommy's...and their parents!