4 yr old wants to read-how?

carly

Personally i think its never too early to learn to read and I dont agree with the schools only wanting one method taught, but I think you could do it in a very casual and fun fashion to take the stress away for both of you. Exposure to all kinds of books is more important than rigid learning. I would go to the local library rather than spend a fortune on books that will very quickly be outgrown. Just get out whatever books appeal to you both, they dont need to have many words in, and follow the stories together. To be honest, early reading books are hardly stories, just a picture with a word on the page. When my kids were learning the school felt that it was more important to generally follow the story than to memorize every word. You can buy reading card which have a set of pictures on one card and you have to pick another card with the right word on to match it. these are quite good, and you could easily make some at home. You could also make cards with the names of household items and his toys on and get him to match them up. Make it fun for him and it wont be so much of a worry for you either.

Rachie_B

you can purchase jolly phonics items in ELC and ebay too

gingerdad

ooobedoo wrote:

He goes to nursery and they use jolly jingles there and he knows most of the letters, he just wants independance to sit in his room and read his books(he has millions).

He misses going to school last week by 2 days, and all his little mates have left nursery and he is literally the oldest now, I think this might have something to do with it, he has wanted to learn for a while but has been talking about it lots this last month.

Before you do anything, speak to the School your child will go to, as it is very hard to undo things, and it's better to go with what ever scheme the school uses.

But personally i'd wait, we do try to do too much. but it's hard if he wants to do it

Regards

GD

Becles

I don't understand dyslexia and reading, so apologies if I've got this wrong. Does it mean you can't always understand printed words yourself?

If so, why not use words printed on things where you know what it says. Eg, you know it says "Garden Peas" on a tin of peas, "Give Way" and "Stop" on road signs and markings, company names on shop signs etc.

I'm not dyslexic but taught mine to read like that as well as using books. It's more fun than learning through books too, as they don't realise they are learning.

tawnyowls

ooobedoo wrote:

He goes to nursery and they use jolly jingles there and he knows most of the letters, he just wants independance to sit in his room and read his books(he has millions).
He misses going to school last week by 2 days, and all his little mates have left nursery and he is literally the oldest now, I think this might have something to do with it, he has wanted to learn for a while but has been talking about it lots this last month.

Could you have a chat with the nursery staff? Perhaps one of them could help him by getting him to read books along with her? Have you checked out your local library? They often have story hours for children and would be able to recommend books for you. There might also be a free mum & toddler's group nearby that does similar. I think you really are the best person to help him; at the stage he's at, you shouldn't have too much of a problem, even with your dyslexia - the messages you've posted are clearly literate, so I can't see you having problems with early-stage books. I agree with Carly that it's never too early to read, and because it's often harder to get boys interested in reading, if you leave it for much longer, he may lose the enthusiasm he has now and feel frustrated, so I would suggest giving it a go. I wouldn't be too worried about the method - phonics has (fortunately!) made a comeback and is now considered the gold standard, but good readers don't usually use a single method to read; they tend to use a combination of phonics, recognising word patterns and comparisons with known words (even though they're not actually conscious they're doing this), so your son is likely to adapt to any system he meets in 'big school'.

prettypennies

The Ruth Miskin literacy scheme is very good. Children start with letter sound cards and gradually build up to phonetic wordbuilding. In the books tricky words are distinguished in red so children know which words cannot be blended.

Some examples of her books can be found on her website https://www.ruthmiskinliteracy.com

Mrs_pbradley936

This book is just what you need

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reading-Reflex-Foolproof-Method-Teaching/dp/0140280383/sr=8-1/qid=1158859258/ref=pd

Mrs_pbradley936

For those of you who want to know about the history of teaching of reading and why so many children have problems now get this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Children-Cant-Read-What-About/dp/0684853566/sr=1-1/qid=1158859539/ref=sr_1_1/026-0579915-7327655?ie=UTF8&s=books

andycarmi

http://www.elc.co.uk/subcategory-592-533

Here some ideas.

Jazzy_B

I think you're doing a great job already, by providing him with lots of books.
My girls taught themselves to read. I just gave them the books, and they seemed to do the rest. My intervention was absolutely minimal. I thought with my first daughter that it was a fluke, but the second one was the same. Both were reading easy readers, like Ladybirds (bought from charity shops) before school. They always had masses of books available, and that was my contribution.
I don't know anything about teaching reading, but I think lots of kids are natural readers. Your son sounds like one of them.