4 yr old wants to read-how?

ooobedoo

thank you all so much, I have so many avenues to try!

I think part of the reason I am so worried is that I didn't learn to read till I was 9, and I wasn't actually diagnosed with the dyslexia will I was 27yrs old. The lady who assessed me was amazed. At work everybody in my office uses pale green paper because of me and it helps so much you just wouldn't believe.

I am going to look for the phonics stuff, I had a chat with nursery this afternoon and they were telling me that sometimes he just takes himself off with a book, and sits quietly with it, this is during free play so they are able to do what they want for this element.

Two books he adores are 'emergency' and 'what makes a rainbow' he knows all the words off by half, and if you are looking for a book as a gift, all his little friends and him love both of those books(casual mention to nana activates the obtaining of those!). I am going to go back through the thread and write down your suggestions.....I'm glad I didn't bother with the £45 for kumon now!!! Thank you :T :beer: :j :j

ruthyjo

I taught my three children to read at home before they started school (they are all winter babies so relatively old in their school years).

I started with a tray of lower case letters. Beware of using upper case letters or teaching letter names rather than sounds (e.g. h is huh not haitch).

We played loads of games putting the letters in and out of their spaces, picking letters from a bag and saying what they were, finding the letters that begun our names, mummy, daddy, grandma etc, picking out a letter and "winning" it by identifying it (I never got as many as the kids here, ahem). I'm sure you get the picture.

We moved on to have flashcards with mummy, daddy, family names and various joining words so that we could make up and read little sentences. We also had big pieces of paper with words on them so we could jump on the word or sentence as we said it.

The book people have lots of sets of reading books online. I used this set for my daughter because they are from the same scheme as the books she was due to use at school:
http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/productSearch_10001_10001_10506_100___10_SimpleSearch_2_1_2__basicSearch_

For my sons we used to borrow reading books from the day nursery they went to.

tawnyowls

ooobedoo wrote:

thank you all so much, I have so many avenues to try!
I think part of the reason I am so worried is that I didn't learn to read till I was 9, and I wasn't actually diagnosed with the dyslexia will I was 27yrs old. The lady who assessed me was amazed. At work everybody in my office uses pale green paper because of me and it helps so much you just wouldn't believe.

Doesn't surprise me. My OH was 50 when he was finally diagnosed. Rose-coloured filters help him. I'm glad you've found the confidence to help your son. It'll be a bonding experience for both of you, and as they say, practice makes perfect, so might well help your reading too - many dyslexics are poor readers not only because of their dyslexia, but because they find reading more of a chore than a pleasure, thus just don't get the practice.

lil_me

Jolly Phonics is where they start with in Nursery and School.

A friend of mine has dyslexia and used a Leap Pad with her son when he wanted to learn and it actually helped them both

Mrs_pbradley936

I have a particular interest in the teaching of reading and the term “dyslexia” simply means not reading. Many people think it is a diagnosis but it is a description. You or a child may not read because you cannot see, cannot decode, cannot blend and a host of other reasons. Also many more children are tested at various ages than ever used to be which I think is at the heart of people claiming that illiteracy levels are soaring. Years ago we just had the eleven plus and only very able children went on to grammar schools.
Everyone one else went to a secondary modern where the boys did woodwork and the girls learned to use a sewing machine and to cook. The point being that lots of children were not good readers but nobody knew and it did not matter because there were jobs in the docks, factories, ship yards and mines.

lil_me

Dyslexia means, "difficulty with words". Dys means "difficult" and Lexia means "words". It is a cognitive language disorder of development in children. The world Federation of Neurology defines Dyslexia as a "disorder manifested by difficulties in learning to read, despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence and socio-cultural opportunity".

I think you are doing well to post with such clarity ooobedoo for someone diagnosed with dyslexia. Well done.

ooobedoo

I cheat, I actually work as an administrator. I use word to spell check and then cut and paste. It's just ways of coping but thank you!

shopndrop

ooobedoo wrote:

I cheat, I actually work as an administrator. I use word to spell check and then cut and paste. It's just ways of coping but thank you!

Just read this post and have got to say well done for posting. Whatever works for you (and using a spell check is not cheating) is fine. Everyone is different and good luck with your little one learning to read.

looneyleo

ooobedoo

from a family who have dyslexia running through our veins...please don't worry about teaching your child...just spending time with books at this stage having fun with them is the most important. Make up the stories if you have to...the most important thing is to have fun with books and the rest will come with time. You say you use cut and paste and spell check but you have to know that what you have put together is right in the end and from what you have posted so far...you have nothing to fear!!!! All the best from someone who truely knows the nightmare of dyslexia....HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!

chocaholic110

ruthyjo wrote:

I started with a tray of lower case letters. Beware of using upper case letters or teaching letter names rather than sounds (e.g. h is huh not haitch).

Be very careful when teaching letter sounds. As a teacher (and currently doing dissertation on learning to read) it can be very difficult when parents learn children the sound as buh, huh, suh, muh etc

Jolly Phonics (and many other phonics programmes) teaches the sounds as they actually are b, h (like breathing out - very difficult to describe when writing!!), ssss, mmmm etc

The difficulty comes not in learning the sounds but blending them together - children reading rrrr-u-nnn can read run, children reading as ruh, u, nuh either can't hear the word or will say runner or similar.

I'm not saying this applies to every child - many children can still work it out as ruh, uh, nuh and many don't even need to sound out after a few weeks, some children just "get" reading! But many other children struggle because they don't blend properly.

One of the MAJOR ways of improving reading is just sharing a book with your child, the more stories he hears the better able to read he will become as language and comprehension improve so you're doing the right thing already. Many many studies show that children who read regularly at home with parents make much more progress than children who don't and this also shows in my class at school. If you're worried about your own reading ability try tapes that read along with books, or as someone else already said, a leap-pad.
It would be especially good, as a boy, to see a male role model for reading - research also shows that due to a heavy female influence in early years boys often see reading as "something girls do"!

And don't forget to keep reading to him, even when he is capable of reading to you. Even older children still love stories being told to them (as shown when I occasionally have Y6s in my class when I am doing storytime - they are transfixed!!)

Above all, don't worry - you are already doing a lot more than many parents!!

Hope this helps