Teaching my 4 year old to read

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with others to please stop. He isn't ready if the blending isn't clicking. I say this as someone with a 5 year old who honestly did not get it at 5, he wasn't ready and we didn't push it. Now he is in Kindergarten and it is amazing to see how his brain is SO MUCH MORE ready for it! He is immediately getting the sounds, blending, you can tell he is ready. And they are teaching all of these things week by week in kindergarten (letter sounds, blending), there is really no reason to put pressure on yourself or him now. Let him play this year. He will be so well prepared for kindergarten already knowing letters and sounds. Drop it and you will see him flourish in kindergarten when the time is right.

Sorry I meant didn't get it at 4. Now is very ready and I can see it all clicking at 5.

[Anonymous]

If your goal is to raise a reader, your current methods are pushing that goal farther away. Reading shouldn’t be a chore - it should be fun!

[Anonymous]

Mine learned a little before 4, so I don’t think early learning is inherently problematic, but I really wouldn’t push it if he’s not getting it or not enjoying it. For us DD knew sounds for a long time before blending just sort of clicked. I don’t think you can rush it.

[Anonymous]

Focus on two letter blends until that is easy for him then move on to easy three letter blends.

It would be better to let him use magnetic letters on the fridge while you are fixing dinner than to sit him down and study a book. Like for instance ask him to make a word with A and T, then eventually say Can you add another letter to make a new word?

There are other manipulatable letter and word toys at the teacher's store (Lakeshore Learning) and online, they are a lot more fun and easy to learn from than a book at that age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine learned a little before 4, so I don’t think early learning is inherently problematic, but I really wouldn’t push it if he’s not getting it or not enjoying it. For us DD knew sounds for a long time before blending just sort of clicked. I don’t think you can rush it.

+1. When my 4 year old learned, it definitely required teaching versus it just clicking, but it was HER idea and she was asking me to teach her and eager to practice. Absolutely do not push if he's frustrated and not enjoying it. Developing a love of stories and reading is way more important at that age than actually learning to read. Read to him, model sounding out basic cvc words, and revisit in kindergarten or if he expresses interest earlier.

[Anonymous]

Don’t teach him to hate reading by pushing too much. Also he will be really bored in kindergarten and that’s not necessarily a good thing. Just play rhyming word games in the car and read to him every night. It will click when he’s ready.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just read to your child.

+1

In Finland, reading isn't generally taught until age 7, and they have great success in learning.

https://www.npr.org/2014/03/08/287255411/what-the-u-s-can-learn-from-finland-where-school-starts-at-age-7


There's nothing wrong with teaching kids earlier if they're enjoying it, but if they are frustrated, just drop it and wait.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t teach him to hate reading by pushing too much. Also he will be really bored in kindergarten and that’s not necessarily a good thing. Just play rhyming word games in the car and read to him every night. It will click when he’s ready.

If your kindergartner knows how to read they still should not be bored in kindergarten and if they are you've got them in the wrong school. When my daughter was 4 I went to my local Fairfax county school to observe a kindergarten class and knew immediately that she was not going there. Teachers need to know how to differentiate for different kids, not bore them to tears. We moved to Falls Church City and had no complaints. I know FCC is not right for everybody but it was totally right for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Focus on two letter blends until that is easy for him then move on to easy three letter blends.

It would be better to let him use magnetic letters on the fridge while you are fixing dinner than to sit him down and study a book. Like for instance ask him to make a word with A and T, then eventually say Can you add another letter to make a new word?

There are other manipulatable letter and word toys at the teacher's store (Lakeshore Learning) and online, they are a lot more fun and easy to learn from than a book at that age.

This. Switch to a slightly different approach. Work on blending, and later reading, every day, but only 5-10 minutes each day. It will take time but ignore the naysayers in this thread. Maybe read some mostly phonetic books (Cat in the Hat, etc) to DC. Point to the word as you read it aloud, but do not demand they read it just yet. There are several different similar methods you can try. Old threads here can be a good resource for other options. Our preschool in Annapolis area is using Jolly Phonics, which worked well for our DC. You can buy JP books/workbooks online from homeschool-focused web sites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just read to your child.

+1

In Finland, reading isn't generally taught until age 7, and they have great success in learning.

https://www.npr.org/2014/03/08/287255411/what-the-u-s-can-learn-from-finland-where-school-starts-at-age-7


There's nothing wrong with teaching kids earlier if they're enjoying it, but if they are frustrated, just drop it and wait.

Not relevant. Finnish has a purely phonetic spelling (unlike English with its many sight words), and Finland's people are nearly all ethnic Finns.

[Anonymous]

We taight DC to read between ages 3-4, starting with Phonics. DC did not want to do it most nights, but we insisted on daily short practice. DC loves reading and is so happy and proud s/he can read. Naysayers are just wrong.

[Anonymous]

What you're describing is a auditory skill (phonological awareness). Flashcards won't help. Just practice saying the sounds and ask him to blend them.

[Anonymous]

I've been having a lot of success w/ my 4 year old using this book:

S. Engelmann, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons: Revised and Updated Second Edition

We're about halfway through the book and the reading passages are several sentences long.

[Anonymous]

As previous posters have indicated, a lot of it is based on the child’s development. I have no idea if your child’s developmentally ready or not, and either way would be fine at his age. I struggled all through K trying to learn to read, felt stupid because I couldn’t get it, and then the following summer it just clicked. I’d let him take the lead and work with him when he wants to. If he’s frustrated, it might be a good idea to take a break for a few months and then get a fresh start later.

That being said, whenever you decide to try again, here are some tips:

Try not to attach extraneous vowels to consonants. Instead of ca-ah-ta which would blend to caahta, try to isolate the sounds to k-a-t.

Tell him to think of the letters on a slide. The first letter is at the top and you hold that sound until it slides into the next letter, and then hold that sound until you reach the next.

Here’s a more detailed description of teaching blending:
https://geniebooks.ueniweb.com/lessons/how-to-teach-blending

There are lots of videos on youtube about teaching blending:
https://m.youtube.com/results?sp=mAEA&search_query=reading+blending+slide

In the meantime, talking and reading to him will expand his vocabulary. Songs, rhymes, rhyming games, and tongue twisters will help him get a better feel for language. Stories, plays, TV shows and movies can all help him learn about the ideas of plot, characters, etc, (even if you don’t use the literary terms), especially if you talk about the underlying story with him. Expose him to as much as you can and follow his interests, it will give him the background knowledge he’ll need later for reading comprehension. The wonderful thing about phonics is you learn to read anything. You first learn how to read, then you practice so that you can read automatically read fluently. Once you’ve mastered that, anything you can understand verbally, you can read. The more you can understand, the higher your reading level. So even if he’s not ready for the reading part, expanding his ability to understand vocabulary, follow narratives, and the breadth and depth of his background knowledge, will all boost his reading ability once he’s ready to learn the skill of reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just read to your child.

This. Just make it a fun time.